Chapter 243: Finding Connections

Perhaps because he had tasted the sweetness when playing against Lazio, Ye Qiu made appropriate adjustments and rotations to the team's starting lineup when playing against Manchester City immediately afterwards, arranging Joe Cole to replace Deco in the starting lineup.

However, the effect of the England midfielder's starting lineup was not ideal. Under the joint suppression of Manchester City's two midfielders Barton and Reina, Joe Cole did not show a satisfactory state, but was a little depressed.

Finally, in the 38th minute of the first half, Davis passed the ball to Ronaldinho after intercepting the ball. The Brazilian passed the ball to the penalty area after dribbling past two opposing players in the penalty area. Seaman and Drogba competed for the ball at the same time, but in the end it was the Ivorian who scored the goal, 1:0.

Since then, Chelsea has never been able to break Manchester City's goal again.

Everyone can see that after the crazy start, Chelsea has been in a slump recently, especially after the consecutive national team games in September and October. The physical fitness of Chelsea players has been obviously consumed, and the team's control is far less eye-catching than at the beginning of the league.

However, Ye Qiu was mentally prepared for this. He knew that the league was a protracted war, so his strategy was very simple. When the state was good, it would be great if he could crush the enemy. Once the state was not good, as long as he could win and get points, he didn't mind the team's performance being worse.

After all, this was the first year after Chelsea's reorganization and Ye Qiu's first season in the Premier League. He lacked experience in many things and needed to slowly explore and adapt, so he was not in a hurry at all.

And from the performance in the past two months, Ye Qiu has already had a very in-depth understanding of Chelsea as a whole. The overall framework and main lineup of the team have basically taken shape. For the time being, in order to ensure the control of the team, Davis and Makelele will both play. Deco is obviously more stable than Joe Cole, and the arrangement and distribution of ball rights are more reasonable.

As for the frontcourt, Drogba did not score many goals, but his tactical role was huge. Ronaldinho and Lampard became the most eye-catching players of the team. Their performances were indeed outstanding, and their cooperation with each other was tacit.

Although Lampard scored more goals, Ronaldinho was the most threatening player in the frontcourt in the offensive system. However, Lampard played a role in counter-attacking and oppression in the frontcourt, which the Brazilian did not have. Therefore, it is difficult to tell which one is more important, but both are important.

But rotation is still needed, so after playing Manchester City, although the League Cup was ushered in in the middle of the week, Ye Qiu still gave core players including Ronaldinho and Lampard a day off. So the day after playing Manchester City, there were only substitutes on the first-team training ground of the entire Harrington training base.

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Although there were suddenly less than a dozen people on the training ground, the intensity of the training arranged by Ye Qiu was not reduced at all.

After every training session, Messi was sweating profusely, and the whole person felt that he had been drained of energy.

Although he was physically exhausted, his heart was full. He felt as if he would discover something new and gain something special in every training session, but he couldn't say what he discovered and gained.

Many things cannot be described in words. It takes time, accumulation, precipitation, and absorption for one's own use before one suddenly realizes that one's gains all come from someone's performance in training. Only then will one understand the value of participating in the first-team training.

Chelsea's youth training camp is terrible, as can be seen from the Harrington training base. Therefore, participating in the first-team training is the privilege of Messi and Fabregas. Although they participate in the reserve team games with many substitutes and youth team players from many teams, they look different from other youth training players.

Everyone knows that Ye Qiu did not hesitate to offend Barcelona and forcibly poached them to represent the club's hopes.

Judging from the performance of the reserve team, both of them basically played to their strengths, with good and bad performances, which cannot be said to be particularly eye-catching, because the reserve team games in the Premier League are very intense, and sometimes even rough. Messi and Fabregas have both been injured because of this, which has caused their debut in the team to be delayed again and again.

But this time, they all clearly noticed a sign that Ye Qiu planned to boldly use substitutes and young players in the League Cup in the middle of the week, which means that this group of young people will have the opportunity to appear in the professional arena.

But after training, Messi still looked uninterested, on the one hand because the training intensity was not small, but more importantly because he had little hope of whether he could play in the League Cup in the middle of the week.

Just a few days ago, the British Home Office agreed to the joint application of the head coaches of many Premier League teams, as well as the support of the Premier League and the English Football Association, and issued a special talent clause, allowing each Premier League professional club to have a special signing quota per year, but it must pass the hearing organized by the Ministry of Labor.

Messi's first reaction after hearing the news was happiness, because he got a positive reply from Ye Qiu, that is, Chelsea is already trying to get a special talent clause for Messi, but no one knows whether he can make it to the League Cup.

So, compared to Fabregas's high spirits and expectations for the League Cup in the middle of the week, Messi's mood was a little low, and after coming to the Premier League, his performance was not as good as in La Liga.

Here, especially in the reserve team games, physical confrontations and fierce fights are everywhere. Messi, who is short and thin, is not used to such an environment. His body makes it impossible for him to play his best side. He can only occasionally seize the opportunity and have a flash of inspiration, but that's all.

"Don't worry, Leo!" Fabregas certainly knew the reason why his friend was depressed, but he didn't know what to say.

Chelsea's youth training is relatively poor, but Ye Qiu attaches great importance to them. In addition to arranging Messi's father to work in the club and arranging a house for Messi's family, he is also very concerned about their training.

Even when the first team is resting during training, Ye Qiu will go aside to communicate with them, point out and correct their problems in training, and remind them to pay more attention to the performance of their teammates.

As for Fabregas, Ye Qiu reminded him to pay more attention to Deco and Lampard. Even though Lampard's technique was relatively concise, his sense of scoring when he inserted from behind really impressed Fabregas, who also played as a shadow striker in the national youth team. Deco's overall view and strategic planning also made Fabregas, who had a certain Barcelona No. 4 pedigree, admire him.

In addition, Ye Qiu also emphasized that Fabregas should pay more attention to Edgar Davis. He reminded the Spaniard that Edgar Davis's off-ball running and his wisdom in supporting his teammates were worth learning for any player.

Messi admired Ronaldinho very much. He highly praised the Brazilian's use of technology, which was like magic.

In addition to learning and observing teammates in training, the two, together with Van Persie, received intensive training from Moniz, with the focus on refining their use of technology. Peter Brandt prepared a physical strengthening training for them after conducting very detailed and tedious tests on their bodies.

Because they are only 16 years old, it is impossible to achieve success overnight, so the goal of this physical training is to enable them to better strengthen their physical strength and confrontation, better adapt to the Premier League environment, and avoid physical injuries in the next three or four years without affecting their physical development and various functions.

Although they have only been in Chelsea for two months, they have already felt Ye Qiu's attention to them. The only regret is that they have not been able to play in the game, but now they finally have the opportunity. Fabregas is of course excited, and Messi can't hide his disappointment.

"Didn't the boss say it? Anyway, you will play sooner or later, don't worry!"

Messi could only smile bitterly in response to the comfort from his friends. He can't do anything now, he can only wait.

The two walked side by side to the training base, and saw the chubby assistant coach Roland Shepas coming down from upstairs. When he saw them, his chubby face smiled like a sunflower.

"Ha, I found you!" Roland walked over with a smile.

I don't know if all fat people like to laugh and use laughter to enhance their affinity. Anyway, Roland is such a fat man. He is very popular in the locker room and everyone likes him.

"Here you go!" Roland doesn't talk much nonsense, and he is still very reliable and capable.

The two young men looked at each other and took the stack of things from Roland's hand. At first glance, it was tickets.

Chelsea's home atmosphere has always been very bad. Even in the Champions League, the Stamford Bridge Stadium, which can accommodate more than 40,000 people, is not full. The reason is very simple. Chelsea's cheapest Champions League ticket seat costs 45 pounds, not to mention the most expensive tickets.

It is reported that head coach Ye Qiu is not satisfied with the club's home stadium management strategy. For this reason, he once expressed his opinion at the club's high-level meeting in October, believing that the club should focus on the long-term, appropriately lower ticket prices, create a home stadium atmosphere, and attract more fans around 20-30 years old to enter the stadium. However, this time Abramovich, who has always been obedient to Ye Qiu, did not support Ye Qiu's proposal, but said that the club needs to have its own financial blood-making function.

The head coach did not dwell too much on this issue. After all, he is in charge of competition and is not familiar with operations, so he can't intervene. However, Messi noticed that the attendance rate at Stamford Bridge is really not high, and it is foreseeable that this is the case for the Champions League and the league, and the League Cup is even worse.

Because of this, in every game, the team is very generous in giving tickets to those players on the roster.

This time, Messi and Fabregas each got 5 tickets. Roland even smiled and generously said that if they were not enough, they could ask him for more. The fat guy seemed to have a lot of private tickets.

"You don't look very happy, Leo!" Roland was very good at observing people's expressions.

Messi hesitated to speak, thought about it, and shook his head, "It's okay, thank you, Roland!"

Roland guessed a little and understood why the Argentine teenager was worried, "If you are worried about the work permit, I have a piece of news to sell you!"

"Oh? Really?" Messi's eyes lit up when he heard it, and his expression became concerned.

Fabregas on the side also heard it, and immediately urged the smiling fat man, "Speak quickly, Roland!"

"Of course, but in exchange, you have to laugh for a while. I don't like to see Leo with a sad face all the time!" Roland was obviously making a joke with Messi.

After hearing this, the Argentinian suddenly laughed, just a little reluctantly.

"Okay, you're laughing!" Roland muttered, "I just confirmed his plans for tomorrow from our head coach. He will go to the Premier League headquarters in the morning to attend the hearing in person."

Messi was a little surprised after hearing this. You know, he is just a 16-year-old unknown person. A young rookie like him doesn't dare to crawl around. With the ability of Ye Qiu and Chelsea, he can be easily caught in European football. There were a lot of them, but Ye Qiu missed the team's training and went to the hearing specifically for him, which showed how much Ye Qiu valued him.

"You know, Leo, our Mr. Ye Qiu is so good at training young people!" Roland gave a thumbs up, "In Ajax, the people he has introduced are even the most discerning in Ajax. The vicious Rick Link and Bobby Harms were full of praise and never looked the other way."

Speaking of this experience, Roland was very proud because he had always been by Ye Qiu's side. He was also Ye Qiu's most capable and senior assistant, so proud of him.

"Ye Qiuzhen went to the hearing. He said that you meet the special genius conditions, so you must. Just wait for the good news!" Roland patted Messi on the shoulder comfortingly, "On the other hand, you kid, don't be too worried. If you accidentally perform poorly and make Ye Qiu unhappy, you won't have a chance to play, you know?"

Seeing Roland's relaxed statement, Messi and Fabregas, who were not experienced in the world, were also happy, because Ye Qiu's reputation for coaching players was already famous in Ajax, including Robben and Ibrahimo. Vicky, Lucio, Maicon, Gilberto Silva, all of them were dug and cultivated by Ye Qiu himself.

Back then, the group of young Barcelona players in La Masia's youth training camp were eagerly looking forward to Ye Qiu taking charge of the Camp Nou. They were just looking at his fiery eyes and believed that as long as Ye Qiu came, their group of talented geniuses would be able to Was he spotted by him, then joined the first team and shined?

For young players like them, who wouldn’t want to meet a head coach who has a keen eye and is good at discovering and promoting young players?

"Okay, I'm leaving. Don't look so sad anymore, you know?" Roland waved goodbye to them with a smile.

"Thank you, Roland!" Messi and Fabregas both took the tickets and said goodbye to Roland.

This fat Dutchman can always say a few words to make things that were originally very uneasy completely unnecessary.

"If I really stand up for you, then there will be no problem!" Fabregas seemed to have great confidence in Ye Qiu.

Messi also nodded, "I hope so!"

But no matter what, with Ye Qiu personally coming forward for him, even if it was this hearing, Messi felt that there was no big problem. At least through this incident, he saw that the head coach treated him The attention he received further confirmed his future at Chelsea.

After understanding this, the two teenagers seemed to feel much more relaxed. After returning to the locker room to take a shower and change clothes, they pedaled back to the dormitory on their bicycles.

On the contrary, Ye Qiu, who is in the office upstairs, is anxiously waiting for a call, because tomorrow is the hearing. Although he has said that it will have little impact on the main lineup of the first team, he still hopes that Messi can pass, so that the Argentine teenager He can also get more training opportunities and urge him to make better progress and development.

With the arrival of Abramovich, Chelsea's management has undergone a large-scale reshuffle. Many of Bates's team have left, and only some grassroots staff and employees remain. They were all replaced, which led to many problems for Chelsea's management.

Just like this hearing.

The so-called hearing is just a formality for many teams. As long as you have used your contacts and relationships to do a good job in public relations, there is a high chance that the hearing will pass, especially for wealthy teams. Basically, if you fail, it will be fine. The explanation is that the club does not pay enough attention to this player, or has other arrangements.

For example, Arsenal and Manchester United often fail to pass hearings because of their reasons and excuses. The purpose is to loan out players for training, but they don’t want to chill the players’ hearts, so there is a reason to say, I fought for it. But it can't be passed.

Of course, there is also the possibility that the public relations may fail, because the hearing of the Ministry of Interior will arrange 6 judges, at least one of whom is a football industry insider. If it is a Manchester United player who goes to the hearing, but unfortunately, the Ministry of Interior will If you arrange for the former star of your arch-rival Liverpool to serve as a hearing judge, then I'm sorry, basically you will be very sad.

This may seem like a joke, but it is what it is.

Regarding Ye Qiu's hearing, the management could not help, Paul Smith did not have enough contacts in the industry, and Pini Zahavi ignored it. On the contrary, Eliza finally helped Ye Qiu through her own connections. After finding out the origins of these six judges, one of them is a famous figure in the English football circle.

Chris Waddle, who once played for Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur, Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday, is recognized as one of the most technically outstanding wing attackers in the history of English football. Many people say that the reason why Papin was able to perform so well in Marseille is because he had Chris Waddle standing next to him.

Ye Qiu filled in Messi's characteristics as an offensive genius with delicate skills and outstanding dribbling ability, and the Ministry of the Interior chose Chris Waddle, which was obviously targeted.

Since it was known that Chris Waddle was the key figure in the hearing, Ye Qiu naturally had to start a targeted public relations strategy.