Manchester City also submitted a full offer of 10 million pounds, which was also rejected by Southampton.
Liverpool's female owner Linda sends text messages to Gu Ran every day to say hello, but she is not in a hurry to mention the transfer. She just maintains a relationship with Gu Ran.
Supermodel Abbey Clancy also continues to post photo shoots every day, and the content of the photos is becoming more and more graphic.
But Gu Ran just looked at them critically and deleted the photos into the trash can.
Yes, now, no one can influence my determination to play football!
Just as Gu Ran was thinking this, he received a call from an unfamiliar number in the United States.
Gu Ran, who was about to go for training, simply refused to listen.
No one can influence...
The phone rang again.
Gu Ran frowned, pressed the answer button, and asked unhappily, "Who is it?"
A slightly sweet female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hi, is this Mr. Gu Ran?"
Hearing that it was a girl calling, Gu Ran's attitude softened a little, "Yes, who is it?"
"Oh! Hello, Mr. Gu Ran! I'm Gwyneth Paltrow. I don't know if you've heard of me. I've won an Oscar for Best Actress. I played Iron Man's secretary, Pepper Potts, in the Iron Man series."
Oh shit!
The phone in Gu Ran's hand nearly flew out of his chest with excitement.
No wonder the voice sounded so familiar, it was actually the Hollywood actress Gwyneth herself calling! Although Anne Hathaway and Elizabeth Olsen are also Hollywood actresses, Gwyneth is the real Hollywood actress!
Although she won the Oscar for Best Actress with her realistic voice, it's so watery, so watery...
But she is an Oscar winner after all!
The Hollywood movie queen called me personally! This is the first time! Daoxin! Daoxin! My Daoxin!!!
Hold steady————
Gu Ran quickly controlled his inner excitement and said in a calm tone: "Oh, it's you... Is there anything wrong?"
Gwyneth on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned for a moment, as if she didn't expect Gu Ran to be so calm after hearing her name.
Gwyneth then said, "It's like this, Mr. Gu Ran. I have read the script of Avengers 2 that you hand-painted. You are so talented. I am very happy that you can handle the script of Iron Man 3. As the heroine of the Iron Man series, I am very much looking forward to having an in-depth exchange with you on the content of the script."
In-depth communication...
Gwyneth, you're not going to have a deep conversation with me just to get me to add more scenes to the script or to write you as the female Iron Man to replace Robert Downey Jr., are you?
I must be overthinking it!
Gu Ran cleared his throat and said, "Well... I'm not very convenient recently."
Gwyneth on the other end of the phone was stunned again! This hand-painted playwright is too big a star! He is even more famous than Robert Downey Jr.! But... for screenwriters, aren't the more capable the better the star? Then conversely, the more famous the star, the more capable.
Yes, it would be abnormal if it is not a big brand! This taste is right!
Gwyneth immediately said more humbly: "Mr. Gu Ran, I will cancel all my recent activities. I will come to talk to you whenever you are free."
Holy shit…
Oscar winner, don't do this...
Gu Ran took a deep breath and tried to suppress his excited heartbeat. "Alas, I'm really busy recently. At least it won't be possible in August."
Gwyneth immediately said in a coquettish voice: "Oh, Mr. Gu Ran, I am really sincere. I won't take up too much of your time. I promise~"
Who can stand this little noise?
By the way, Gwyneth, you are 38 this year, right?
This is really an age that makes Cao Ze ecstatic! And she also has the aura of a Hollywood movie queen!
That means I am the one with a strong heart of Tao! I can fight with him! Gu Ran said immediately: "...Well, come back in about half a month, but I can't guarantee that I will have time to entertain you."
Gwyneth on the other end of the phone chuckled, "Great, Mr. Gu Ran! You're so easy to talk to! I'll fly to Southampton next week. This is my personal phone number. Let's keep in touch!"
"well."
After hanging up the phone, Gu Ran looked numb: What the hell am I doing? Why did I agree to come with her? Where is my Tao heart? Why is there no reaction at all? Even if I was eaten by a dog, I can hear the smacking sound!
Oh! What a sin! Gu Ran put down his phone, cleared his mind of all the random thoughts, changed into training clothes, and continued training.
On the same day, Southampton Club announced the latest data of season ticket pre-sale in its own "Advance Saints": 16,793 tickets! This season ticket pre-sale data greatly exceeded the same period! You know, the entire St. Mary's Stadium can only accommodate 32,551 spectators! This is equivalent to selling half of the attendance rate before the start of the new season! To achieve such a pre-sale result, it is naturally all thanks to Gu Ran! Especially the performance in the last pre-season friendly match against Arsenal, Gu Ran gave Southampton fans great confidence! Southampton team is also on the right track.
When Coach Adkins organized team training, he also completely developed tactical arrangements around Gu Ran.
After six pre-season friendly matches, Southampton's overall strength, coordination and mental outlook have improved qualitatively! Before the opening match of the first round of the English League One, Gu Ran also exchanged 4 talent points through the training bubble.
Although the number is small, it is more than enough considering Gu Ran's current strength.
Gu Ran did not retain them either, but directly allocated all four talent points to ball control attributes.
The ball control attribute also increased from 67 points to 71 points.
We are one small step closer to being promoted to A-level system rating!
On the night before the English Football League One was about to officially start, MaxxRT and others called and brought Gu Ran good news.
After more than a month of preparation, with the concerted efforts of enthusiastic netizens and fans at home and abroad, and with the public relations help of Old Rice, "Ran Live" is finally online!
MaxxRT and other entrepreneurs have successfully obtained the copyright of the British game. Ran Live can use the British live broadcast signal to broadcast live in China at the same time! In tomorrow's game, domestic fans will be able to see Gu Ran's performance in the English League One!
After receiving this news, Gu Ran, the big boss behind Ran Live, was also very happy.
In order to give back to the fans of Ran Live, Gu Ran personally signed more than 100 sets of Southampton No. 8 jerseys that night, which would be used for raffles to the fans of Ran Live after the game.
And veterans like Maxim's Noodle Ball, MaxxRT, Book Friends 20220326092003504, immlaufung, S_nine, Sanqiuguan, as well as die-hard supporters such as Happy Worship 964, Dust in the Wind, Ed Slide, Wandering Around, I Like Reading More, This Name is Slightly Cool, etc., all received a set of jerseys individually.
——9:30 a.m. Saturday, August 7.
The Southampton team bus carried the high-spirited players to Plymouth's home ground, Home Park Stadium.
Home Park Stadium is a small stadium that can accommodate only 20,922 spectators.
Except for the newly expanded main stand, the Mayflower Stand, the other three stands are single-tier stands.
Plymouth is also a port city and one of the royal naval ports.
Southampton was the departure point for the Titanic, while Plymouth was the departure point for the Mayflower.
The Mayflower is a famous colonial ship. It was the ship that carried the group of people who were kindly rescued by the Indians and who, out of gratitude, gave the Indians smallpox blankets.
Of course, Plymouth is not Southampton’s mortal enemy. Plymouth’s mortal enemy is Cardiff City. Southampton’s real mortal enemy is another naval port city, Portsmouth.
Plymouth's Home Park Stadium is called the "Green Army Theater" by local fans, and Plymouth's home jersey is also green.
Plymouth FC ranked 10th in League One last season, just two places lower than Southampton FC last season.
So, in the eyes of Plymouth fans, they are on par with Southampton.
In today's first round of English League One, Plymouth is also playing at home, so most Plymouth fans think this will be a game with a slight advantage for them, and Plymouth will have a great chance of getting all 3 points.
But the professional bookmaker William Hill offers odds of “win 6.50, draw 5.90, lose 1.25”.
——This means that if Plymouth wins at home, the bookmaker will pay 6.50 times, if Plymouth draws with Southampton, the bookmaker will pay 5.90 times, and if Plymouth loses to Southampton, the bookmaker will pay 1.25 times.
With such high odds for home team winning, it is obvious that the bookmakers are not optimistic about Plymouth winning at home, and are not even optimistic about a draw.
William Hill is more optimistic that the visiting team Southampton can easily win 3 points.
Such extremely high odds have also attracted many loyal Plymouth fans to buy home win or home draw.
At 1:30 pm, the fans entered the stadium.
Today is the first round of the English League One. More than 10,000 Plymouth fans came, holding green flags, hoping that Plymouth could get off to a good start in the season.
There were at least 6,000 Southampton fans who came from afar. As soon as they entered the stadium, they took the lead and sang the team song "The Saints March On".
Although the number was smaller, after having been to Anfield and the Emirates Stadium, the Southampton fans at their hometown park were far more enthusiastic than the Plymouth fans at home.
Compared with Southampton fans, Plymouth are obviously not as crazy and passionate.
Home Park has almost become Southampton's home ground.
In addition to the fans, three major scouts and reporters from major news media also came to the main stand area and sat down.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are all openly pursuing Gu Ran, so they will naturally not miss any of Gu Ran's games.
Not to mention the media reporters - wherever Gu Ran is, there is news.
Even if there is really no news, they can still make up a scandal for Gu Ran.
In a word, Gu Ran is the traffic password.
The warm-up for the English League One match is obviously much more formal than that for a friendly match and lasts up to half an hour.
The DJ on the scene will not only introduce the starting lineup of his own players, but also introduce the starting lineup of the away team Southampton.
When the DJ introduced Southampton's left-back No. 8 Gu Ran, all the Southampton fans at the scene stood up spontaneously and cheered and applauded for Gu Ran.
Plymouth fans were very puzzled. Most of them didn't understand why a left-back could wear the No. 8 jersey, nor did they understand why a Chinese could have such a great influence.
After hearing the cheers of the fans, Gu Ran simply waved towards the visiting team's stands, and then concentrated on warm-up training with his teammates.
Although he appeared calm on the surface, Gu Ran's blood was actually boiling in his heart.
This feeling is completely different from that of playing a friendly match.
Although friendly matches are taken seriously, to be honest, winning or losing in friendly matches doesn’t matter much.
But the English League One is different.
The English League One is a double round-robin points tournament. Only the points tournament and the knockout rounds are exciting enough! Only in this way can the essence of football be truly reflected! There are 24 teams in the English League One, and there are 46 rounds of matches in a season. Each team must play once at home and once away. The winner gets 3 points, the draw gets 1 point each, and the loser gets no points.
Whoever is highest in the standings before the end of the season will be the champion.
If the points are the same, then we will compare the goal difference. If the goal difference is the same, then we will compare the total number of goals. If the total number of goals is also the same, then we will play a play-off to determine the champion and runner-up.
The champion and runner-up of League One can directly advance to the Championship next season.
The third and sixth place teams in League One will need to play in the play-offs, with four teams competing for the last spot in the Championship.
In terms of the competition system, it is very professional, very cruel and very competitive.
As for the cup competitions - the League Cup and the FA Cup, they are even more exciting.
The cup competition does not adopt a points system but an elimination system. The winner advances and the loser is eliminated. A draw will go to overtime, and a draw after overtime will go to a penalty shootout.
It can be said that the real professional career begins after the new season starts.
We must try our best to fight for every game and every point.
For Gu Ran, who does not want to give up the League Cup and FA Cup, he must get three points in every league game.
Only in this way can we go all out to face the strong opponents in the League Cup and FA Cup after the winter transfer window.
There is pressure, but it is also motivation! At this moment, domestic fans also saw Gu Ran through the live broadcast.
While the live broadcast was going on, the number of people online suddenly soared to more than 20,000 people!
Before the game even started, the live broadcast room was already bustling with all kinds of congratulatory comments and gifts.
Especially when the director's camera was switched to Gu Ran, the live broadcast room was flooded with comments and many viewers' computers were frozen!
At 2:50, players from both teams temporarily left the field and returned to their respective locker rooms for final rest.
Southampton players gathered in a circle in the visiting team's locker room, which was in poor condition, waiting for coach Adkins to give them a speech.
Coach Adkins looked around and said in a deep voice, "Stop talking nonsense...press and play!"
"Yes! Coach!"
"The Saints will win!"
The Southampton players put their hands together, full of energy!
At 2:55, players from both teams lined up in the tunnel and officially entered the field under the guidance of the referee and linesman!
After the handshake, the captains of both teams chose their sides.
Plymouth got the right to choose the side, and Southampton got the right to kick off.
After taking a group photo, the players from both teams quickly took their positions.
In this game, Plymouth adopted a 4411 formation, with 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, 1 attacking midfielder and 1 center forward.
The 4411 formation is a variation of the 442. Compared to the 442, it is more flexible in terms of transition between offense and defense.
4411 is to turn a forward in 442 into a front midfielder to form a more solid and effective connection between the midfield and the front court.
This kind of positioning is obviously intended to play short passes and penetrate.
Plymouth's head coach, Pete Reid, is also an experienced lower-league coach. According to pre-match military intelligence, the coach believes in the tactical principle of "less ball possession and quick kicks". His method of pressure is high pressure and offside, and his marking method is man-to-man marking.
According to pre-match military intelligence and Coach Adkins' tactical lesson, Plymouth's center forward was the 28-year-old Roy Fallon, a New Zealand international player who was 190cm tall and weighed 89kg.
This player is not fast, but he is extremely strong and is also a rare left-footed center forward.
A large part of the reason why Plymouth's 4411 formation is designed around No. 5 Roy Fallon, especially the attacking midfielder position, is to make up for Roy Fallon's lack of speed and provide tactical support to Roy Fallon, using short passes to let Roy Fallon stand still in the penalty area and get the ball as much as possible.
Plymouth's attacking midfielder is No. 20 Luke Summerfield, who plays a connecting role in the midfield and frontcourt.
The left winger is No. 19 Yara Polasi. This black player has the fastest speed in the team and is a jack of all trades. He can play as a left forward, attacking midfielder, midfielder, right forward, and even a center forward. In addition, he also likes to be an inside forward - a forward who cuts in from the wing.
He was also Plymouth's main attacking point.
The two defensive midfielders are No. 4 Carl Fletcher and No. 11 Carle Arnesong.
According to military intelligence before the game, Carl Fletcher is very flexible with both feet and has a good defensive area. Kali Arneson is an Icelandic international with a fierce defensive style and needs to be dealt with with caution.
Plymouth's right winger is number 16, 19-year-old Irish youth international Joe Mason.
Joe Mason was identified as a rising star by the Plymouth club, and Plymouth fans also called him Little Rooney.
Joe Mason is also a jack-of-all-trades player in the midfield and frontcourt. He can play as a left or right winger, as well as an attacking midfielder and a forward.
He is not very fast, but he has good footwork, a high defensive awareness, strong confrontation, good at counter-attacking on the spot, good at cutting inside and long shots, and he is very powerful.
In today's match, the Irish youth team international will play against Gu Ran, and this will be a head-to-head confrontation between the two teams' rising stars.
Plymouth's left back is Zimbabwe international, No. 15 Onismore Bahasla.
This player is only 170cm tall, but weighs 78kg, and has strong muscles all over his body.
He has a very strong burst and the highest instantaneous sprint speed in the team. He is also Plymouth's offensive full-back.
The right back is 32-year-old veteran, No. 2 player Carl Duguty, who is also the on-field captain of the Plymouth team.
The two central defenders are Stephen Zubar No. 36 and Curtis Nelson No. 35.
There is nothing special about these two central defenders, they are just young, quick to react, and very suitable for offside tactics.
Plymouth's goalkeeper is number 31, David Barton, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.
Judging from Plymouth's starting lineup, the number of national team players and youth team national team players accounts for a large proportion. This is also a full main lineup. It is obvious that Plymouth also hopes to get off to a good start at home.
As for Southampton, they also sent out their full main 442 lineup today.
The two forwards, Gully and Lallana, are one tall and one fast.
The left midfielder is Holmes, the right midfielder is Schneiderlin, and the two midfielders are Lambert and Hammond.
The left back is Gu Ran, the right back is Richardson, and the two central defenders are Walton and Jaidi.
The goalkeeper is captain Davis.
——Chamberlain, who shot the ball with his face in the previous game, was suspended from the team for this game.
The reason for the suspension was "inappropriate behavior" during the last game.
At that time, Coach Adkins wanted to replace Chamberlain with a player to heal his injury, but Chamberlain dared to disobey and even wanted to ask Coach Wenger to intervene.
Coach Adkins had a heated argument with Coach Wenger at the post-match press conference. He became more and more angry after he came back, so he suspended Chamberlain for one game on the night before the first round of the English League One.
Chamberlain came to the training base in a hurry this morning, thinking about connecting with Gu Ran again for this game. In the end, he didn't even get on the bus and was not even qualified to show the water dispenser to the starting players.
Chamberlain was depressed...
Beep! At 3 o'clock, the referee blew the whistle, and the first round of the 2010-2011 English League One officially began! Southampton kicked off first! Southampton fans cheered wildly at the start of the game. Those who didn't know would think this was Southampton's home court.
Forward Gurley passed the ball to Lallana, who dribbled forward steadily a few times. Plymouth's midfielders and frontcourt players immediately double-teamed him fiercely.
Plymouth showed a strong sense of pressure from the start, with each of their players actively running and looking for confrontation.
Physical confrontation is not Lallana's advantage, but Lallana's ball control and dribbling are still very good, and can fully reach the level of the English Premier League.
Lallana calmly dribbled horizontally to the left side of the midfield, avoiding double-teaming while creating space.
Other Southampton players quickly pressed forward to support.
Gu Ran was not in a hurry to change positions, but moved step by step with the team's formation as a left back.
The wind is blowing at the hometown park...
Happy National Day! The past 74 years have been full of ups and downs, but also glorious. The fate of our motherland is closely related to every Chinese son and daughter! I wish our great motherland prosperity! (End of this chapter)