Chapter 58 I want to buy Van der Sar!
"What?"
When Hill Jr. brought Paul Futre to Majadahonda and met with Yang Hao in the head coach's office, both Hill Jr. and Paul Futre were surprised when Yang Hao expressed his ideas.
"You want to buy Edwin van der Sar?"
"Isn't this possible?"
Both Hill Jr. and Paul Futre's first reaction was to shake their heads, which was a bit exaggerated.
"Why not?" Yang Hao was very curious.
Paul Futre shook his head and laughed, thinking that Yang Hao was still too young.
"Have you noticed that the entire European media is now criticizing him, especially the Italian media close to Juventus and the Bianconeri fans, so you think Van der Sar is cheap?"
Yang Hao nodded and did not deny it.
"Have you ever thought about why Van der Sar was criticized so badly? There are even many media and fans who think he should get his eyesight checked. Do you know why?"
"Of course, that mistake in the last round."
Yang Hao was talking about the 34th round of Serie A a few days ago (there were 18 teams in Serie A in 2000). Juventus challenged Perugia away. The Zebras lost the game 0-1. Van der Sar once again made a stupid and low-level mistake.
But that's not the point.
Van der Sar has made a lot of low-level mistakes this season, and what really caused the media and fans to criticize him was the special nature of this game.
Juventus overtook Lazio in the 15th round of Serie A on January 5 and topped the Serie A standings. Since then, they have been leading the league for about half a year and have never fallen behind.
So much so that Juventus head coach Ancelotti said: We Juventus have always been chased but never surpassed.
What's the result?
This unlucky Fat An has the physique of a runner-up that attracts criticism. In the most crucial last round, when he could win the championship as long as he beat Perugia, Van der Sar made a very low-level mistake at the beginning of the second half, allowing Perugia to score a goal.
This goal completely hit Juventus, and no matter how they fought back, they could not score a goal.
In the end, they lost 0-1 to Perugia away, and handed over the Serie A championship that they had held for half a year to Eriksen's Lazio.
In this situation, the fans' emotions must have a place to vent, and the unlucky guy is Van der Sar.
But did Van der Sar really perform so badly?
"I have to remind you, Yang, Van der Sar is almost 30 years old," said Paul Futre.
Yang Hao laughed immediately. He wanted to say, I know he is almost 30 years old, but do you know that the 30-year-old Van der Sar is just a rookie who has just debuted and is about to usher in the second spring of his career, or even the peak of his career.
"Molina is already 30 years old, but that doesn't prevent him from being a good goalkeeper," Yang Hao retorted.
Little Hill also frowned and asked, "Yang, why do you want to buy Van der Sar?"
"Because he's a good goalkeeper." Yang Hao said this, and seeing Paul Futre almost laughing, he immediately added, "And he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world!"
After hearing the last sentence, Paul Futre couldn't laugh anymore.
At this time, who dares to say that Van der Sar is a good goalkeeper?
In Italy, Van der Sar's name is like a rat crossing the street.
"Tell me about it." Little Hill said.
Of course, Yang Hao would not tell them that if Van der Sar had not left Juventus, he would have performed even worse the next season, and then been kicked out of Juventus and went to Fulham, a newly promoted Premier League team, where he stayed for a few years. He was then recommended to Ferguson of Manchester United by Van Nistelrooy, and only then did he usher in his second spring.
Yang Hao has kept all these things that will happen in the future to himself. What he wants to share is the result of his own analysis.
"First of all, Italy itself is rich in goalkeepers. They have a very mature system for the development and training of goalkeepers. I have learned about this from Giorgio Perizzaro."
"In our team, Perizaro's training method is very different from the goalkeeper training method we used to have. You can ask Molina, he is not used to the Italian goalkeeper training. Pedro Haro has also conducted special research in this area."
These are the things that happened in Yang Hao's coaching team, so he explained it very clearly.
"Before Edwin van der Sar, Juventus had never had a non-Italian goalkeeper. Imagine a very mature Dutch goalkeeper like Edwin van der Sar suddenly going to Italy and facing a completely different training method and even knowing nothing about the language. The key is that Juventus and their coach had never trained a non-Italian goalkeeper before."
“How many conflicts and problems will arise between the two sides in this situation?”
Little Hill and Paul Futre were both speechless.
Yang Hao always looks at things from a different perspective than them.
Because they always choose players based on fame, performance, data, etc., but Yang Hao will conduct in-depth analysis.
In his previous life, Yang Hao had read Simon Cooper's "Football Economics", in which he specifically criticized the unprofessional recruitment methods of European clubs, believing that they were simply fooling around.
Of course, in Yang Hao's previous life, starting from 2010, European football ushered in a vigorous technological revolution. Not only did the techniques and tactics become more and more refined and professional, the training became more and more scientific, and signings became more and more important.
"Evan der Sar has encountered many difficulties, but if we look at Serie A this season, Juventus has only conceded 20 goals, making it the best defensive team in Serie A. Lazio, who won the championship, is only second, having conceded 33 goals."
"Many people think that this is because Juventus' defense is too good, but we must also see that Ancelotti has always said that he is not very satisfied with the defense and thinks that Juventus's defense moves too slowly."
"And Van der Sar has kept 18 clean sheets in Serie A, which is second to none in the whole of European football."
When Yang Hao said this, he had to further elaborate on his point of view to avoid being misunderstood.
"I don't mean to say that Van der Sar performed very well, but I want to say that his performance has been very up and down. When he is good, it is very good, and when he is bad, it is very bad. We have seen many low-level mistakes in this game."
"For example, in the second leg of the UEFA Cup round of 16 against Celta Vigo, after winning the first leg 0-1, they lost the second leg 0-4. Van der Sar was once again bombarded."
Yang Hao still clearly remembered that he had seen such ridicule in his previous life.
In 2000, Ancelotti's conservatism was so extreme that even the fans of Juventus, the most conservative team in Serie A, couldn't stand it.
Juventus only conceded 20 goals, isn’t that very little?
But do you know how many goals they scored?
46 goals.
The winning Lazio scored 64 goals, third-placed AC Milan scored 65 goals, and fourth-placed Inter Milan scored 58 goals.
The offensive data of 46 goals can only rank 8th in Serie A, even worse than teams such as Udinese, Fiorentina and Parma.
There is even a saying that Juventus' best offensive routine is: Van der Sar kicks the ball forward and finds Inzaghi in front of him, then Inzaghi falls in the penalty area, and Piero takes the penalty kick to take the lead, and Juventus holds on to the end with 1-0.
If someone had told Juventus fans in 2000 that Fat Andreas could become synonymous with gorgeous football, they would have been ridiculed to the point of becoming withdrawn.
Yang Hao believes that the problems Van der Sar encountered at Juventus were comprehensive, but it was definitely not a problem of the players' strength.
"I think the role of goalkeepers is seriously underestimated in world football today. One statistic that best reflects my view is that, looking around the world, goalkeepers have the lowest annual salary of the 11 players on the pitch, and their transfer fees are also the lowest."
Buffon has not yet transferred and the record transfer fee has not yet been realized.
Yang Hao's statement is very convincing and true.
"As the only player on the pitch who can use his hands, all the managers, including world-class managers like Ferguson and Hitzfeld, single out the goalkeeper in training and exclude him from their tactical systems."
In fact, this is still very common even in 2023.
Goalkeepers train in a separate area, and some don't even participate in team training, but only join in during the group stage. So for these head coaches, it doesn't matter whether the goalkeeper is tall or short, or how skilled he is.
This is 2023, and even after the birth of epoch-making goalkeepers like Neuer, it is still the same.
In 2000, Yang Hao's words were thunder and a bolt from the blue, leaving Hill Jr. and Paul Futre at a loss for words.
Does what Yang Hao said make sense?
It is very different from their previous cognition, even subversive, but it sounds very logical.
"I understand." Xiao Xi'er finally chose to believe Yang Hao.
He didn't understand what Yang Hao said, but he believed in Yang Hao.
Paul Futre frowned and thought for a moment, "I'm afraid signing Edwin van der Sar from Juventus won't be easy. He might not be willing to come. He rejected Manchester United and went to Juventus. Now asking him to come to La Liga and join us may be a bit difficult."
Atletico Madrid is now in the middle of La Liga, but what is the reality?
The whole world knows that Atletico Madrid is almost bankrupt.
In this situation, it is not easy to attract a player like Van der Sar.
"Talk to Juventus directly." Yang Hao suggested.
"If Juventus wants to sell, then we have a chance. If that doesn't work, I will go and talk to Van der Sar myself."
This is usually a way for the head coach to express his sincerity.
Both Hill Jr. and Paul Futre thought it was worth a try.
"But I suggest that you make a second-hand preparation to avoid any accidents," Paul Futre reminded.
Yang Hao knew that he already had a second suitable candidate.
That is Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech.
In 1999, Cech moved from the low-level Viktoria Plzen to Bursany in the Czech First League. In the just-concluded season, he had already played once, playing the full game in a 1-3 loss to the top team Sparta Prague.
At only 18 years old, Cech is still too young.
If possible, Yang Hao still prefers Van der Sar.
