Chapter 399: The heavy artillery and the chariots are all in the city, and the old generals are beaten to death.
In the last game against Tottenham, Rashford, who scored a hat trick, was named the man of the match and took away the match ball.
Chen Xiaoliang, who made an assist, gained 7 training points (52→59) and 1 breakthrough point. With the BUFF reward of [Double the breakthrough points when facing BIG7 and top opponents], 1 point became 2 points... (53→55).
But compared to what comes next, these are nothing.
With the highest net worth in the football world and in history, Chen Xiaoliang still calls out the system after getting up in the morning and presses the golden achievement reward.
However, this time it is not some attribute points or mechanism rewards, but a permanent BUFF that has not been introduced in detail - Heartthrob.
He asked the system, but it didn't answer. Then he looked to see if there were any other rewards, but then nothing happened...
What the hell is this?!
I was looking forward to a huge increase in strength, but instead I got an inexplicable BUFF?
Chen Xiaoliang was a little disappointed, but after turning off this achievement reward, there was still a hidden achievement popping up.
Could it be that the real reward is here?
[Hidden achievement achieved: I have a Golden Globe-winning teammate]
[Achievement Reward: Professionalism +1] (17→18)
Damn, speechless...
Helena and Erica, who were having breakfast downstairs, suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
Erica: "Sister, why didn't he make a noise today?"
Helena: "Didn't I play well in last night's game?"
Erica: "Winning 4 goals is not good."
Helena: "Then I don't know..."
After Chen Xiaoliang got up, everything went on as usual: he went running and had breakfast.
However, when going out, David not only drove Chen Xiaoliang, but also brought Erica.
David first sent Chen Xiaoliang to the Carrington base, and said goodbye to Erica when getting off the car. Erica blew him a kiss, but the title she used had changed to "boss".
Erica, who has officially announced her retirement from the German national track and field team, feels a bit bored staying in Manchester. The climate here is not as comfortable as Rome. Not only is it cold in winter, but it rains and snows all the time.
Moreover, Manchester United is not Roma. Manchester United's own club structure is complicated and has many employees. In addition, the British have to abide by rules and traditions in everything, so they will not allow a retired female track and field athlete to join the coaching team.
So Erica started thinking about what to do after retirement.
Her idea just happened to give Chen Xiaoliang a hint, and after discussing it with the two sisters, the three of them hit it off.
On January 1, 2024, the Ibiza Club of the Spanish Royal Football Association League A, which is the third-level league in Spain, officially announced: "Nominated by club owner Chen Xiaoliang, former German athlete Erica Schmidt will become the club's executive director and CEO."
Of course, Chen Xiaoliang's decision was not made on impulse. He just randomly appointed a female friend who had never played football to help him manage the club. Behind this official announcement, there were two more lines of text:
"The club hired German legendary coach Otmar Hitzfeld as a club consultant;"
"Also hired John Arne Riise as the club's transfer director."
A super-beautiful lady in the sports world who became the CEO of a football club;
A famous European Champions League coach who once coached Bayern and Dortmund served as a consultant for a small, low-profile club;
In addition, Chen Xiaoliang's staunch ally, the agent, also served as the transfer director, which immediately made the club on this small island with a population of only more than 60,000 people become popular.
After buying five "sky-high" players worth 800,000 euros, the Ibiza club ranked fifth in the league this season and entered the promotion play-off zone, behind Barcelona's reserve team Barcelona Atletico, Real Sociedad B team and other teams. Chen Xiaoliang hopes that the team can make a push for the Spanish Second Division.
So Erica still took up the post with a mission.
However, Ibiza's current strength is not enough to compete with Real Madrid Castilla, Barcelona Athletic and many La Liga B teams in the promotion play-offs.
Whether it is a big team or a small team, you need money to buy players.
Chen Xiaoliang is very rich. After winning the Golden Ball, his income from endorsements and image rights has skyrocketed, making his income among the top 10 players in the world football.
But all this money invested in the club can only make a small splash.
Strangely enough, Chen Xiaoliang checked his social media in the car. On weekdays, he would gain tens of thousands of followers every day, but today, in less than half a day, he had already gained more than 100,000, and the number continued to soar with each refresh.
And the number of followers of the Ibiza club associated with him has also skyrocketed, from tens of thousands of followers to more than 400,000, and it is also continuing to grow.
At first, Chen Xiaoliang just thought that the official announcement had a good promotional effect and attracted a wave of traffic, but he didn't expect that after arriving at the Carrington base, the situation seemed a little different.
The security guard at the door smiled at him even brighter than usual. When he walked into the locker room, the prop manager had already hung up his jersey and shorts for him, and had also prepared a full set of items including sweat towels and drinks.
When testing his heart rate and blood sugar, the club's female sports science director looked at him...more ambiguous...
Even during training, although the protagonists of the day were Benzema, Milinkovic-Savic, and left-back Luke Thomas who was bought from Leicester City and who held an official welcome ceremony, his teammates would always look at him from time to time, as if they had just met for the first time.
Even Van der Sar said to Chen Xiaoliang: "Chen, the first day of the new year looks very different."
What's the difference?
Isn’t it like this every day?
Chen Xiaoliang even took a good look at himself in the mirror while going to the bathroom.
There is no change, he is still as handsome as ever, nothing surprising...
It was not until lunch that Bruno Fernandes' conversation with 22-year-old rookie Luke Thomas woke him up: "Luke, our management is very strict. Don't change girlfriends every few days. You have to play football well first."
Luke Thomas nodded: "Brother Big B, you are right."
B Fee: "Look at our captain. Two beautiful women are with him day and night. Isn't it because he plays football well?"
Luke Thomas nodded: "Brother Big B, you are right."
B Fee: "Ah, but come to think of it, appearance is still very important. With his looks, even if he doesn't play football, he will still be a big hit."
Luke Thomas nodded: "Brother Big B, you are right."
At this point, Bruno Fernandes touched his face and sighed, "Why is God so unfair? Why doesn't God let me be more handsome? It's fine if he is handsome, but he is getting more and more handsome."
Luke Thomas nodded: "Brother Big B...what do you mean by getting more and more handsome?"
B Fee: "You just came today so you don't know. We all think he looks handsome again today. Isn't that infuriating? No wonder. I heard that Gerrard, Mourinho, and even Guardiola want to marry their daughters to him. If I were a woman, I would be tempted too."
Anthony on the side said: "There are so many gays nowadays, men are also tempted."
Chen Xiaoliang's heart skipped a beat.
Damn, could it be that the charming BUFF is working?
The afternoon training went on as usual. After all, it was the middle of the season and the three new players had played in the league for half a season. They were in very good shape, especially Benzema, who showed a strong ability to connect the midfield and frontcourt in training, which made Ten Hag, who was observing from the side, applaud constantly.
Spectators are not allowed to watch team training, but there is no such restriction for Chen Xiaoliang’s extra training.
After the training, when the extra practice session just started, the female staff of the club, the young players, and even Benzema and Casemiro, were all staring at Chen Xiaoliang.
The most excited person was Luke Thomas who joined the team on the first day. He took the initiative to apply to join the long-awaited extra training team, so that the team now has 12 people, almost becoming a large team.
Every time Chen Xiaoliang made a good pass or a powerful shot, Luke Thomas would shout "cool!"
At first, Chen Xiaoliang asked him to train seriously, but later even the crowd on the sidelines started shouting "handsome!"
At this point, it is almost certain that Chen Xiaoliang is the popular guy.
After the extra training, Van der Sar invited him to his office.
There was a pile of contract invitations on the desk, all from sponsors, specifically asking Chen Xiaoliang to shoot commercials, and they were all sent today.
Van der Sar also found a reasonable explanation for this unscientific phenomenon: "It seems that the FIFA awards ceremony is coming up, and these businesses want to grab the exclusive sponsorship spots in advance."
To his surprise, Chen Xiaoliang accepted all of his requests and agreed to them all.
But he talked to Van der Sar about other things, and the conversation lasted until the evening.
Manchester United chose to go to Capri for a 10-day training camp during this winter break, and at the end of the training camp, they went to Rome to play a friendly match with Roma.
On the one hand, the players go to the warm Mediterranean island to relax, and on the other hand, they make full use of Chen Xiaoliang's commercial value to cooperate with Roma.
Although Manchester United, which was not short of money to begin with, has become the club with the most money in football after Jassim took over, increasing revenue to meet the Financial Fair Play Act is still an important task for the club as both Old Trafford and Carrington need to be repaired and upgraded, and further purchases will be made in the next summer window.
The 10-day training passed in a flash, and I was very happy to meet my old teammates in Rome. In the final friendly match, the two sides drew 2-2. Ten Hag mainly observed the new players and young people. Chen Xiaoliang only played for 20 minutes, and Casemiro and Benzema did not play at all.
After the training, the whole team prepared to go to London to participate in the League Cup semi-final.
However, Chen Xiaoliang said goodbye not only to his old friends in Roma, but also to his teammates.
Due to the joining of Benzema, the team's forward line is already overcrowded. The club loaned Sancho, who has been unable to adjust his mentality and has fewer and fewer opportunities to play, to his old club Dortmund.
Including Fred who had left the team before, Manchester United also sent away two people in the winter window.
On January 12, Chen Xiaoliang, who had accumulated 40 training points in 10 days (59→99) and improved his skills from 17 to 18 (training value 99→19), appeared again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the home of Tottenham.
However, he did not start today, but sat on the bench and watched his teammates deal with the unstable Tottenham.
goalkeeper Livakovic;
The back four: Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire and Luke Thomas;
The double defensive midfielders are Milinkovic-Savic and McTominay, and the attacking midfielder is Eriksen;
Left winger Ganacho, center forward Benzema, right winger Anthony.
With such a lineup, half of which were not regular starters this season, they ended up drawing with Tottenham in the away game.
The reason is very simple. Harry Kane refused to play, so Levy suspended his salary and training, and said that he would never accept any offers in the winter window. Kane refused to admit defeat, so he was not allowed to play a single game in the second half of the season and would not be released until his contract ended in the summer.
Muani said in an interview that he was deceived by the club into leaving the team, and was also punished by Levy, who has put him on the market, but the price is 80 million pounds.
One is the absolute core, the other is the all-time record signing. When both of them fell out with the club at the same time, one can imagine the morale in the team’s locker room.
Chen Xiaoliang only felt that after 12 days, Tottenham fans scolded Levy even more fiercely. They even instigated Son Heung-min and other players to boycott training and games with Kane in order to force Levy to sell the team as soon as possible.
Manchester United has no time to care about other people's affairs. Whether it is newcomers or old players, they all want to seize the opportunity to perform well.
In the 34th minute, Milinkovic-Savic, who is 191cm tall and skilled in heading, received a free kick from Eriksen outside the penalty area on the right and headed the ball directly into the goal, scoring in his first appearance and the score was 0-1.
In the 51st minute, Son Heung-min cut in from the left to avoid Wan-Bissaka and shot directly into the far corner with his right foot, creating a big arc. Livakovic had no way to deal with such a magical shot, and Tottenham tied the game 1-1.
However, after scoring the goal, Son Heung-min did not celebrate at all. Instead, his face was full of unhappiness and confusion.
In the 62nd minute, Benzema retreated to the left side of the penalty area to receive the ball. He turned around and faced Ndidi and used his right foot to kick a curved ball towards the far corner, but Maignan saved it with his left hand. However, after the ball bounced back, Anthony made a follow-up shot and scored.
1-2, Manchester United took the lead again.
Afterwards, Ten Hag replaced Benzema, and Tottenham fans briefly stopped cursing and applauded the legendary Ballon d'Or winner.
Seeing that the game was already decided, Ten Hag did not let Chen Xiaoliang play again, and the final score was fixed at 1 to 2.
The next day, Manchester United continued to stay in London to prepare for the 19th round of the league away game against Fulham.
On this day, the entire Premier League was paying attention to the negotiations between Harry Kane 's agent and brother Charlie Kane and Levy.
In the end, Levy, who understood that Kane was determined to fight to the death this time, finally succumbed to money and expressed his willingness to accept Paris Saint-Germain's offer of 30 million euros to sell Kane, who had only half a year left on his contract.
As for selling Kane, will it lead to further boycott from fans?
Levy doesn't care at all. In his eyes, fans are just leeks who curse at you while buying tickets to watch the game.
While one side sold its star player, the other side, Paris Saint-Germain was full of enthusiasm.
With Mbappe set to leave the team for Real Madrid in the summer window, Mourinho's acquisition of Kane has undoubtedly strengthened his confidence in his bid for the Champions League.
He has already told the media that Paris Saint-Germain is not afraid of any team they are drawn against in the Champions League round of 16, as they have the strength to defeat anyone and win the championship.
The media generally believes that Mourinho is referring to Manchester United, which has a 25% chance of drawing Paris Saint-Germain.
However, here, Chen Xiaoliang returned to the starting lineup and formed the midfield with Casemiro and B Fee again to challenge Fulham away.
Compared with Manchester United, which is strong and can put together two lineups, Fulham's main players are not good enough.
After a dull draw in the first half, in the 72nd minute of the second half, Ten Hag replaced Cesco in the starting lineup with Benzema. This was also Benzema's first Premier League game in his career.
After receiving the ball outside the penalty area, Chen Xiaoliang got rid of the defense of former Manchester United player Pereira and made a straight pass. The ball passed between the two and arrived at Benzema's feet on the right side of the penalty area. The French striker did not make any adjustments and kicked the ball directly after receiving it. The ball passed through the small door of goalkeeper Leno and rolled into the net.
After that, Fulham, with their physical strength declining, gradually became unable to launch threatening counterattacks and were surrounded and attacked by Manchester United in the half.
Kva and Ganacho, who replaced Rashford, broke through on both sides, Benzema moved around in the penalty area, and Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball outside the penalty area or shot from long range.
This scene made Zhang Lu, an old man from the imperial capital, who was laughing in the live broadcast room, suddenly blurt out a jingle: "The old generals in the city are being beaten to death with heavy artillery and chariots."
The car refers to Kova and Ganacho on both sides, the heavy artillery is Chen Xiaoliang, and the damn horse is naturally Benzema wandering in the penalty area.
In this endless three-dimensional attack, in the 86th minute, Ganacho broke through on the right and made a triangle pass. Benzema was blocked by Fulham left-back Robinson and his shooting route was blocked, so he turned around and passed the ball out. Chen Xiaoliang outside the arc followed up with a fierce shot. Leno didn't even move, the ball flew into the goal, hit the net and bounced back.
0-2, easily bringing back the first 3 points of the second half of the season. On the other side, Manchester City also defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 at home and continued to lead Manchester United by 2 points.
However, when asked by Zhan Jun who he was more optimistic about this season, Zhang Lu still chose Manchester United:
"Manchester United did not buy Benzema for marketing purposes. They probably saw the beneficial effects of having a player with rich experience in the Champions League in Casemiro."
"This team has a lot of young players, including Xiaoliang, Kwa, Cesco, Timber, Ganaocho, etc., including Lima, Rashford, Luke Shaw, who are all around 25 or 26 years old. In the winter window, they can bring in Benzema, who has rich experience in the Champions League, and Milinkovic, who is eager to win a big championship. If these people can work together, plus the state they have shown this season, I feel they can create amazing results."
Zhan Jun: "What about the main opponents? Manchester City is leading in the league, but Liverpool and Newcastle are also chasing. Chelsea is also in good form. In the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Bayern and Arsenal are all performing well."
Zhang Lu: "I am still optimistic about Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. Although Barcelona lost to Arsenal, they have one thing in common with Paris Saint-Germain, which is that they only conceded two goals in six group stage games. This is very scary."
"Especially in cup competitions, there has always been a saying that champions are won through defense. Mourinho 's counterattack has made Mbappe thrive this season. Add to that Dybala, Neymar, and now Kane. The defense is already excellent, and the attacking group has improved. It's hard not to achieve results."
"But it depends on the draw. It's luck. There's nothing we can do about it."
"But I believe Xiaoliang and Manchester United will reverse Manchester United's decade of decline. Other teams are not important. It all depends on the key matches against those strong teams to determine who will win the final championship."
At this point, Zhang Lu changed the subject: "But there is one thing, I don't know if you feel it."
Zhan Jun: "Oh? What new discoveries did Zhang Zhi make?"
Zhang Lu: "I think Xiaoliang's appearance and temperament have obviously improved recently."
Zhan Jun: "Hahahaha, Zhang Zhi is right. Even today at the away game, there were female fans everywhere wearing Xiaoliang's No. 7 jersey and holding his posters."
"This scene is probably only comparable to that of David Beckham back then!"
