Everyone gathered together until very late, and Mourinho also changed from a sharer at the beginning to a listener later.
Listen to Riise recalling his time playing for Roma;
Listen to Helena explain why the German Sport University in Cologne is the best sports university in Europe;
Listening to Wu Lei introducing the training model of Coach Xu’s Chongming Football Base;
Listen to Cesco's comments on whether basketball or football is more popular in Slovenia;
Listen to David talk about how the English football market 20 years ago is different from the current one;
Listen to David's son excitedly talk about why he became a loyal fan of Chen Xiaoliang.
This group of people have different nationalities and native languages. Everyone is engaged in different professions and has different identities, but the common language of football connects everyone together.
However, unlike the holiday in Ajaccio with Gerrard's family at the end of last season, with the older and more serious Mourinho there, everyone just drank the bottle of red wine he brought.
Rome is adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea and it is almost summer, so it will not get dark until around 8 o'clock in the evening.
It was not until 11 o'clock when everyone started to feel sleepy that they said goodbye one by one and agreed to meet again in the new season.
Chen Xiaoliang and Helena had a long talk and in-depth communication for the whole night before parting.
The next day, they both set off on their own journeys.
Chen Xiaoliang and David flew to Glasgow together. Rangers chairman Dave had already arranged the entire itinerary when he learned that the cash cow was coming back.
Although Rangers failed to successfully defend the Scottish Premier League title this season, Dave was still satisfied with the loss on penalties in the Europa League final.
The club has continued to suppress its old rival the Celtics in terms of season revenue by relying on Chen Xiaoliang's share of personal image rights and the influence of the Red Country Youth Training Camp in the Red Country.
Arriving at the long-missed training base, Chen Xiaoliang changed into a Rangers uniform and met the young players he had sponsored for an entire season.
He first watched the youth training camp's intra-team competition for a while. Although the two age groups were 12 and 14 years old, after a season of rotation training, their playing style clearly showed the style of modern English football - fast, concise, and daring to confront.
Another area is sports nutrition, which is what Chen Xiaoliang has felt most deeply during his two years in Europe.
Many people believe that the gap in football is only reflected in the training system and tactical thinking, but in the eyes of practitioners, the backwardness of the entire "sports industry" is the fundamental reason why some projects can never improve.
Take basketball superstar Yao Ming as an example. When he was playing in Donghai City, his skills and basic basketball ideas had already been finalized. This was due to his talent and also inseparable from his hard work.
But after arriving in the United States, he had no advantage at all in the confrontation, so the Houston team developed a long-term sports nutrition and weight gain plan for him.
Then many people will say, doesn’t this mean that you can practice skills first and then practice physique?
Yao Ming's regretful retirement proves that both of them need to be paid attention to from the youth training period.
The long-term lack of building of bone density and muscle toughness during the youth training period resulted in Yao Ming's bones being unable to withstand the tremendous pressure generated by the confrontation after he gained weight in the later period, which eventually led to stress fractures, that is, the bones of the feet could break as long as they were subjected to strong pressure.
On the other hand, Shaquille O'Neal obviously has a more exaggerated weight and exercise load. Even though his congenital conditions may be different due to racial factors, cumulative injuries such as stress fractures are very rare under the more scientific and modern "sports industry" training in American middle schools and universities.
The most basic sports nutrition is actually the intake of meat, eggs and milk.
It is no exaggeration to say that the history of the Chinese people winning gold and silver medals in the Olympics is actually a history of the development of meat, eggs and milk.
In 1985, the annual per capita meat consumption in the Red Country reached 16.6 kilograms, an increase of 10.5 kilograms from 30 years ago.
By 1995, this figure had risen to 33.5 kilograms.
By 2020, it had exceeded 60 kilograms.
This is directly reflected in the height of young people in the Red Country.
According to statistics from The Lancet magazine, the average height of 19-year-old men and women in the Red Country has jumped to first in East Asia.
Over the past 35 years, the average height of 19-year-old men in the Red Country has increased by a full 8 centimeters, now standing at 175.7 centimeters;
Women have gained 6 centimeters and are now 163.5 centimeters tall.
Across the country, the average height of Chinese people has caught up with or even exceeded that of European countries such as Portugal, Italy, and Spain, which have long been considered tall and strong.
This "visible to the naked eye" increase is inseparable from the long-term intake of meat, eggs and milk.
But when it comes to sports nutrition, there is still a huge gap, because as we evolve, they evolve as well.
In European football 20 years ago, the emergence of an 18-year-old Michael Owen at the World Cup would be considered a huge surprise to the whole world.
In today's European football, Mbappe, Haaland, Joao Ameni, Vinicius, Pedri, Greenwood, Saka, Bellingham, Gavi and so on...
These people were already starting in the national team and big clubs when they were less than 20 years old. Looking at their physical fitness, endurance and confrontation ability, they are no longer comparable to Michael Owen and his generation at the same age.
It used to be said that young people who abused their speed excessively would suffer injuries during their careers.
But now looking at Mbappe and Haaland, one is sprinting on the field, and the other is carrying his opponent and rushing around.
Without early intervention of sports nutrition, no matter how good the technical training is, it will be useless without a strong body and confrontation.
When the children of the youth training team saw Chen Xiaoliang appear, they were all very excited and performed particularly hard on the field .
This kind of collective life in a foreign country for half a year is not only beneficial for football, but also for the development of children's character.
Dave accompanied Chen Xiaoliang throughout the whole process. As a businessman who was calculating every day and turned Rangers from a bankrupt club to an undefeated championship, reaching the Europa League final, and returning to the Champions League next season, although he was a bit cunning, he really put all his efforts into the club.
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang was already a well-known European rising star. It was impossible for Rangers to invite him back to the club unless he was 38 or 39 years old, so grabbing any business that could be related to Chen Xiaoliang would increase the club's income as much as possible.
However, it happened that this time when Chen Xiaoliang went to Glasgow, in addition to taking a look at the situation of the youth training camp, he was preparing to discuss with Dave the possibility of officially incorporating the Red Country Youth Training Camp into the Rangers youth training team.
In the UK, there is a work permit system that is well known in the football world.
After all, the British Isles have a small land area and a sparse population. Once a large number of foreign workers pour in, it will have a huge impact on the working environment and competition of local residents.
After the UK leaves the EU, even players from EU member states who come to the UK to play football will need to apply for a work permit.
For players from the Red Country, they must meet the requirement of "playing a certain proportion of A-level matches for the national team in the past 24 months, and their country must be ranked within X in FIFA."
The two changing conditions here will change depending on the country's ranking.
For example, Belgium, which is ranked in the top 10 in the world, only needs to participate in 30% of the national team's matches in the past 24 months to obtain a work permit unconditionally.
For national teams with less than 75 players, a 75% participation ratio is required.
National teams outside the top 75 cannot obtain work permits based on the national team's appearance ratio.
In addition, players who fail to meet the national team's participation ratio can also gain points by meeting a certain ratio of league participation. If they reach 15 points, they can also obtain a work permit.
The UK's mainstream leagues are divided into five levels:
The first level is naturally the five major leagues;
The second level is the Portuguese Super League, Belgian First Division, Dutch Eredivisie, Turkish Super League and English Championship;
Some people may ask, why do you need to apply for a work permit when you are already playing in the Championship?
Because this involves a large number of EU players who originally obtained work permits through EU laws and now need to be reassessed after the UK leaves the EU.
The fifth level is the Danish Superliga, Polish Superliga, Chilean Superliga, Major League Soccer and Red Super League.
Although the Red Super League is not included, it is impossible to get a full 15 points by relying solely on the league in low-level competitions, and it is even impossible to get the 10 points required for manual appeal.
But the UK also retained the "genius clause", which was the clause Mourinho used when he signed Chen Xiaoliang from Tottenham and sent him to Rangers.
For example, when a Premier League club spends more than 10 million pounds to bring a player from Europe (limited to Europe), the probability of the player obtaining a work permit will greatly increase.
Or if the player's salary meets two conditional levels - 34,000 pounds per week or 43,000 pounds per week, the probability of obtaining a work permit can also be increased.
Another way is that big clubs can appeal to the Football Association by offering high liquidated damages, using written materials to prove that the player failed to meet all the terms due to age, identity, etc., but the club thinks he will be a future genius. The player can also obtain a temporary work permit, but the number of such places is extremely limited.
This is the path Chen Xiaoliang took.
What is more common is that in countries that allow dual citizenship, if the conditions are met, British citizenship is obtained for foreign young players in the youth training system to avoid the obstruction of work permits.
Sterling, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1994 and joined the Queens Park Rangers youth training system in 2003, is one of them.
Compared with Scotland and Wales, there are stricter requirements in England. Non-English players under the age of 18, even 17-year-old Mbappe and Haaland, who have already become famous, cannot play for English clubs even if they play 100% for the national team.
This is an iron rule regarding age.
This is also the reason why Mourinho sent Chen Xiaoliang to the Scottish Premier League.
Of course, not having a work permit does not mean that you cannot sign a contract, just like Dong Fangzhuo who played for Manchester United. However, such players without a work permit cannot register to play in various competitions and can only be loaned to other national leagues to obtain points to meet the requirements.
Dong Fangzhuo obtained a Manchester United work permit through the talent clause after winning the Golden Boot in the Belgian Second Division, and won the Champions League medal in 2008.
It is precisely because of the above reasons that if the Red National Primary School players in the Rangers youth training camp want to stay in the club, they can only sign youth training contracts and participate in youth leagues.
According to the current status of Red Country football, even when they reach the age of 18, these people have no hope of obtaining a work permit.
Therefore, Chen Xiaoliang had already commissioned Reese to start a "longer-term" plan.
Just like Barcelona defender Pique bought Andorra club currently in the Spanish Second Division, another Barcelona defender Bellerin invested in Forest Green Rovers who will participate in English League One next season, and Real Madrid star Hazard founded San Diego 1904 to participate in the third-tier competition of the Major League Soccer, Chen Xiaoliang acquired Ibiza club in the fourth-tier Spanish league through Riise.
After the Spanish league was restructured last year, the original third-level competition, the Segunda B League, has been replaced by the Segunda A and Segunda B.
The full names are "La Liga A" and "La Liga B", which are currently the third and fourth level competitions in Spain.
Spanish League A is divided into two groups, with a total of 40 teams, and Spanish League B is divided into five groups, with 18 teams in each group, totaling 90 teams. The origin of the teams depends on the promotion results of the regional leagues in Spain.
This means that the Spanish Association B is the last level of the Spanish national league, and below that are regional competitions.
The Ibiza club finished sixth in Group 3 of the Western Association B this season and will continue to compete in Group 3 next season, which also includes Espanyol B.
Why did Chen Xiaoliang buy this team? After the recommendation of Riise's team, he thought about it carefully.
First, this team is very cheap. The total estimated value of the entire team is only 2.03 million euros, equivalent to 15 million red currency.
Not to mention Chen Xiaoliang, who earns 14 million euros a year and has many endorsements and natural gas fields, even an ordinary Donghai citizen would probably spend more than this amount to buy a house.
Of course, this does not mean that this amount of money can buy the team. After all, they have a small stadium that can accommodate 5,000 people.
All in all, the price agreed upon by both parties was only 3.9 million euros.
This is much more expensive than the 1.2 million euros that coach Xu Genbao of Chongming Base bought the Spanish Third Division club Lorca for.
Second, Spain does not have a work permit, and only La Liga requires that players under the age of 16 cannot be registered in the first team. Lower-level leagues have no restrictions on the playing age of players.
Third, like Coach Xu, I am attracted by the relatively technical football environment in Spain.
Fourth, the team is on the island of Ibiza off the east coast of Spain, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. The climate is very pleasant. The temperature is around 10° at the coldest time. It is a famous holiday resort in Europe.
Fifth, this place is surrounded by the sea and is sparsely populated during the off-tourist season, making it very suitable for young players to settle down and play football well, rather than being seduced by the glamorous world of big cities like many of their Red Country football predecessors.
While watching the young players' game, the two chatted about this matter. Dave was overjoyed when he heard the news, and the two hit it off immediately.
The agreement is to first select players from the Red Country youth training camp several times a year, sign youth training contracts, join the Rangers youth training system, and then join the Ibiza Club to participate in the Spanish lower-level leagues when they are 16 years old.
Once the players become famous, the two institutions, Coach Xu's Chongming Base and Dong Dazui's Young Footballers, will share the transfer dividends with Rangers and Ibiza Club.
After the two discussed, the young players' 60-minute training match also ended. At their invitation, Chen Xiaoliang also joined them to train together.
What’s interesting is that the kids wanted Chen Xiaoliang to show them how to shoot. After all, that was all he could do. Chen Xiaoliang’s most powerful steal, these kids under 11 or 12 years old couldn’t stand it…
Chen Xiaoliang was quite confident. Facing a young goalkeeper named Wang, he received a pass from another young player in the penalty area and shot.
As a result, he overestimated his shooting attribute of only 5.
The first kick, it flew, to the point where it could be a satellite, not a plane...
With the second kick, he consciously controlled the strength and was tackled by Xiao Wang...
On the third kick, he increased his strength, but the ball was a little short when the young player passed it to him, so he missed the target...
This is a bit embarrassing...
An 85 million-euro Serie A player of the season and best midfielder, facing a 12-year-old goalkeeper, shot three times in the penalty area but none of them went in...
This is really like throwing pepper on the doorstep of your next-door neighbor - it's really annoying your neighbors.
Dave and the coach of the youth training camp couldn't help but laugh.
However, Chen Xiaoliang looked calm and gave Xiao Wang a thumbs-up. This perfect display of power instantly made everyone "understand" that the big star was intentionally letting Xiao Wang win to encourage the younger generation.
Chen Xiaoliang then walked out of the penalty area and came to a place about 35 meters away from the goal.
Then he gave some instructions to the young players, telling them to pass the ball back to him at a certain speed and angle.
When facing their idols, the young players naturally followed his instructions strictly and meticulously.
Facing the incoming ball, Chen Xiaoliang took three steps and hit the ball under his right foot with all his strength!
At this time, he didn't care whether the goalkeeper was 12 years old or 32 years old, whether he was a kid from his own youth training camp or an older friend of the opponent player in the final.
If he doesn’t go in, he’ll lose face… There’s even a camera from the Rangers Club following him throughout the process to record his “glorious return home”.
Therefore, the two newly acquired skills [Good at long-distance shooting] and [Good at difficult shooting] are just right for use.
There was a loud "bang" and the ball flew out.
Chen Xiaoliang, who used the outside of his foot a little, clearly saw the ball fly to the left first, as if it was going to fly towards the corner flag, and then turned back at the highest point. The ball's own speed plus the acceleration of falling from the high point made the ball hit the left side of the goal like a falling meteorite.
The 12-year-old player had never seen such a ball in training... He was stunned and didn't move...
Everyone around, including Dave and the youth team coach, couldn't help but open their mouths into an O shape.
It's so cruel. He's just a 12-year-old kid...
After a few seconds of silence, applause broke out immediately!
The young players all looked at Chen Xiaoliang with great admiration!
Although Chen Xiaoliang knew that this beautiful long shot without any confrontation, running or game pressure did not mean that it could be kicked in a high-intensity official game, it was still a wonderful shot that was enough to inspire the young players.
He high-fived the children one by one, encouraging them to cherish the opportunity, learn more and practice more. Even if they do not become professional players when they grow up, they can become coaches and teach other children to play football.
That night, Dave wanted to invite Chen Xiaoliang to dinner, but Chen Xiaoliang declined.
Because he hadn't taken his driver's license yet, he asked David to drive him to the Red Country Restaurant near Celtic Park, where he had been before. An old friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time was waiting for him there.
When the two met, they gave each other a big hug.
The few tables of guests in the small restaurant immediately recognized him and showed expressions of disbelief on their faces.
David followed the old routine, parked the car at the door, leaned against the car, lit a cigarette, and kept an eye on the surrounding situation at all times to make sure everything was safe.
The two ordered some hometown dishes, such as shredded pork with mashed pork, river crucian carp soup, and vegetable rice.
Chen Xiaoliang asked: "Sister Xiao Shen, are you ready to go home?"
Shen Mengyu: "No, I'm not like you, who is admired by everyone. I've played my first full season here and finally integrated into the team and my teammates. I want to take advantage of the summer to interact more with my local teammates. Besides, the offseason is only a few weeks and the Internet is convenient, so I won't go back for now."
Chen Xiaoliang took out his phone with a smile and sent her a photo: "So are you going to this?"
When Shen Mengyu saw his expression, she knew that something good must be going on.
"Ouch! The Champions League final! Go go go!!!"
What Chen Xiaoliang sent her was the 2021-22 Champions League final to be held at the Stade de France tomorrow night, with the two teams facing off between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
"Aren't you going with your German girlfriend?" Shen Mengyu asked.
Chen Xiaoliang laughed: "Her whole family are Dortmund fans. Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, which was unprecedented. It was her grandfather Hitzfeld who led the team at that time."
"In 1998, Dortmund was still going strong and made it all the way to the semi-finals, but was eliminated by Real Madrid."
"Unexpectedly, just one year later, in 2000, her grandfather was already coaching Bayern Munich, so the whole family naturally supported Bayern to win the championship. As a result, in the Champions League semi-finals again, Real Madrid defeated Bayern again."
"She said she was only 12 years old at the time, and when she saw her grandfather eliminated, she and her sister burst into tears. Real Madrid became the team they hated the most, and they refused to watch Real Madrid's games. Hahahaha! I laughed to death when I heard that, so I came to invite you."
Shen Mengyu: "Oh, if Real Madrid invites you in the future, will you go or not?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Haha, sister, you have become a bad guy. This question is not well-intentioned, but I know you definitely want me to go. Modric is your favorite star."
Shen Mengyu: "That's right! I hope Croatia can do well in this year's World Cup! But brother, I almost never missed any of your games. I think with your improvement this season, you will soon surpass Modric."
Chen Xiaoliang: "I'm far from that. He's a legend, with 5 Champions League titles and the Ballon d'Or. I'm going to surpass him with my head..."
Shen Mengyu: "I'm talking about ability. Of course, the trophy depends on the team, time, and luck. I noticed that your speed has improved by leaps and bounds recently. How did you train? Teach me."
"Well……"
Chen Xiaoliang almost choked when he heard this question.
I competed hard, trained hard, and then used the system to point it out...
Can I answer this way? Obviously not...
Chen Xiaoliang: "I seem to have grown again recently. I don't know how I grew faster. Even Helena was surprised and asked me why I grew faster and faster."
Shen Mengyu: "Well... you are still young and still growing."
She paused, and suddenly blushed: "Huh?! What are you talking about?"
Chen Xiaoliang was also stunned, and then he reacted and accidentally told the "truth": "No! What are you thinking!"
He quickly changed the subject: "Sister, what do you think of the level of the Scottish Premier League compared to the domestic women's football league?"
Shen Mengyu thought for a moment and said, "If the Celtics women's football team and the Donghai women's football team played a game with all their main players, I think they are about the same level."
"But the organization of the league, especially the logistics and training team, as well as the fact that major well-known clubs throughout Europe have greatly increased their investment in women's football in recent years, have led to the rapid development of women's football here."
"Let's not talk about Barcelona, ​​Lyon, Chelsea, which are the best women's football clubs in Europe. Let's take our Celtics as an example. Many of our nutritionists, sports science consultants, and physiotherapy teams are shared with the men's football team. The training grounds and facilities are also built according to the standards of the men's football team. This is not seen in the Red Country."
"The transfer fee for the best female football player in the world is only 300,000 to 400,000 euros, which is almost free for big European clubs. The football atmosphere here is particularly good, and many people watch women's football matches. For example, the Women's European Cup to be held in July has sold 30,000 tickets for many games. I heard that more than 80,000 tickets for the final at Wembley were sold out. So big clubs are willing to invest because they have the support of the football market."
“Plus, the marketing here is also better. They will let me appear in a promotional video with Joe Hart from the men’s team. This video can promote our women’s team in Europe and the Celtic men’s team in the Red Country.”
"Like the Ballon d'Or winner you know, Putlas, every time she goes to the awards ceremony to receive the award, whether it's the Ballon d'Or or the UEFA Best Player, Barcelona will have a special team to design her look and custom-make her clothes. These are all part of the club's external marketing and public relations."
Chen Xiaoliang nodded thoughtfully after hearing this: "Sister, have you ever thought about going to a bigger club? Maybe I can help."
Shen Mengyu smiled gratefully but shook her head: "I know my current level. The level of the Scottish Premier League women's football team in Europe is similar to that of the Scottish Premier League men's football team in Europe. Both are better than the best but worse than the worst. I think this team is suitable for me. It would be difficult for me to get a chance to play in top women's football clubs like Lyon and Barcelona. Let's wait and see in two years. People still have to find their own position after all."
Afterwards, the two chatted about everything under the sun and even invited David to come over for dinner.
After eating, one went back to the hotel and the other went back to the dormitory, packed their luggage, and flew to Paris early the next morning.
Coming to Paris for the second time, everything was still beautiful for Chen Xiaoliang.
The Champions League final at the Stade de France left him breathless and unable to calm down for a long time.
Liverpool had 24 to 4 shots, 9 to 2 shots on target, 6 to 2 corner kicks, 54 to 46 ball possession, and completely suppressed other statistics throughout the game. However, in the end, thanks to goalkeeper Courtois's godly performance in front of the goal and a simple counterattack from the back, Valverde assisted Vinicius to score the only goal of the game, and Real Madrid won the Champions League trophy for the 14th time.
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang's mind was filled with the words that Mourinho often said - defense wins championships.
The Spanish giants, who humbled themselves, finally took away the trophy, leaving Klopp with a helpless look on his face, like a storm hitting cotton.
The best player of the match was given to Courtois who scored 9.4 points for 9 saves, while the second highest score of 8.0 points was given to defensive midfielder Casemiro who contributed 3 clearances and 3 interceptions.
Chen Xiaoliang couldn't help drooling and thought that if he was in Rome and had such a guy behind him, he would have nothing to worry about.
Thinking of this, he immediately sent a text message to Riise: "Did Pinto get things done in Argentina?"
Reese called immediately: "Damn it, these useless wimps lost the game! I'm so pissed! I forgot to tell you right away!"
"I just received the fax confirmation letter from FIFA confirming the transfer! 12 million, exactly as you said, plus 25% of the secondary transfer share, 1.5 million euros annual salary, and 500,000 euros floating bonus! And he also agreed that I would be his exclusive agent!"
Chen Xiaoliang: "So easy? AC Milan didn't make any moves?"
Reese: "Them? They didn't even make an offer in the end."
Chen Xiaoliang: “Why?”
Riise: "They think that the Pobega they rented to Torino is pretty good, and they think that with him, they don't need to spend money on Enzo. Boss, I believe in you. Is it okay for River Plate to let this kid go at such a low price?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "You old man, just wait, I'll let you count the money happily. Where are Dybala and the others? Are they done?"
Riise: Not yet, except for the Georgian who will make an official announcement soon, Dybala, Belotti and Wijnaldum will have to wait for Pinto to return from Argentina before moving forward.
Chen Xiaoliang: "Thank you for your hard work, Chairman Reese."
Riise: "You are... making fun of me. Others may not know, but you know I am just a nominal club chairman for you. But this Ibiza Island is really nice. Real Madrid players go there for vacation every summer. You should make time to go and have a look!"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Okay, let's stop talking. I'll be back to Donghai tomorrow. If you have any news, feel free to contact me."
Shen Mengyu, who was listening to Chen Xiaoliang's phone call in the car on the way back to the hotel, asked: "I just heard you say that Roma bought an Argentine? Is that impressive?"
Chen Xiaoliang nodded: "Well, we snatched him from someone else. Sis, just wait and see. After two months of running-in, this kid will definitely become one of the best midfielders in Serie A!"
Shen Mengyu: "Do you still want to buy Dybala? He is a very good player."
Chen Xiaoliang: "Our head coach is obsessed with the Champions League. I can't help but hope that the next season will start soon!"