Chapter 519: Hollowing Out Tottenham Hotspur

When walking out of the gate of Princess Sofia Grand Hotel, Bach first looked to his left and then to his right. He saw a man who raised his camera to take pictures of him, a reporter from Daily Sports.

But he didn't say anything, nor did he accept the interview. Instead, he smiled at the other party, turned around and walked west.

The reporter took a few more photos of Butch's back, and then continued to squat nearby, because not long after, Messi's father Jorge also walked out, and the reporter still did not come forward to interview. He took a few photos where Jorge wasn't paying attention and then disappeared.

The whole process did not attract anyone's attention, and even Jorge himself may not have known that he was being secretly photographed.

At the same time that Jorge was walking out of the Princess Sofia Grand Hotel, Bach had already turned up the mountain and soon arrived at a white palace-style building halfway up the mountain. He took out the key from his trouser pocket and opened the door to the garden wall. Stepped in.

Through the garden, the most eye-catching thing is undoubtedly a room with transparent glass walls on the side of the mansion. At this moment, two important figures for Barcelona are sitting here, on a low table separated by them. , there are various drawings with dense football terminology written on them and various logos painted on them.

Bucky walked in the garden and looked at the two people in the room. He felt that they were like a master and an apprentice.

"Butch!" Hearing the door knock, Cruyff knew that the person coming was Butch, because apart from his family, he was the only one who had the key.

Guardiola heard Cruyff's voice, raised his head from the drawing, looked at Bacchi, and nodded slightly.

"How is it?" Cruyff asked with a nonchalant smile.

Bacchi shook his head, "They decided to go to Manchester City. With 150 million euros in cash and an after-tax weekly salary of 300,000 euros, the upstart Manchester City really wants to win one at all costs." Superstar!"

After hearing this, Cruyff chuckled, stood up from the sofa, and sighed softly, "It's normal. If Kaká is not dealt with, and if we don't win a superstar, Manchester City will completely lose face, and with the Middle East's It’s not surprising that they would do this as they always spend money to pave the way. Isn’t it just to extract a few more barrels of oil? There is nothing else in the Middle East. There is so much oil!”

These words made Bachi laugh out loud, and even Guardiola couldn't help but raise his head in laughter.

"Ye Qiu seems to be based on the long term. I still underestimated him at the beginning!" Cruyff said with regret.

Once upon a time, he felt that Barcelona should invite Ye Qiu to the team, but at that time, he was far from the power and prestige in the club that he is now. At least Laporta and some directors were still a bit submissive to him, otherwise , Ye Qiu should be the head coach of Barcelona.

"Perhaps the cost of keeping Messi is too high!" Guardiola also walked over, and the three men stood in a cross-shaped pose to bask in the sun.

Cruyff just smiled, "Tottenham Hotspur has never been a team that relies on Messi, so Ribery last season, Messi this season, and even starting from Ruud van Nistelrooy three years ago, Ye Qiu is not stingy about selling any star in the team, because he knows very well that once Tottenham Hotspur's tactical system is formed, no matter who leaves, it will not affect the team. At least he will It can ensure the team’s competitiveness in the Premier League.”

System, this can be said to be the most respected and valued aspect of almost all Dutch head coaches, and the system often represents the overall football. Eleven players revolve around a football, and no one is indispensable. Yes, everyone is just a part of the system, playing a part of the role and function in the system.

"However, if Ye Qiu sells Messi, with his style, he should force Van Persie to stay!" Guardiola added.

Cruyff glanced at his proud disciple and twitched the corner of his mouth slightly. A slight dissatisfaction flashed across his eyes, but he did not show it. "Do you really dislike Eto'o that much?"

It is clear to all Barcelona insiders that both Cruyff and Laporta admire Eto'o, but Guardiola does not like the Cameroon forward, not because of his performance on the court, but because of his character and his Open your mouth wide.

Hearing Cruyff's question, Guardiola did not answer. He knew his mentor very well. He knew that if he talks more and answers more, there will only be disputes in the end, and as soon as there is a dispute, he will eventually seek peace. It must be him.

"Even if you don't like Eto'o, what about Bojan?" Cruyff asked again.

But Guardiola still didn't speak, stood aside and remained silent.

Seeing that Cruyff was about to get angry, Bacchi immediately interrupted with a laugh, "Who said selling Messi will not sell Van Persie? In my opinion, as long as we get the players and make some concessions on the transfer fee , I believe that Van Persie will not be able to refuse the temptation of Barcelona because he is Dutch!”

Dutch football has always been inextricably linked to Barcelona, ​​so Barcelona has always been an irresistible temptation for Dutch players, and I believe the same is true for Robin van Persie.

Bacchi's words made Cruyff couldn't help but laugh. Although many people said that he had become a Catalan, in fact, he was still born in the Netherlands and was very interested in Dutch players. There is a natural sense of closeness, not to mention that Van Persie is the type of player he admires very much.

"When Tottenham Hotspur sold Messi, we poached Robin van Persie, Real Madrid stole Ribery, Manchester United stole Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur's entire attacking line If everything is poached, can this team continue to be so successful in the Champions League next season?”

Bacchi's words immediately made Cruyff and Guardiola laugh again.

But soon, Cruyff shook his head and said: "Don't underestimate Ye Qiu. Sometimes even I can't figure him out. Whether it's transfers or game tactics, at least I never dare to imagine him." In his hands, a Premier League team can actually play such outstanding offensive football."

But Bacchi’s words are not unreasonable. Tottenham Hotspur is very beautiful, but it is precisely because of their reputation that their players are being targeted by many teams. As long as one of them is not handled well, maybe it will be possible. The whole team will fall apart as a result, and the team's combat effectiveness will definitely be greatly reduced.

How did teams such as Leverkusen and Valencia decline in this way soon?

But I have to admire one thing, that is, even if these four major stars are poached, Tottenham Hotspur can at least get a large amount of transfer funds, Messi alone is 150 million, Ribery , Gareth Bale and Van Persie, each of the three players is worth a lot of money, which is bound to be an astronomical sum.

With such abundant funds, it is completely enough for Ye Qiu to rebuild a team!

Of course, Cruyff would never believe that Ye Qiu would sell all the stars in one fell swoop.

"By the way, Josep, have you figured out how to teach Tottenham Hotspur a lesson?" After Bacchi eased the atmosphere between the two masters and apprentices, he immediately changed the subject. This is also the reason why he can get along so well in Barcelona. important reason.

In Bacchi's view, Cruyff is getting older and is somewhat arrogant, especially within Barcelona. His long-term superiority has made his arrogance even more obvious, whether it is against Laporta or Guaranteed. Deora, that's all.

But Guardiola's ability to reach this point is not without his own personality. He needs Cruyff's guidance and support on many things, but it is impossible for the two to agree on everything. There will always be some Disagreement.

For example, Guardiola dislikes Eto'o and Bojan very much, but Cruyff likes these two players very much.

"I plan to attack at the beginning!" Guardiola also changed the subject. He was not willing to have a stalemate with Cruyff. "Just like the teacher said, formulate a strategy. Ten minutes for the opening, five minutes for attack, and five minutes for attack." With a solid strategy, even if you can't suppress Tottenham Hotspur, you can at least prevent them from entering the state."

Cruyff is also a smart man. He knows that he cannot completely control everything, so he is happy to borrow the donkey from the slope. He chuckled and said: "Never underestimate Ye Qiu. The most critical core when beating Tottenham Hotspur." The factor also lies in containing their offense. As long as they can block their offense and Tottenham focuses on attacking and focusing on defense, there will definitely be problems with their defense.”

Guardiola didn't say anything, but his expression looked a little unnatural. He didn't like to play such negative tactics.

Of course, many people say that Barcelona's ball possession tactics are a bit negative. After all, they have a lot of ball possession in every game but not many goals. This is regarded by many as another negative style of play. , but Guardiola doesn’t think so, because having the ball in hand represents the initiative, and Barcelona’s offense is not strong. A very important reason lies in the frontcourt.

"Their defense has problems, and our offense has problems, especially in the frontcourt, which lacks a strong point to get the ball!" Cruyff has said this problem of the team many times, which is also the reason why Barcelona this season An important factor in the poor offense is the lack of people in the frontcourt who can hold the ball.

Originally, in the eyes of Cruyff and Guardiola, Messi should be regarded as the most suitable candidate, but now that the Argentine is going to Manchester City, Barcelona must find a way to plug this loophole next season.

"I plan to let Iniesta go up front." Guardiola said, "He can pass threatening balls and has good breakthrough ability. With him in the front court, Henry and Eto'o can better Directly attack the opponent's defense."

After hearing this, Cruyff sighed, "You still refuse to play defensive counterattack!"

Guardiola was silent again, and his silence was actually a silent confrontation.

Perhaps, many times he uses this silence to declare his power, that is, he is the head coach of Barcelona!

Sometimes, it is one thing to be wise or not. It is another thing to stick to what you want and realize the way of football in your mind, especially when your own ideas are linked to unwiseness. It is to believe in others. , or believe in yourself?

A matter of opinion!

In his previous life, Ye Qiu had seen a report from Ferguson's autobiography. In his autobiography, he said that a very important reason why Manchester United lost the 2009 Champions League final was that the hotels in Rome were too bad.

Ye Qiu also saw the following comments on the forum. Many fans were still laughing at Ferguson and saying that he couldn't afford to lose. Then they sarcastically asked him, are all hotels in Rome like this?

One thing is for sure, that is not all, some hotel rooms are quite good, but many older hotels do a very poor job in soundproofing the rooms.

As early as after Tottenham Hotspur reached the final, Peter Kenyon specially arranged for people to go to Rome to look for hotels. He himself had come to Rome to stay for a few days and experienced the hotels recommended by the staff. What surprised him was that the hotels in Rome were really not good.

"The soundproofing of several hotels I stayed in was super bad. One of them was called Songshuyuan Palace Hotel. Did you know? My God, in the middle of the night, I could hear the TV and talking in the next room, and even the creaking of the shaking bed board. I couldn't sleep without earplugs."

"What's more terrifying is that the air conditioner is turned off at 11 o'clock in the evening, and the Internet speed in the room is not only slow, but also charged, 15 euros an hour, which is better than robbing a bank!"

"But this is not the most outrageous. There is a hotel called Montemarie Excel Hotel near the Olympic Stadium. The hotel has free Wi-Fi, a swimming pool, and air conditioning. But the problem is that at midnight, there are people running around in the corridor outside, and there are children crying. What's more terrifying is that someone knocked on my door at around 3 o'clock, which scared me."

There is no doubt that for Peter Kenyon, the trip to Rome in just a few nights was definitely a nightmare. From his description, Ye Qiu and the coaching staff also fully and deeply realized how simple the facilities of some hotels in Rome are. Even some five-star hotels are still quite poor in sound insulation.

Of course, there is an advantage of hotels in Rome, which are relatively cheap. Although this is a city with a developed tourism industry, hotels are indeed not expensive, especially compared to London, but Ye Qiu does not want his team to relive Ferguson's nightmare and collectively unable to sleep the night before the Champions League final.

After careful selection, Tottenham Hotspur finally locked in the Cavalli Waldorf Resort Hotel in the west of the Vatican in Rome. This is a five-star hotel located on the highest mountain top in Rome. It is very secluded and a good place to enjoy nature on vacation. In addition to being quiet and well-equipped, the scenery here is also quite charming.

In this hotel, you can overlook the city of Rome and St. Peter's Basilica. In addition, the hotel restaurant here has first-class cooking skills. They promised Tottenham Hotspur that they can provide different cuisines according to the needs of the team.

The price of staying in other hotels is almost doubled compared to staying in this resort hotel, but considering the team's pre-match preparations, Ye Qiu finally chose to stay in this resort hotel, and the hotel also decided to give a certain price discount, but the premise is that Tottenham Hotspur must agree to help them promote it on the official website and in media interviews.

Many people say that there are many hooligans in English football, but in fact, Italian fans are not necessarily much better.

So, when Tottenham arrived in Rome, just after getting off the plane, hundreds of reporters and media from newspapers gathered here. I believe that at this moment, the team's sponsor Qatar Airways must be very happy, because Tottenham took photos with their plane and the logo on the plane.

Versace must be very happy, because Tottenham arrived in Rome wearing their suits.

And these photos will appear in newspapers around the world tomorrow and on major news websites.

The Rome Police Department specially arranged a team to follow Tottenham 24 hours a day to protect the safety of all the team members, so when Tottenham got off the plane, they immediately got on the bus and left the airport according to the arrangement of the organizing committee. When they walked out of the airport, they found that there were quite a lot of Tottenham fans gathered outside the airport.

They all came to cheer for the team, and there were thousands of people at the airport to pick them up.

From the airport to the hotel, you can see the Champions League final banners hanging everywhere along the way, but maybe the bus went to the periphery, so there were not too many fans gathered, nor the warm atmosphere of the final. I believe that in the city or in the Olympic Stadium in the north, the atmosphere will be stronger.

It is said that the Rome Municipal Government has also launched a series of celebrations specifically for this Champions League final to attract fans and tourists, and this final will attract at least 30,000 English fans to Rome, which will greatly promote the city's consumption and hotel tourism.

Of course, correspondingly, the Roman authorities have also increased the level of security and security. Police can be seen stationed at almost every intersection to ensure that the team arrives at the hotel without any mistakes and participates in the pre-match familiarization training in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, when the team went to the Olympic Stadium for familiarization training, the players' families and relatives all took a Qatar Airways flight to Rome, and were also picked up by the police. It was a smooth journey.

Even that night, the hotel where the team stayed did not have any trouble caused by Barcelona fans. After all, the hotel was located in a remote mountain. If it were not for someone familiar with Rome leading the way, it would be impossible to find it.

But just when Ye Qiu and the coaching staff were satisfied that everything was calm, the next day several newspapers published explosive inside stories one after another, which attracted the attention of media and fans around the world and caused an uproar.