Chapter 584 The New Season Begins
Simeone finally took over.
On the first day after taking office, he told Liccardo: "We can stop buying people. The team's first-team lineup is already very bloated. The current group of players are very good, and I am confident to lead them to a good result." results."
"As you wish, the introduction of young players will continue, but in principle the first team will no longer buy people," Liccardo shrugged. "From today on, please regard me as a player under your command. Don't treat me as a player." Look at it like a boss. I want to do some great things with you, so let's do it together."
"Okay, let's start by entering the Champions League this season."
Simeone is under a lot of pressure. It is not easy to get this group of players who have never cooperated before to perform well.
After he took office, he immediately arranged several friendly matches to train troops during the games.
But as everyone expected, in the friendly matches, the team's performance was ups and downs and was not ideal.
The media ridiculed this, and QPR fans also criticized it. The team spent nearly 200 million pounds to buy people, so they have to see some results, right?
They don't care about the team's need to adjust. What they want to see is that the team is invincible.
Of course, most fans are still sensible. They know that the Premier League is much more difficult than the Championship.
Ricardo is not yet able to devote himself fully to training. For him, solving the team's financial problems is a very important matter. Although Olivia is the nominal chairman, he still has to help.
Finally, before the opening game of the Premier League, all the team's sponsorships were negotiated.
Of course, they are all short-term contracts, because Liccardo believes that under his leadership, QPR will be a regular player in the Champions League, and even the Champions League champion. At that time, the team's value will be very different.
For the sake of two big names like Ricardo and Ronaldo, the sponsors' offer is by no means small.
This year the team will receive a total of 31 million pounds in sponsorship fees, which is already comparable to the middle and upper reaches of the Premier League. If they reach the Champions League next year, this amount will rise to 55 million pounds.
Compared with the shabby annual sponsorship fee of several million pounds in the past, it can be said that it has changed drastically.
Driven by the joining of Ricardo and Ronaldo, as well as the team's major overhaul, the team's jersey sales also experienced gratifying growth.
In just over a month, it has made a profit of more than 20 million pounds.
The sales of season tickets are also very gratifying. Last year, the team sold 8,400 season tickets. This year, due to the joining of Liccardo, the passion of the fans was greatly stimulated. The sales of season tickets doubled, with 17,000 copies sold. .
Considering that the team only has more than 18,000 seats, it is conceivable that the team's home stadium will be full.
If you include the money spent on game tickets and the broadcast share this season, the team has basically made back its transfer fee.
And the team's salary expenditure this season will not be too high.
Ronaldo only gets a weekly salary of 100,000 pounds, while Liccardo doesn't pay himself a salary at all. He saves what he can and there is no need to make a fortune from the IRS.
The team's top salary is currently Thiago Motta, whose weekly salary after tax reaches 130,000 pounds.
Of course, he is definitely worthy of this price. In the next few years, he will still be one of the best organizational midfielders in the world.
The renovation of the training facilities has been basically completed, and the players' dormitories, canteens, etc. have also been updated. This cost Liccardo a lot of money, but it is worth every penny.
At least Simeone was very satisfied after seeing it and said, "This is probably the top training facility in Europe."
Everything is ready, just waiting for the league to start.
However, in the first game of the 2011-2012 Premier League season, Queens Park Rangers suffered a head-on blow.
Although Liccardo opened the scoring for the team, they subsequently conceded a goal in each half, and ultimately lost to visiting Bolton 1:2 at home, failing to get off to a good start. If it weren't for Handanovic's brave performance, the team might even lose 4 or 5 goals.
Then in the second round, Queens Park Rangers challenged Everton away. With Ronaldo taking the lead for the team, the team conceded again in the 78th minute. In the end, they shook hands with their opponent 1:1 away from home. The same Couldn't score all 3 points. But the team's performance has improved.
Some fans expressed their dissatisfaction with Liccardo after the game. They held up a banner saying, "Don't treat our beloved team like a toy."
In this regard, Liccardo said in an interview that he is indeed running the team carefully and asks fans to be more patient and give the team some time.
In fact, for a newly promoted team, such results are quite satisfactory. But who made Ricardo spend so much money? It’s funny to spend money but get no results.
But Ricardo was not in a hurry.
He sees clearly that the team's problem is actually very simple, that is, there is not enough tacit understanding between the players. Simeone's time in office is too short, and his tactical ideas have not been fully understood by the players.
Simeone hoped that the team could press high and counterattack on the spot, but the players' lack of tacit understanding and mutual protection made it difficult to win the ball, which in turn led to a void in the defense.
Simeone hopes that the team can control the ball when they are leading, but the players' tacit understanding is not enough and their movements are unreasonable, making it difficult to control the ball.
These can all be improved.
On August 24, Queens Park Rangers played in the League Cup. Facing the low-level team Rochdale, Simeone lined up a large number of young players. Kante, Pogba, etc. all got the chance to play, and the final score was 2:1. Win and get the season off to a good start.
Once the door to victory is opened, it cannot be closed - but not for QPR.
Back in the league, they challenged Wigan Athletic away, and goals from Liccardo and Alderweireld only helped the team get a draw. However, in this game, with Wigan Athletic leading 2:0, Queens Park Rangers caught up.
Simeone said at the post-match press conference that he was very satisfied with the team's performance and that victory would come sooner or later.
The team formed mainly by these young players is indeed energetic and full of hard work.
Simeone likes this kind of team.
If you don't have good skills, you can use willpower to make it happen.
If the tactics are not good, you can use willpower to make it work.
What's more, the team also has two generations of ball champions, old and new, so offensive power is not a problem.
As long as the team can get along better and the defense improves, it is really possible to break into the top four.
Even though the team currently only has 2 points with 2 draws and 1 loss, the future is definitely promising.
The Premier League transfer window has finally closed. Queens Park Rangers have been the busiest buyers in the transfer market this season, with dozens of deals concluded.
The team purchased Ricardo (100 million euros), Ronaldo (free), Klose (free), Vardy (300,000 pounds), Pelle (free), Callejon (4 million pounds), Library Tinho (£4.5 million), Rico (€3 million), Maicon (€12 million), Pandev (loan), Nainggolan (€4.5 million), De Bruyne (€1.8 million), Koulibaly (1.4 million euros), Handanovic (6 million euros), Motta (6 million euros), Borja Valero (free), Pogba (free), Kante ( 300,000 euros), Salah (700,000 euros), Sterling (3.5 million pounds), Van Dijk (4 million pounds), Alderweireld (9 million pounds), Vertonghen (8 million pounds) ), Van der Wiel (£5 million), Arda Turan (€12 million), Modric (£22 million), Kyle Walker (£11 million), Gary Cahill (£7 million) ), Courtois (7 million euros), Isco (free), Carvajal (5 million euros), Eric Dier (free), Dele Alli (free), Rashford (free).
A total of 34 players were purchased, of course some of them are youth players. But it is equivalent to completely tearing down the team and rebuilding it.
The cost is naturally high, and Queens Park Rangers fans are already looking forward to the team's final ranking in the new season.
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