The Godfather of Football - Chapter 109: Monopolizing Power

Eliza’s Audi TT drove steadily from the internal passage into the parking lot under the west stand of Arenal Stadium.

Countless Ajax fans gathered throughout the Arena Stadium. When they saw Ye Qiu appear, the whole stadium burst into cheers. Everyone jumped on the scene and shouted Ye Qiu’s name, as well as many reporters. Both the media and the media focused their cameras on Ye Qiu and Eliza beside him.

Outside, there were vague reports that Ye Qiu and Eliza were a couple.

Ye Qiu had previously beaten Huizinger at the youth training camp of Detok Most, and the latter revealed that Ye Qiu was beating him because of a woman. The media also found out that the woman was Eliza Moon. Later, there were several cocktail parties and activities, and Ye Qiu always appeared with Eliza, which caused many people to misunderstand.

Ye Qiu tried to clarify it once, but it had no effect at all, so he gave up.

“You are definitely one of the most influential coaches in the Eredivisie now!” Eliza said with a smile as she walked up the stairs to the second floor. “Look at those Ajax fans, they are going crazy. “

Ye Qiu walked in front and looked back with a smile, “If I didn’t win the UEFA Cup, do you think this would happen again?”

Eliza curled her lips in a funny way. She felt that even if there was no League Cup, there would still be many fans supporting him, but the number would not be so large, but she did not say this.

“I heard that the parade has not returned yet. It seems that you really escaped!”

Ye Qiu laughed loudly. He had been a fan in his previous life and always felt that parading the champion around the city should be a very enjoyable thing. But when you actually get on that open-top bus, when you are walking around the city When you slowly crawl through the city amid the crowds of fans, your mood will definitely be as depressed as encountering a huge traffic jam at the BJ Second Ring Road.

The parade should have been out for two or three hours, but they haven’t come back yet. You can imagine the traffic jam!

At the beginning, you will definitely feel fresh, proud, and excited, but if you are blocked, it will be enough to drive you crazy.

It was for this reason that Ye Qiu didn’t like to participate in the parade around the city, and he also found a very good excuse, which was to let the players accept the praise of the fans. The presence of the head coach was a bit unpleasant.

The two walked into the administrative office one after another. The front desk had already seen them.

“Mr. Ye Qiu, Chairman, they are waiting for you in the small conference room!”

Ye Qiu went straight to a small conference room next to Van Praag’s office. This was specially prepared for holding small meetings for various departments. Now, the new core management of Ajax were sitting in this conference room. .

As early as the morning, Van Praag announced a reorganization of the board of directors. A group of so-called spokespersons, including Koerner, were expelled from the Ajax board. Koerner was even deprived of his Ajax title. membership and will never be able to enter Ajax again.

Instead, Van Praag selected five directors from all shareholders to form an advisory group. These five people included former members of the Dutch Football Disciplinary Committee, former bank executives, and Aja. Van Praag, the current chairman of Ajax, is responsible for overseeing Ajax’s operations and finances.

As for other people, I’m sorry, just be your shareholders and stop meddling in other people’s business and pointing fingers.

When Ye Qiu walked in, he glanced at the conference room and found that all five directors were there, as well as the assistant coach of the first team, Bobby Harms, and the team’s technical director, Leo Benhak. , obviously, this is not just an internal meeting of the directors, but will also decide some plans for Ajax in the new season.

“Hello, Mr. Ye Qiu!”

As soon as Ye Qiu walked in, the nearest director immediately stood up, smiled and extended his hand, full of politeness.

It seems that these should all be Van Praag’s own people!

Ye Qiu responded politely and sat down in the empty seat between Van Praag’s left and Bobby Harms. Eliza Moon was only a partner of the team. She was unable to attend the internal meeting and went directly to the business office. Department, there will be someone there to talk to her.

“In the morning we finalized the candidates and list of the five-member board of directors, and also determined the terms of reference. In the afternoon, I hope to take this opportunity to have a good talk with you, especially in the competitive field. I firmly support Mr. Ye Qiu to continue to serve!” Van Praag’s opening will bring an end to Ye Qiu’s future discussion.

Van Praag’s words were also affirmed by the directors. Just like that, it was very simple, easy and without any suspense. Ye Qiu continued to be the head coach of Ajax, but Van Praag obviously also knew that, Ye Qiu must have his own ideas.

“Ye Qiu, tell me!” Fan Praag looked at Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu thought for a while, “I am also willing to stay at Ajax, but I hope to get a promise.”

Van Praag looked at the people around him and nodded, “You tell me.”

“I have only one goal in staying at Ajax, and that is to lead this young team to maturity and to greater glory. Our goal next season is the Eredivisie championship. We must completely transform Ein. Hoving has pushed down the throne and we will also play in the European Champions League.”

This season Ajax finished second in the league, Feyenoord finished third, and PSV, which won the championship, became the three teams that entered the Champions League, but Ajax still The UEFA Cup champion will definitely receive a lot of attention when the time comes. After all, the performance of this young guard in the past season was really outstanding.

“The European Champions League is becoming more and more important among European teams, not only because it is the core competition of European football, but also because it can bring huge benefits to the team, but our goal is not just to participate in Champions League, I also hope to lead the team to show our competitiveness in European competitions.”

Ye Qiu’s promise was recognized by everyone present. No one would think that Ajax has the strength to win the championship, because the current Champions League has completely become an oligarchy game for the wealthy, but everyone believes that, Ajax can show its competitiveness in the European arena, and may even have a chance to pull off an upset and go further.

“We are a young team. I know that the four major leagues have obvious advantages. They want to poach, and it is difficult for us to refuse, but I hope the board of directors can give me enough power to operate player transfers. Because I know better than anyone the value of this current group of players!”

When Ye Qiu said these words, everyone felt that he was referring to Arsenal’s inquiry about Ibrahimovic not long ago. Although it was just a test, Ajax did not clearly reject it. It arouses people’s imagination.

“Ibrahimovic is only 19 years old. How much can he sell for now? 12 million euros is a lot of money, but I firmly believe that if he is given another two or three years to grow, the transfer fee will be doubled by then. Two or three times, and if he continues to stay in the team, he can ensure the team’s combat effectiveness. I think this deal is a good deal!”

Just as Ye Qiu finished speaking, a director interrupted, “I agree with your statement, Mr. Ye Qiu, but we must consider, what if the players’ attitude is leaning towards Arsenal?”

“Sell!” Ye Qiu replied without hesitation, “I don’t like forcing others to make things difficult. If he wants to go to Arsenal, then I will definitely sell. But I can guarantee that I can convince him to stay. Not only him, but other players as well. So, but the premise is that I don’t want to appear. When I am enjoying my performance here, someone is destroying my stage behind my back!”

Leo Benhak has been keeping a low profile recently. When Ye Qiu’s team shines, he even feels like he has disappeared. Usually, except for meetings, he is rarely seen, but this time Once, he also responded to Ye Qiu.

“I think Ye Qiu’s statement is worth considering. The importance of the head coach in a team will become more and more important. The reason why Ye Qiu’s team can show strong combat effectiveness is because it is based on Ye Qiu’s leadership. If the management destroys this situation, I believe it will be difficult for any head coach to achieve results.”

After a pause, Leo Benhak added, “And I am very optimistic about the current Ajax team. It is not inferior to the team during Van Gaal’s time. It is worthy of the heavy responsibility. I even think that we should Set higher expectations for them!”

Leo Benhak is also considered the most famous figure in European football. When he said this, everyone present could not help but be surprised, but after thinking about it, it is not difficult to guess, because the current Ajax team is young , but its strength is extraordinary.

“For any team to maintain competitiveness and fighting capacity, the stability of the lineup must be considered. I also support Ye Qiu!” Bobby Harms also said, at least the reason why Van Gaal was able to bring out the team that swept Europa was Ajax, doesn’t it rely on years of accumulation?

“I agree too!” Van Praage also voted in favor.

At this moment, no one would object at all, and the advisory group all agreed. From this moment on, Ye Qiu became the undisputed number one power player in the Ajax sports field, and his power even spread to the entire sports field. field.

After receiving this promise, Ye Qiu really decided to stay in Ajax.

“The team won the UEFA Cup this season, which not only helped the team get a lot of bonuses, but also created huge profits for the team. Coupled with last season’s transfer surplus, we have Can provide the team with a transfer budget of more than 20 million euros!”

When it came to finance, Van Praag couldn’t help but admire Ye Qiu’s ability.

Ajax’s purge and reorganization last season seemed like a big move, but in fact the investment was not much. The players sold brought huge transfer income. In comparison, the club gained extra A huge transfer surplus.

If, at the beginning of the season, everyone was more skeptical about Ye Qiu’s creation of such a large transfer surplus, believing that Ajax’s combat effectiveness would decline rapidly and might even be relegated, then by the end of the season, Ajax became the league runner-up and won the UEFA Cup and Dutch Cup, which undoubtedly surprised everyone.

But this is only part of the income Ye Qiu brings, and part of it comes from the League Cup.

The total prize money for winning the UEFA Cup is actually not much, just over five million euros, which is quite a lot for Ajax. But compared to the prize money for winning the UEFA Cup, Ajax’s several games in the UEFA Cup The match day alone generated income for Ajax that far exceeded the winning bonus. Adding in the broadcast fees, one can imagine how great the benefit was.

The reason why all teams participating in European competitions care about European competitions is because they not only have generous bonuses, but also match day income. Especially for those wealthy teams with popular home markets, playing one more European competition , often means millions more euros in income, how terrible!

The transfer surplus, coupled with the additional income from last season’s UEFA Cup, has made Ajax’s financial situation very loose, so Van Praag has enough courage to say that he will buy the shares of those shareholders, and at the same time He was also willing to give Ye Qiu a higher transfer budget to support him in further strengthening the team.

After hearing this, Ye Qiu thought for a while and shook his head, “Last season the team took shape and the framework was basically stable. This season is not suitable for making bigger moves. Moreover, our current situation in the Eredivisie league, everyone We all know that first-rate stars are unwilling to come, and we don’t like second-rate stars. Therefore, my goal this summer is to introduce a capable goalkeeper!”

Other head coaches were eager to ask for more money, but our Ye Qiu actually pushed for it.

After hearing this, Van Praag and the directors didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“But I think this part of the budget can be appropriately used to do two things. First, continue to transform Detok Most, especially the training and competition environment of the youth team.”

After Ye Qiu took charge of Ajax, he transformed Detok Most’s teams of all ages and further promoted scientific training. However, because of last summer, Ye Qiu suddenly transferred several main players from the second team. , and some other main players also switched to other teams, causing the second team’s results to be unsatisfactory.

But everyone at Ajax began to believe that Ye Qiu’s reforms could bring about earth-shaking changes to Ajax, so they all continued Ye Qiu’s plan unswervingly.

Ye Qiu had been investing in the youth training camp as early as last summer. At that time, he recovered part of the funds from the transfer market and invested directly in the hardware renovation of the youth training camp. However, these were all financed by the club. Although the progress was not very satisfactory, Ye Qiu hoped to go further.

In the past, many people thought that youth training camps did not need hardware. Some people cited La Masia and thought that Barcelona’s youth training camp was just that small, but it was so successful. As everyone knows, La Masia is a sparrow, although it is small, but it has all the internal organs. In terms of various hardware and technological facilities, La Masia is also very advanced.

If you don’t keep pace with the times and don’t invest enough, youth training won’t work!

“There is another thing. I hope to keep this money and improve the players’ contract benefits at the right time so that they can stay in the team with more peace of mind!”

Ye Qiu has always believed in a salary structure that is proportional to ability and remuneration, so he is very disgusted with some clubs that deliberately squeeze players’ wages in order to save money. He believes that although this approach seems to make the club a profit, in fact, in Emotionally, the club suffered a big loss.

Maybe someone will say again, are you in a relationship with a group of professional players? Show off?

Ye Qiu couldn’t say anything about this. Everyone’s views were different, their entry points were naturally different, and they looked at the same thing from different angles.

He always believes that most transfers in the transfer market are voluntary, but some are masochistic in front of the media to gain sympathy, or to appease the fans, while others are It’s a domineering attitude to get players, but in the end, it’s a deal of your own accord.

Football is always pyramid-shaped. The top giants always rely on exploiting the teams under their feet to survive, so the middle and lower reaches teams have long been accustomed to this situation. They are even willing to do this. Sevilla , Porto and other teams rely on this method to survive, and this will definitely be the case for Ajax in the future.

But for a head coach, if he wants to integrate the team and make all the players work together, he must not just rely on salary or contracts, but he needs to give them some emotional sustenance.

Everyone has feelings and is lazy. In other words, as long as the player does well with you and is satisfied with his salary and performance, over time, he will become a little content with the status quo. There will inevitably be a sense of dependence on the club, and this sense of dependence will prompt him to be willing to fight for the team.

Simply relying on cold contracts and salaries can only form a mercenary army, but it is impossible to form a united and iron-blooded team, so Ye Qiu chose the latter.

Regarding these suggestions put forward by Ye Qiu, Van Praag said that the board of directors will consider them carefully and give a clear answer as soon as possible. At the same time, he also hopes that Ye Qiu can stabilize the situation before the team is disbanded this afternoon. Players living in the team, especially several players with transfer rumors.

At the end of the first internal meeting of the new board of directors, Ye Qiu put forward his new goals.

“My goal is to build a strong team that can compete with all European teams in the next four years, and before that, I will lead the team next season and completely push PSV Eindhoven down. Throne, from now on, the Eredivisie will end the PSV era and enter our Ajax dynasty again!”

The directors were also very happy with the substantial guarantee and affirmation from Ye Qiu.

If this goal was proposed a season ago when Ye Qiu just took over the team, they would have scoffed at it, but now, Ye Qiu has enough chips and qualifications to make such a promise to them.