Chapter 163: The Secrets Behind the Golden Globe and Golden Boy Awards (Part 2)
But in the final analysis, whether a superstar can win the Golden Globe Award depends mainly on the data and honors he has won this year.
The competition between Messi and Lewandowski this year was so intense that there was even a heated debate among the fans, mainly because neither of them was able to completely crush their opponent.
But it is undeniable that as long as it is a human evaluation, personal ideas and emotional factors will be mixed in.
This is also the reason why Asian media often give priority to Messi and Ronaldo in selection.
Compared to the Golden Globe Award, the selection method of the Golden Boy Award is much simpler, but the basis for selection is much more vague.
The selection method is simple because only players aged 21 and under who play in the top leagues of UEFA countries are eligible to win the award.
The judges include 40 reporters from the most famous football newspapers in European countries, such as France's L'Equipe, Germany's Bild, France Football which selects the Golden Ball, Britain's The Times, Spain's El Diario and so on.
Although there are newspapers from Greece and Russia, the focus is mainly on the five countries in the five major leagues.
This means that the selection target is very focused. Since the first session in 2003, among the 19 winners, only Van der Vaart in 2003 and De Ligt in 2018 are from Ajax in the Eredivisie outside the top five leagues.
In terms of nationality, except for two Brazilians and two Argentines, the rest are all Europeans.
18 of the 19 are from traditional football powerhouses. Only the 2020 winner, Haaland, who is now very popular in European football, is of Norwegian nationality and does not belong to a top European team.
In terms of position, there are 10 forwards, 8 midfielders, and the only defender is De Ligt, who currently plays for Juventus.
The only defensive midfielder who was barely similar to Chen Xiaoliang was Renato Sanchez in 2016.
After introducing so much, Portman finally got to the point.
The odds have already explained something. Among the actuaries and analysts hired by bookmakers, there are a large number of senior football media professionals. Now the odds of 4 and 5.5 mean that the number of votes that the two can get is very close. Any swing in the scale will determine the final winner.
Portman can use the resources at his disposal and his family's resources to make some moves in this situation where the odds are tight.
This is what she just said about the vagueness of the selection criteria.
Young players are not like the core players of big clubs. It is rare for them to be the starter in every game, let alone have outstanding statistics.
When selecting the Golden Boy Award, reporters largely consider hard data such as number of appearances, team honors, personal honors, and average points per game, combined with comments from major media, public opinion, and evaluations of other players.
To put it bluntly, emotional factors play a very large role.
Pedri's biggest plus point is Barcelona's top-level platform and the opportunity to compete in major competitions with the Spanish national team. Barcelona won the King's Cup in the 2020-21 season, while Spain reached the semi-finals of the European Cup.
But his weaknesses compared to Chen Xiaoliang are his statistics and the fact that he has not been able to play due to injury since the end of September.
Chen Xiaoliang's weakness is that he participated in the Scottish Premier League last season. The Scottish Premier League championship is slightly inferior to the Spanish King's Cup. Similarly, the Europa League quarterfinals are also slightly inferior to the European Cup semi-finals.
Chen Xiaoliang's advantage lies in the new season in Rome. His performance is getting better and better. Not only is he at the top of the Serie A data list in terms of steals, interceptions and running distance, he has also scored several goals in the past two months.
At this juncture, if the media can create momentum one-sidedly, it will definitely have a significant impact on public opinion. At the same time, she can also influence the selection results of several Italian media, which can completely help Chen Xiaoliang make up for the already small gap and ultimately reverse the situation and win the award.
Chen Xiaoliang was puzzled as to whether he could win the Golden Boy Award or not, and why the female reporter in front of him cared so much. There is no free lunch in the world, and it is even more impossible for someone to put so much energy into winning the award for no reason.
Conditions? What are the conditions?
Portman explained why.
First of all, although Tuttosport is well known as the mouthpiece of Juventus, it is ultimately a newspaper based on Italian football, especially Serie A.
Although the Italian national team shined and conquered Europe this summer, and Serie A is still the third largest league in Europe, it is an indisputable fact that the gap gradually widening, and the league's purchasing power, attention and overall competitiveness are gradually declining.
Turin Sports Daily "operated" on De Ligt's award once. At that time, Juventus had already negotiated a sky-high transfer for the Dutch central defender at Ajax for the following summer. De Ligt did have a successful season at Ajax, winning the Eredivisie and Dutch Cup doubles, and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Spending 75 million euros on a centre-back is a big deal for any team.
Juventus fans also hope that he can inherit Chiellini's legacy and become the new backbone of the team, just like Van Dijk joined Liverpool.
But the Dutchman has never been able to make much of a splash in Juventus, and even lost his position as a starting player in the national team after Van Gaal took over the team again in August this year.
Juventus is a little disappointed, Turin Sports Daily is a little disappointed, and Serie A is also a little disappointed.
In the selection of the Golden Ball, Serie A no longer has any player who can take the title without Ronaldo. Moreover, this award has been won by Messi and Ronaldo 12 times in the past 13 selections, and it is almost impossible for others to win it once.
After finally seeing the two superstars getting older, Benzema and Lewandowski have become the favorites again, and after them, Mbappe and Haaland are also rising strongly.
Among the top five leagues today, the Premier League is far ahead , with a stellar lineup of stars, and the sensation caused by Cristiano Ronaldo joining Manchester United;
Although Barcelona has become a little dimmer after Messi left, the influence of the two La Liga giants is still unshakable. Not only are superstars like Benzema and Modric still as powerful as ever, but youngsters like Frenkie de Jong and Vinicius are also rising, and now there is another Pedri.
The Bundesliga's attention has always been focused on Bayern, and in the past two years, Haaland has emerged. His whereabouts next season has caused heated discussions across Europe.
Ligue 1, which was the worst at the time, also attracted a large number of fans after Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain. With the addition of Neymar and Mbappe, the attention has skyrocketed.
And what about Serie A?
The referee's repeated wrong decisions and the league committee's lenient punishments?
Which players among the major teams transfer here today and return there tomorrow?
Or does the 40-year-old Ibrahimovic occasionally say some shocking words that can spark some discussion?
Even in gossip news, no player in Serie A can compare to the lively couple in Paris Saint-Germain - Icardi and his cheating wife Wanda.
In the midst of the chaos, Mourinho arrived.
As the last head coach to lead a Serie A team to win the Champions League and achieve the first treble in Italian football, although the 28-year-old Portman was only 17 years old at the time, he still clearly remembers from his parents the crazy influence the Portuguese had on Italian football.
This summer, Mourinho's return once again brought new life to this increasingly lifeless league.
People watched him swearing, people watched him being sent to the stands, people watched him laughing and swearing at the press conference, and even when he was leading the team in training at the Trigoria base, there was a lot of people watching.
Chen Xiaoliang's arrival has made it the first time that Serie A has gained such high attention in the distant East Asia since entering the Internet era. Even in the live broadcasts at the same time, the number of viewers of Roma's games far exceeds that of any Premier League, La Liga and Champions League games.
The number of viewers in East Asia for Roma's away game against Tottenham in the Europa League group match set a new record for a single game in UEFA club competitions!
This was unimaginable before, because even the arrival of Ronaldo did not cause such a sensation in the populous Far East.
Portman is willing to help Chen Xiaoliang with the operation, and also hopes to create a superstar cultivated by Serie A after Kaka, who can represent Serie A in the future and compete with Mbappe, Haaland, Pedri, Bellingham, Musiala and others in European football.
At the same time, it provides a natural promotion and preparation for the Chinese version of Turin Sports Daily in the Red Country.
"Just that? Purely for the league? For the newspaper?" Chen Xiaoliang didn't believe that the female reporter in front of him, who always posed coquettishly, wore very eye-catching clothes every time she interviewed players on the field, and frequently appeared in football gossip pages, would be so selfless.
"Players have their own pursuits, and journalists certainly have their own pursuits. We were talking about official business just now, and now let's talk about personal matters."
After Portman said this, Chen Xiaoliang knew that the real topic was coming.
“You must know that if you want a piece of news to attract traffic, it must meet two points: one is exclusivity and the other is timeliness.
I worked and paid for your award, and of course I hope to get your return. I hope to know the first-hand exclusive news of the Roma team, especially your own. Of course, you don’t have to say what is inconvenient or impossible to say. I know that even if you want to, your head coach will not allow you to do so. ”
Chen Xiaoliang knew it from the first time he saw Portman that this woman was very complicated. The calculations in her mind were like an old sow wearing a small underwire double-ring dress - one set after another.
No wonder she tried her best to refuse Reese from going with her, because with one more person involved, there would be a greater possibility of exposing her rhetoric.
"Secondly, all your future personal interviews will be conducted by me. Even if I have other things to do and cannot conduct the interview, it must be left to other reporters in our newspaper."
"Third, when you are ready to leave Rome, tell me the transfer offers from other teams and the personal terms you agree to. Juventus will try its best to match or even exceed the personal terms, and you also promise that in that case, you will choose to join Juventus."
"Finally, if things go well, I will use all my strength to help you get other awards, such as Serie A Best Player, Best Foreign Player, Best Team, and overseas Globe Soccer Awards, etc., and even the Ballon d'Or. As long as you have achievements, I will do my best to help you get them."
Chen Xiaoliang laughed: "So good? You want me to win the Golden Globe Award? Then the conditions you just mentioned may not be enough, right?"
Portman took a sip of the black tea on the low table and said, "Of course there will be further conditions for cooperation at that time. In short, it will be mutually beneficial."
Chen Xiaoliang: "I'm afraid you want me to appear with you from time to time, or even show up at a hotel, and then deliberately spread rumors so that other media can make up stories and greatly increase your personal traffic, just like what you did to Mbappe before you changed your name?"
Portman laughed: "I didn't change my name. Portman is just my pen name as a reporter, just like Kaka's real name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. My name has always been Maria Luisa Jacobelli. Portman is just a code name. If you don't like it, you can call me Maria or Jacobelli. It's all fine.
In addition, I did talk to Mbappe about topics similar to what I talked about with you today, and I did want to create a buzz through some...different news, but he is different from you. He is too self-centered. He rejected my proposal because he thought that the Golden Ball would be awarded to him in a few years, and he would soon become a better player than Ronaldo and Messi. "
Chen Xiaoliang was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I have to reject you."
Portman didn't seem surprised: "Why? Do you think you deserve the Golden Boy Award this year?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "I was able to rise from 6th to 2nd in odds thanks to the club, the coach, my teammates, and myself, not you.
And, it’s not a big deal for me whether I win the award or not.”
Portman interrupted: "You can be the first Asian ever to win a major award in Europe!"
Chen Xiaoliang seemed very calm: "And the way to win the award is through your so-called operation? I don't want to say anything absolute. If the head coach hadn't sent me a text message, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with these messy things."
Portman waved his hands and tried to explain: "This is not cheating, nor is it a shady operation. This is common in the world of football."
Chen Xiaoliang stood up and said, "I know there are so many fake news, such as who is leaving the team, who is asking for a pay rise, who the coach likes and dislikes, who fought with whom in training, who went to the nightclub, and when there is really no news to make up, they just rank the list, whether Messi is ranked first or Ronaldo is ranked first, or they just find trouble to force a comparison between players from different eras, the purpose is to instigate fans to argue and gain traffic.
This is your way of survival, but my way of survival is much simpler, which is to help the team win and do my own job well.
Of course it's a great thing to win the award, and if you are willing to help me, I have no reason to refuse, but I don't accept those conditions.
I will never reveal anything about the team's locker room to you. If you want to have a formal interview with me, you can go through the legal process or make an appointment with my agent. I will not refuse you.
Also, Juventus is a great club, and I don’t care whether what you just said represents their ideas or just your own interests, but I am a Roma player now, and my goal is to win the championship for Roma. I do not accept any private promises or deals.
Finally, if you are really considering your newspaper and the award you host, and really hope that one day the Golden Boy Award can become a world-famous award like the Golden Globe Award, I hope you can make this award more pure, less controversial, and more authoritative.
Sorry to leave you."
After saying that, Chen Xiaoliang wanted to leave, but Portman quickly stopped him: "Wait! Did Mourinho teach you this?"
Chen Xiaoliang turned around and said, "Haha, do you think that a 17-year-old player should be in your hands, that you can trick him into falling into the trap with just a few words, and then get a very important part of my image rights just like selling my body?
Obviously you overestimate yourself and underestimate me.
But I am really curious, what is the relationship between you and the head coach?"
"When my father was the editor-in-chief, he gave him a lot of support."
Chen Xiaoliang didn't ask any more questions: "I'll ask him when I get back." Then he walked out the door.
David saw him coming out, threw away his cigarette, put out the fire, got in the car and started it.
Portman chased him to the door, still refusing to give up: "We can discuss the terms of cooperation later."
"No need, big reporter, I'm just a simple player."
"If you leave like this, you will definitely not get the award this year!"
Chen Xiaoliang walked to the car, turned back and waved at Portman with a smile: "Go home early and don't waste your time on me."
After saying that, David stepped on the accelerator and the two of them drove away.
In the afternoon, Chen Xiaoliang appeared at the Trigoria base and trained with the players who remained in the team.
The training intensity of the main players is very low, and they mainly focus on recovery training to adjust the degree of muscle fatigue.
Several players with minor injuries were given direct leave to have physical therapy performed by the team doctor.
After training, Chen Xiaoliang came to Mourinho's office.
The Portuguese laughed when he saw him knocking on the door and said, "What? Dumped the beautiful lady?"
Chen Xiaoliang nodded, thinking that Mourinho seemed to know everything.
Mourinho got straight to the point: "Her father helped me a lot when I first arrived in Italy. You know, with my personality, I will cause a lot of criticism wherever I go.
Of course, his help was not one-sided, we collaborated on many things.”
Chen Xiaoliang asked: "For example?"
Mourinho handed Chen Xiaoliang a bottle of water, then sat on his desk, put his hands in his pockets and said, "I'm glad you're interested in these things. He'll help you understand some of the rules of European football and make you a more mature player.
Her father and I collaborated a lot.
For example, if I wanted to buy a certain player, he would help me spread the word in the newspaper. Sometimes he would write that Inter Milan's scouts had taken a fancy to someone, and sometimes he would just write that I had taken a fancy to someone.
Then the news will be released to see the reaction of the other club and the player. If the other club reacts strongly and the player has no intention, then our transfer team does not need to waste time.
On the contrary, it means that the transfer may be possible.
There are also matters within the team. Although the locker room is private, he cannot be isolated from the entire club.
When the team's performance is not good, the locker room will become tense. At this time, whether the media helps you to make excuses and create relaxed public opinion for you, or takes advantage of the situation and criticizes the team, it will greatly affect the fans' view of us.
Imagine if you lose the game and hear the booing from the fans at home, this situation will only make the team's record worse.
Finally, regarding my personal career, as a Portuguese, I cannot deny that Real Madrid is the palace of dreams, but public opinion is very important when both sides come into contact.
Even the president of Real Madrid has to consider the fans' acceptance, because they are a membership-based club. If the club president acts recklessly and the team performs poorly, he will be voted out of office at the next general election.
We beat Barcelona that year, and her father took advantage of this and made a big fuss in the media, completely portraying me as a traitor and sworn enemy of Barcelona.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this label immediately won me the favor of Real Madrid fans.
Of course, the treble achievement is the most important, and this is not something that the media or anyone else can influence.”
Facing Mourinho's honesty, Chen Xiaoliang felt much more relaxed: "So, you want me to work with her?"
Mourinho laughed heartily: "If you were willing to work with her, would you still be sitting here with me now?"
As he spoke, he walked to a cabinet nearby, opened the door, took out a file box, and handed it to Chen Xiaoliang.
When Chen Xiaoliang opened it, he was shocked!
It turned out to be his own scouting report!
It’s a thick stack of more than 200 pages!
He opened and flipped through many pages, which included analysis of individual abilities, positions, and even detailed analysis of almost every game for Rangers.
There is also personality analysis, media processing ability analysis, etc.
In short, many of the analytical conclusions in this report were the first time even Chen Xiaoliang himself had seen them!
"This is how I convinced the boss to spend 41 million euros to buy you. This is Serie A, your transfer fee is sky-high, and you are no longer the little boy with a weekly salary of only a few hundred pounds who I could rent out last August by just calling Gerrard."
Chen Xiaoliang continued to flip through the report while listening. The report even included detailed information about what products he had endorsed, what restaurants he liked to go to in Glasgow, and what he would choose to do when he was not playing games.
He was very shocked. Not to mention that this was a transfer report, even for politicians, it would probably be this detailed at best.
"Did her father help you with this?"
Mourinho: "Some of them, you can turn to the last chapter."
Chen Xiaoliang immediately turned the page. The title of that chapter was "Media Evaluation".
There were indeed transfer speculations from Turin Sports Daily and Corriere dello Sport, but the rumored clubs were not Roma.
Turin Sports Daily said that with Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and other Premier League giants taking action, Juventus must do something, otherwise they will miss out on "the best defensive midfielder in Europe for the next fifteen years."
"Corriere dello Sport" suggested that the two Milan giants loan him out. In addition to his own abilities, it also takes into account that the two giants have a large number of loyal fans in the Red Country. At the same time, loaning can also avoid the risks of young players.
Then there was the press conference, where the two media outlets interviewed the head coaches or officials of the three major Serie A clubs.
Allegri's answer was also attached: "Chen is a very talented player, let's see what happens next."
Well, the so-called "toilet newspaper" has come in handy!
"The boss is a car salesman, and his son, our junior boss, only knows about football from a fan's perspective. Although there are professional players like Totti as consultants, the decision-making power is always in the hands of the father and son.
If such a report is published, and the media adds fuel to the fire, anyone who reads it will be tempted.”
Chen Xiaoliang nodded.
Indeed, there is not a single word about Roma, but how could those words of wealthy clubs not stimulate an American boss who has the ambition to acquire Roma?
Mourinho collected the file box and put it back in its place: "Now it's just an archive file, it means nothing, things are changing.
So now you know that even I can’t do without the help of the media and those reporters.”
"But I don't like this way of cooperation. Her conditions are unacceptable."
"Hahaha!" Mourinho laughed again and handed Chen Xiaoliang an envelope. "I'm just doing her a favor for her father's sake.
This woman has not learned at all her father's ability to get along with everyone in European football. Her calculations are too obvious and she treats everything as a business deal.
She also approached me and wanted me to transfer the partnership from her father to her, but I refused.
As for the fact that you would reject her, I had already guessed it, otherwise I would never have agreed to let you meet her."
Chen Xiaoliang felt relieved, but opened the envelope in his hand with doubt.
"The club wants you to win a significant award, not only for yourself but also to promote a winning mentality for the team.
Their editor-in-chief will interview you in the next few days. I have accepted this interview on behalf of the club. Don't miss this opportunity. Their judges are not those reporters who are greedy for money. They are all legends standing at the pinnacle of football. "
