Chapter 346: Unanimous approval! Winning the double crown! Reform and development! My magical Premier League debut [Subscription required]
For Yang Cheng and ICC, this year's International Champions Cup is not just a competition, but also a comprehensive market research and analysis.
In order to better understand the entire market, ICC hired three very professional institutions to analyze the event from multiple dimensions including market, fans, and competition, in preparation for further expansion.
During this period, Yang Cheng led the team to play in the International Champions Cup in North America.
This time, the Chinese team from Bayswater directly faced Real Madrid in the group stage and staged a peak showdown.
The final result was that Yang Cheng's team defeated Real Madrid 1-0 thanks to Walcott's goal.
In the remaining two group matches, Yang Cheng's team defeated Inter Milan and Dortmund respectively.
The group stage ended with three consecutive wins.
In the final in Tennessee, Yang Cheng's team defeated Mourinho's Chelsea 2-0 and successfully advanced to the finals.
In the final of the Asian arena, Manchester United and Manchester City staged a peak showdown as they wished.
The encounter between Messi and Ronaldo, which kicked off in the Chinese capital, detonated the domestic market and set off a crazy wave.
In the end, Guardiola's Manchester City had the better of the game.
Messi and Ronaldo's overall performance is comparable, but in terms of overall team performance, Manchester City is more mature than Manchester United.
Van Gaal said after the game that he was satisfied with Manchester United's overall performance.
He believes that Ronaldo's joining can maximize Manchester United's morale and enhance the team's strength.
"We are the strongest competitor in the new Premier League and Champions League!"
Yes, although Manchester United only finished fifth in the Premier League last season, they were able to participate in the Champions League group stage because they eventually won the Europa League.
This season's Champions League will once again feature five Premier League teams.
This is definitely a nightmare for other teams! However, the seeding of this year's Champions League group stage will be based on the defending champions and league champions, so the draw will be very interesting.
At least, it's completely different from the past.
In the International Champions Cup final held at the Prudential Arena in London, Bayswater Chinese beat Manchester City 3-1 with goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Sterling.
Guardiola's team ultimately failed to withstand the fierce bombardment of the Chinese in Bayswater.
After all, it was at the Prudential Stadium in London! Incidentally, Patrick Roberts, who was poached from Bayswater Chinese, came on as a substitute in the second half.
But when facing his old club, the player performed mediocrely.
Manchester City currently has top wingers like Messi and Reus, as well as stars like Jovetic, and its overall strength is extraordinary.
It is really hard to say whether it was the right deal for Patrick Roberts to give up Bayswater Chinese and choose Manchester City.
…
After the International Champions Cup final, the Community Shield came soon.
As the league champions, Bayswater Chinese faced last season's FA Cup champions Arsenal.
The match was held at Wembley Stadium.
Whether it is Yang Cheng or Wenger, they are actually more inclined to focus on training.
But after the opening, players from both sides fought very fiercely.
The Chinese players from Bayswater used short passes to penetrate into Arsenal's penalty area.
But the Gunners are not far behind.
Although they were at a disadvantage in terms of the field and ball possession, they still performed very tenaciously.
It was not until the 23rd minute that Walcott broke through with the ball and passed it to Modric.
When the Croatian midfielder tried to break through the middle, he was fouled by Turan and won a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.
The ball was 27 meters away from the goal, slightly to the right of the center.
Gareth Bale calmly took the penalty and kicked a wonderful butterfly ball, accurately sending the ball into the goal guarded by Lloris.
1 to 0!
The subsequent games became more open.
In the first half, the Gunners also had a great chance.
In the 37th minute, Sanchez made a cross from the left, Benzema came from the back and headed the ball from behind the small penalty area. After being saved by goalkeeper Courtois, Fabregas came from behind and shot from close range.
As a result, Courtois, who was lying on the ground, suddenly jumped up and blocked Fabregas' shot again.
This divine save earned Courtois thunderous applause from the Wembley Stadium.
But in the second half, the game completely turned into a performance by the Chinese in Bayswater.
Especially after the 60th minute, Sterling, who came on as a substitute, was extremely active and created opportunities continuously.
In the 86th minute, it was Sterling who received a wonderful pass from his teammate on the edge of the penalty area. He had a one-on-one chance and made a volley shot. After being blocked by Lloris, Ramsey followed up with a push shot and sent the ball into Arsenal's goal again.
Just before the end of the game, Sterling dribbled past the defense and made a straight pass, giving Salah, who came on as a substitute, an excellent chance to score.
I guess the Egyptian winger himself didn't expect that he would get such a godsend opportunity.
This resulted in his final shot being saved by Lloris again.
Salah fell to his knees in the penalty area.
What a great opportunity! Score against Arsenal!
He actually missed it like this.
In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated Arsenal 2-0 with goals from Gareth Bale and Ramsey, and won the Community Shield! …
After playing the Community Shield, Bayswater Chinese had their final rest time before the start of the new season.
But Yang Cheng is still very busy.
In addition to FIFA's affairs, he also took time to attend the ICC shareholders' meeting held at the Lancaster Royal Hotel in London.
Since ICC has obtained authorization from FIFA and has signed authorization agreements with UEFA, South American and other continental football associations, its meeting this time can be said to be aboveboard.
Even during the meeting, there were many media reporters outside the hotel.
The club representatives who came to attend the shareholders' meeting all held their heads high.
In the past few years, they have been very cautious. Holding a meeting is like committing a crime like a thief.
Now, I can finally be open and aboveboard.
Because of this, the atmosphere in the venue was quite warm when Yang Cheng entered.
The bosses of the 12 clubs, plus Yang Cheng, the largest shareholder of ICC, all sat together for a roundtable meeting.
Before the meeting, everyone was discussing the UEFA presidential election to be held in mid-September.
Currently, there are only two candidates who have announced their candidacy.
One is the president of the Dutch Football Association and vice president of UEFA, Marco van Praag.
The other was from Aleksander Ceferin, president of the Slovenian Football Association.
UEFA is the first continental football confederation to hold presidential elections after the reform of FIFA, so they will also be the first to launch the reformed mechanism.
From now on, FIFA's president, vice-presidents and other important officials can only serve for a maximum of three terms, a total of 12 years, and are not allowed to be re-elected after the expiration of their terms.
The same is true for the following continental football associations.
The purpose of doing this is to further limit the power of FIFA and the presidents of various continental football associations, and to further curb corruption within FIFA.
In the past, both FIFA and UEFA were almost like emperors, with virtually endless terms in office.
Blatter has said many times that he would not seek re-election and that this is his last term.
But when his term was about to end, he caused a series of troubles, and finally made it seem as if he had no choice but to run for re-election, and he even said that it was to maintain the stability of world football.
Pah! Now, the term limit is 3 terms, which is written directly into the FIFA constitution. No one can change it! As for the UEFA president, Yang Cheng doesn't really care about him.
Be it Ceferin or Van Praag, in the final analysis, no matter who comes up, it will not change the overall situation in the short term.
By the time they have consolidated their power, the reform of FIFA will have basically been settled. By then, the overall situation will have been determined and it will be difficult for them to cause any major disturbances.
But judging from the current situation, Ceferin's voice will be louder.
I have to say, this Slovenian is quite amazing.
He very firmly sees himself as a reformer, actively responding to the reforms of FIFA and UEFA, and responding to the calls for reform from countries large and small under UEFA.
Ceferin studied law at the University of Ljubljana and is fluent in four foreign languages. He has served as the president of the Slovenian Football Association since 2011. He had just been successfully re-elected before the UEFA presidential election.
During his tenure as president of the Slovenian Football Association, he successfully hosted the U17 European Championship and used this tournament to establish very good connections in UEFA and European football.
But those who are familiar with the context of European football and carefully study the candidates for UEFA President will easily find that it is basically a confrontation between Western Europe and non-Western Europe.
The first Schwarz was Danish, the second Wiedecker was Swiss, the third Frankie was Italian, the fourth Jacques Georges was French, and the fifth Johansson was Swedish.
The sixth is Platini, a Frenchman.
This time, Van Praag is from the Netherlands and seems to represent Western Europe, but in fact, many Western European countries, including Germany, chose to support Ceferin.
This is where Ceferin is better than Van Praag.
You know, Slovenia only joined the EU in 2004.
If countries in the Nordic region such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc. choose to support Ceferin, it is actually not surprising at all.
But if even some countries in Western Europe, including Germany, Italy and other countries, support Ceferin, plus the Balkans and the Turks, they will all tend to favor Ceferin.
There’s basically no need to choose!
The 12 top clubs wanted to take advantage of the meeting to make their voices heard in the upcoming European Club Association elections.
To put it simply, it means entering the UEFA Executive Committee! There are three places for clubs.
At that time, the UEFA Executive Committee will certainly have to consider the interests of the clubs more when formulating policies.
Although the current European Football Club Association covers hundreds of professional clubs across Europe, the real say is still basically still the top teams.
The final consensus was that this time Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga would each select one team.
If nothing unexpected happens, Juventus will definitely be the champion in Serie A and Bayern will definitely be the champion in Bundesliga.
The most likely team in La Liga is Real Madrid.
Florentino has to deal with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which are his biggest competitors.
As for the Premier League and Ligue 1, we will wait until next time.
The Premier League’s goal is simple, to do everything possible to support David Gill in taking over.
Don't think that these 12 teams are blindly arrogant and forming cliques.
In fact, UEFA brought down G14 and established the European Club Association in order to recruit these top teams.
And now, the future three UEFA executive committee members have been roughly finalized on such an occasion.
…
At the beginning of the meeting, David Pensel made several announcements.
Firstly, this year's International Champions Cup is more profitable than any previous year, and the revenue is rising.
To put it simply, everyone can get more money.
But this year we won’t share the money! Why not? Because ICC is going to do some big things.
It has been 7 years since the company was founded, and the International Champions Cup has been successfully held 6 times.
ICC now has not only its headquarters office in the United States, but also offices in London, Europe, the capital of China in Asia, and offices in the Middle East.
As the company grew in size, it now had more than one hundred direct employees.
Not to mention the outsourced businesses and the personnel of the cooperating third-party companies.
David Pensel said that after several years of experience accumulation, ICC has acquired excellent event operation capabilities.
Therefore, the company plans to launch a women's football event, namely the International Women's Champions Cup, within the next three years.
Why? Because women’s football is becoming more and more popular and is receiving more and more attention.
Now is the best time to enter the market! This can actually be seen from this year's UEFA presidential election.
Both Ceferin and Van Praag are clearly promoting women's football.
This is enough to prove that women's football is receiving more and more attention in Europe and even around the world.
More and more clubs are starting to form women's football teams.
It’s interesting, in La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona are awesome, right?
But when it comes to women's football, Rayo Vallecano is the big brother.
The Chinese in Bayswater are actually considering forming a women's football team, because there are more and more women playing football and women's football fans, and it is gradually attracting a lot of attention.
The investment in forming a women’s football team is actually very small.
Given the current situation of the Chinese in Bayswater, just a tiny fraction of the budget would be enough to support one of the top European women's football clubs, or even one of the world's top teams.
Another important reason why Yang Cheng was interested was that although the domestic men's football team was not good, the women's football team was still pretty good.
For example, Wang Shuang.
By the way, after Yang Cheng acquired the Dutch Eredivisie club Twente, he actually contacted several domestic players who were capable of playing in the Dutch Eredivisie.
But the responses were not very positive.
On the one hand, Twente cannot afford to pay as high a salary as in China.
On the other hand, for the players, playing football is indeed a job for the young, and they also have to support their families.
To put it bluntly, pursuing ideals and life goals is a very luxurious thing for everyone.
At the very least, we have to wait until people have certain guarantees, right? Going to Europe to play football may not necessarily earn more money, but it will definitely be more tiring.
As for success, who can guarantee that? Even Yang Cheng can't guarantee: Come on, even if you don't play well, I will still support you.
That doesn't make sense, does it?
On the other hand, the women's football team is really good.
In addition to women's football, ICC also plans to enter youth events.
There are many youth competitions in Europe, but they are basically exchange competitions, and there is no series of formal competitions.
The more formal competition now is the UEFA Champions League youth competition.
ICC wants to enter this field. They are optimistic about this market and think that youth competitions require low investment but have huge potential, and all clubs have urgent needs.
All of this requires investment! The bosses of the 12 clubs present don’t care much about the share, but they are increasingly optimistic about the long-term development of ICC.
Especially when David Pensel says the next plan.
Event copyright operation!
The reason for establishing the Women's Football Champions Cup and the Youth Champions Cup is that we want to run the competitions and then sell the copyrights.
This is something ICC is now very familiar with, and its resources and channels are complete.
It's also interesting to talk about.
The most powerful sports stadium operator in the world is an American company. It started out by operating the venues for Major League Rugby games. It began with just one stadium, and after slowly accumulating experience, it continued to grow bigger and stronger.
In just two or three decades, it became the world's number one.
Now ICC is also going down this path.
"We are already in talks with UEFA to obtain the agency rights for UEFA events in some countries in Central, North and South America. This will be a brand new development in business!"
The so-called agency rights do not mean buying them directly and then selling them after splitting them up.
No, it's an agent! To put it simply, it's a middleman who helps find buyers.
Over the years, UEFA has always had its own partner, Team Marketing, which is headquartered in Switzerland. This company has cooperated with UEFA for many years and is the agent for the global copyright sales of all events under UEFA, including the Champions League, Europa League, European Cup, etc.
For the previous scandal involving Infantino, he put all the blame on TM.
The former Secretary General of UEFA stated that the Argentine company that bought low and sold high was not found by him at all, but was recommended to him by TM Company.
Everyone knows that there are actually many gray areas involved here.
For example, TM has been acting as the global agent for the sales of all UEFA events for many years.
Is there no problem here?
The same goes for FIFA and other continental competitions.
Now, isn't it reformed? We need to introduce more competition.
ICC has successfully operated the International Champions Cup and has established its own channels and networks around the world over the past seven years. They plan to enter the lucrative industry of event copyright agency.
And they will start with North America, which they are most familiar with.
As for the South American region, after all, it was because of the incident with Infantino before.
From UEFA's perspective, introducing more competition is also a good thing.
Over the past few years, TM has the final say on how much to sell, and there is no competitive pressure, which has made UEFA very unhappy.
Not to mention anything else, in terms of global operations, look at the Premier League, they are making a ton of money.
But what about the Champions League?
This is the pearl of the world club competition, okay? David Pensel revealed that the current negotiations with UEFA on the agency rights in North and Central America are progressing very smoothly.
If we obtain this agency right, it will undoubtedly add another business segment with great development potential to the company's future development.
Everyone present was well aware of the value of copyright, especially in today's globalized world.
To put it bluntly, which club doesn't make a lot of money by selling copyrights and IPs? If ICC enters this field, anyone who doesn't support it is a fool!
What's more, there are people above ICC now.
Yang Cheng is the Chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board!
Thinking of this, everyone present felt extremely regretful.
At the beginning, Yang Cheng wanted to transfer more shares to them, but they didn't dare to accept them.
It's ok now.
Seeing the company's business expanding and its value soaring, it's too late to regret! ...
In this meeting, there is also one most important topic, the expansion of the International Champions Cup!
ICC previously hired three companies to conduct market research and put forward more suggestions on expansion and events.
Now, the report is out.
Each of the 12 shareholders, plus Yang Cheng, received a very detailed evaluation report.
It introduces in great detail the current development potential of the International Champions Cup, the potential value of expansion, and future development prospects, but more importantly, the various suggestions they put forward.
There was one thing here that was completely beyond Yang Cheng's expectations.
That is, all three reports "criticized" the current International Champions Cup format.
In fact, ICC conducts thorough market research before making every major decision.
But everyone knows that the International Champions Cup occupies a vacuum area in world football and no one has ever done this before.
The International Champions Cup in Yang Cheng's previous life served as a lesson for him, so Yang Cheng copied many of his ideas and made various suggestions based on his previous life's experience.
Facts have also proved that the effect is really very good.
In the past few years, the market for the International Champions Cup has expanded extremely rapidly, and its popularity and fan response have been quite enthusiastic.
It can be said that this event was a great success!
But in these three reports this year, all of them raised the same question.
Aesthetic fatigue!
Although the participating teams in the International Champions Cup are all very strong and the matches are quite intense, there is no shortage of superstars, exciting goals, and various off-field news, including transfer news.
To put it simply, it has all the elements that make it a hit.
Therefore, in the past few years, the International Champions Cup has set new records every year.
But is this a good thing? After one, two, three, or five years, the fans are still enthusiastic.
But what if the time is extended a little bit?
What happens after five or seven years? The International Champions Cup is about to enter the so-called "seven-year itch".
The tournament has always been held in North America and Asia. It is a hit every summer and can set off the basketball market.
But gradually, no matter how passionate the fans are, it will fade away.
The novelty will gradually wear off! All three reports pointed out that in the past two years, the situation has gradually become apparent, that is, fans in North America and Asia have gradually begun to feel a little aesthetic fatigue.
Although the teams change every year after the draw, if you watch such a drama every summer, you will get tired of it!
Some people may ask, that's not right, then why don't we get tired of playing in the Champions League every year? The report also points out the difference.
emotion!
In Europe, fans support their clubs in the Champions League and they invest real emotions in it, sometimes for more than ten years or even decades.
But in North America and Asia, it's just a commercial show.
Even if the show is very popular, if you watch it over and over again every year, it will eventually lose its novelty and become boring.
Once boredom sets in and the market starts to wane, all kinds of problems will start to arise.
There is another issue, military expansion.
There are currently 16 teams, 12+4. If we want to expand further, we will undoubtedly have to add more divisions.
At that time, it will definitely be a huge challenge or even a disaster for the holding of the entire event.
No one could imagine that a tournament would be held in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania at the same time, and that the tournament would have to be a knockout tournament. This was definitely a disaster! All participating teams would go crazy!
Therefore, all three reports pointed out that if it is determined to expand the army, the competition system must be changed.
And we must avoid aesthetic fatigue among fans as much as possible.
How do the World Cup and the European Championship work? They happen every four years! That’s why they are always so popular!
What if the World Cup was held every year?
Obviously, it's different.
Does that mean that the International Champions Cup will also be held every four years? No, club competitions definitely cannot be held like this.
Their suggestion is to still hold it once a year, but to concentrate all the teams in one country.
This year we will go to the United States, next year we will go to East Asia, then Oceania and Southeast Asia, and then Africa and Europe...
There are many advantages to holding the competition in this way.
One is to avoid aesthetic fatigue among fans as much as possible.
Also, after the teams are brought together, the schedule can be more compact and the competition will be more intense.
Especially in knockout rounds.
By having such exciting events lasting for a short period of time, we can ignite the football market and maximize our influence.
This is also a very good opportunity for all sponsors, broadcasters and partners.
They would be happy to offer more sponsorship and broadcasting fees, thereby increasing the value of the entire event.
I believe that rotating the host country will attract interest from more countries and regions, and they will be more willing to offer more preferential conditions and generous treatment.
This will turn this event into a truly international cup competition!
When Yang Cheng saw the report, he was a little confused.
He looked back and wondered if the same problem existed in his previous life's International Champions Cup.
It seems to be true.
Especially in 2018 and 2019, isn’t it a bit aesthetically fatigued? At the beginning, the opening of the competition zones in North America, Asia and Oceania was to be able to promote the International Champions Cup as quickly as possible in the shortest time, so that the event can gain a foothold and enhance its global influence.
Looking back now, it was very successful.
Today's International Champions Cup is a FIFA-authorized tournament that has been welcomed by sponsors, broadcasters and fans, but its competition system is still very loose.
From looseness to aggregation, this is a whole new stage.
Yang Cheng also had to admit that, at least in this area, he was still not professional enough.
The conclusions reached by ICC and other research organizations like this really gave him a sense of enlightenment.
As he said before: The only thing that never changes in this world is that it is always changing!
In the subsequent vote, Yang Cheng was the first to raise a sign to support David Pensel's reform of the International Champions Cup competition system. The latter promised to create a more memorable viewing experience that is in line with the sharing attributes of the Internet.
In the end, it was passed unanimously!
…
In the evening of August 7, at the Brent Training Center in London.
Tomorrow is the first round of the 15/16 Premier League season. The Chinese team from Bayswater will travel south to challenge Bournemouth away.
After a day of training, all the players returned to the locker room one after another.
Take a shower, change clothes, and chat about tomorrow's plans.
Bournemouth is about 170 kilometers southwest of London, a little further southwest than Southampton.
It used to take about two and a half hours.
The game kicks off at 12:45 noon.
The match between Bayswater Chinese and Bournemouth is the opening match of the new Premier League season.
Teammates who are familiar with the Premier League and club arrangements will introduce some things to the new teammates.
On the evening of the 11th, the team will play the European Super Cup in Georgia against Manchester United.
Manchester United will play Tottenham at home in this round, and the match is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on the 7th.
Judging from the schedule, both teams are very busy.
After all, it’s not a long distance from London to Georgia.
After returning, next weekend will be the second round of the Premier League, and Bayswater Chinese will host Manchester United at home.
I have to say, this is indeed a challenging schedule.
The new season has just started and the team has such a schedule. You can imagine the pressure they are under.
But as a new player in the team, Salah did not see much tension or pressure from his teammates.
It was as if they were all used to it.
"Mohammed, are all the things in your room ready?"
Captain Modric asked seemingly casually.
Salah was stunned for a moment, but immediately nodded, "Everything is ready."
He started learning English while playing for Nice in Ligue 1.
Moreover, many things about the Chinese in Bayswater are similar to those in Nice, so it was not difficult to adapt.
Of course, the teammates around me are different and stronger! "That's good. Remember to tell me if you have anything later."
After saying that, Modric walked away.
Salah was a little confused and didn't know why the captain suddenly asked him this.
Just at this moment, a burst of applause came from the door of the locker room.
Everyone turned around and saw Yang Cheng walking in with Frick, Brian Kidd and others.
"Everyone hold on, let's talk about something."
Everyone immediately hurried to do their own things.
Soon, after finishing their work, they all gathered together.
Yang Cheng waved at Frick.
The German coach came out with a document in his hand.
This kind of scene has happened many times before.
In the past, it was the head coach’s job to announce the starting lineup and the roster for away games.
But now, Yang Cheng has gradually delegated this power to Frick.
Everyone gradually accepted and adapted to this change.
"OK, let's start announcing the roster for tomorrow's away game. All players will have to stay at our training base tonight. If anyone needs to go home to prepare, they must check in before 10 o'clock tonight. Do you understand?"
"clear."
Everyone responded in unison.
This has been the consistent rule over the years.
It takes two and a half hours to drive from Brent Training Center to Bournemouth.
The game is held at 12:45 noon, and the team must arrive early, so basically they have to set off early in the morning.
Problems could easily arise if players were allowed to live at home.
For example, getting up late, or being stuck in traffic, or other problems.
All in all, letting the players stay at the training base one night in advance is the most appropriate option.
Of course, this would result in players having to leave their families.
This is actually the norm for many Premier League teams.
There is no way. In order to accommodate fans from all over the world, too many games are scheduled for noon and afternoon.
For example, Guardiola.
When he was at Barcelona, wasn't humanistic management the main focus? One of his policies was to allow players to go home and live the night before a game.
But this has a prerequisite, La Liga basically has no afternoon games, let alone noon games.
The Premier League is different.
So, after Guardiola came to the Premier League, he changed everything and required everyone to stay in the training center the night before the game.
Yang Cheng is actually relatively better.
If time permits, he will let the players go home.
But like now, we have to go to play Bournemouth away in the middle of the day, time is tight and I definitely can’t go home the night before the game.
It was only at this moment that Salah understood why Modric asked him this.
"I am now announcing the starting lineup for tomorrow's game."
Flick directly said that he would announce the starting lineup, which surprised many people.
But he just started reading the names.
Goalkeeper: Courtois; Defence: Luke Shaw, Thiago Silva, John Stones and Kyle Walker; Midfield: Toni Kroos, Casemiro and De Bruyne;
Forwards: Sterling, Harry Kane and Salah.
But when Flick called his name, Salah was a little confused.
The Egyptian winger looked to the left, then to the right, and found that everyone was used to it, as if he was the only one surprised.
"Mohammed, what's the problem?"
Yang Cheng asked.
Salah shook his head in confusion at first, then nodded, "I... want to start?"
This is the first game of the new season.
Some people around laughed out loud.
It was obvious that everyone felt that this new guy was a little nervous.
Salah vowed that if he were playing now, he would never do this.
But he was definitely a little nervous.
He just arrived and it’s the premiere of a new season.
"Yes, you should be prepared tonight and rest early. Although Bournemouth is a newly promoted team, their overall strength is not bad. They are aiming for relegation this season and will definitely fight hard from the first round!"
Yang Cheng said this and smiled at Salah, "Don't be nervous, Mohammed, we will be fine!"
The teammates around him burst into laughter again.
Salah could feel that this was not a mockery, but a kind of good-natured joke.
Well, I'm not nervous! If none of you are nervous, why should I be nervous? Besides, I'm playing with Harry Kane and Sterling.
Toni Kroos and De Bruyne are also in the midfield.
What am I afraid of? Salah took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
The remaining 7 players are substitutes.
Tonight, the 18 players will stay at the training center.
Others can go home, but still have to come back on time for training tomorrow morning.
Their task is to prepare for the European Super Cup next Wednesday and the second round of the league at the weekend.
The opponents in both games are Manchester United.
Salah also noticed that Gareth Bale and Walcott were not included in the 18-man squad.
And Modric.
I have to say that the coaching staff's decision was really bold.
Or it should be said that they are very confident in the team's own strength.
But when I think about it, it seems normal.
No one can play three games in a row, right? Especially with a flight to Georgia.
…
Noon on August 8, Bournemouth Vitality Stadium.
In the first round of the 15/16 Premier League season, Bayswater Chinese challenged Bournemouth away.
Just like yesterday evening, I was confused.
Salah never thought that he would start in the first round of the league as a newcomer and suffered a setback at the beginning.
In his opinion, the Chinese in Bayswater must have known the rotation well.
The coaching staff must have enough confidence in the team's strength.
It should be easy to deal with the newly promoted team.
At least, this is the case in Ligue 1 and other leagues.
However, it only took 48 seconds to start.
Yes, just 48 seconds.
Salah hadn't even actually touched the ball before he heard cheers coming from in front of his own goal, near the center line, on the right side of his own half.
Then he saw the Bournemouth right winger wearing the No. 30 jersey excitedly rushing out of the field.
Salah was playing on the right, separated from No. 30 player Matt Ritchie by a field, so he couldn't even see what the other player looked like.
It's vaguely a short guy, but he runs quite fast.
But...is this a loss of the ball?
Salah was stunned! The Egyptian kept calling out to God in his heart. He felt that this matter was too outrageous.
Although the ball was not thrown from the right side where he was, it was still too fast, wasn't it? It was less than a minute.
How did you get in?
But the next moment, Salah heard the shouting from his teammate De Bruyne.
"Mohammed, what are you doing?"
Salah was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned his head away, still looking confused.
"Where's the person you're keeping an eye on?"
Who? The first person Salah looked at was No. 4.
But soon, he realized something was wrong.
No. 4 stands in the middle of the midfield.
What about the left back?
"Number 11, oh my God." Kyle Walker jumped in anxiety.
Salah suddenly felt like he was falling into an ice cellar.
Isn't it? I told you this repeatedly before the game.
The opponent's left back wears number 11.
Salah really had the urge to curse!
Who the hell would let a full-back wear the No. 11 jersey? Stand up, I will kill him!
How could Bournemouth do this? Now Salah knows how the ball went in.
He was a little confused.
The pace of the Premier League games is too fast. He looked around for a moment, and then No. 11 Daniels suddenly rushed forward, received the ball and made a cross from the left.
Matt Ritchie, No. 30 on the right, is a left-footed player. He suddenly cut into the right side of the penalty area and shot with his left foot, breaking Courtois' goal.
The reason is that Salah missed a man and Kyle Walker didn't have time to make up for it.
He also has his own people to keep an eye on.
Salah's whole body tensed up.
This is the Premier League! Damn the Premier League! The pace is too fast! In just 48 seconds, he was given such a powerful blow!
"It's okay, it's okay, cheer up and get ready, we are going to counterattack!"
Harry Kane ran back quickly.
Although he is only 22 years old, as a legitimate member of the team, Harry Kane has an extraordinary weight in the locker room.
Other players, including Kyle Walker, also kept calling on their teammates.
Toni Kroos even uttered a harsh remark.
"Steady and steady, we tied the score in 10 minutes, hurry up, run!"
The pace of the Premier League is so fast! Salah tried hard to keep himself awake, and he quickly got into the game state.
He is already 23 years old and is not one of those rookies who knows nothing.
He played in the French Ligue 1 league for Nice and in the Champions League.
It was just a careless act just now.
Soon, he witnessed the magic of the Chinese in Bayswater.
Toni Kroos said he wanted to equalize the score within 10 minutes, so everyone focused on that.
Especially at the 9th minute, seeing that Bournemouth was retreating and unable to break through the situation, everyone fought even harder.
They really tried their best to equalize the score within 10 minutes!
Everyone has the same goal, and the fighting power that erupts is extremely terrifying.
Including Salah himself.
He gradually let go of the nervousness of his first Premier League appearance, began to immerse himself in the game, and began to integrate into the rhythm and atmosphere of the game created by his teammates.
But Bournemouth was really strong! They used a 442 formation, but in fact, the two midfielders, No. 4 and No. 6, retreated very far back.
In addition, the two wingers actively retreated.
Therefore, there are always two lines of defense in front of their penalty area, which are impenetrable and difficult to break through.
Salah himself also tried to dribble through twice, but was blocked by the opponent both times.
There was a lot of physical contact and many small movements, but more of it was a strength confrontation.
Salah is feeling his impression of the Premier League again and again.
On the other side, Sterling was much braver than him and rushed forward every time he got the ball.
Time keeps passing, and the minute from 9 minutes to 10 minutes seems to be a bit long.
But it will eventually end.
Still failed to equalize the score? But just when Salah had doubts, just when he dribbled the ball to the ribs and was blocked by the defender again, he heard someone behind him calling his name.
Toni Kroos! The German midfielder!
Salah passed the ball without hesitation.
When the ball came to Toni Kroos, the German didn't even adjust, but took a step forward and sent an overhead pass with his right foot before the defender.
The football passed through Bournemouth's two lines of defense, over the heads of all the players, and landed near the right side of Bournemouth's small penalty area line.
Almost at the same time, a red figure was seen quickly jumping out from the middle of Bournemouth's defense line.
Without any warning, the two players played a tacit cooperation.
Harry Kane quickly made a successful offside move, broke into the penalty area, rushed to the front of the small penalty area, and volleyed Toni Kroos's overhead pass before the goalkeeper could rush out.
After being cushioned by Harry Kane, the ball changed direction and passed directly by the attacking Polish goalkeeper Boruc and went into the unguarded goal.
1 to 1!
There were shouts of surprise throughout the Vitality Stadium.
Then came the cheers for Harry Kane’s goal!
Salah was stunned! They really equalized! No more, no less, exactly 10 minutes!
This was his magical Premier League debut!
(End of this chapter)
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