Chapter 699: Draw a Tiger but end up drawing a Dog

Last year, one of the important reasons why Mr. Zhuang’s birthday was celebrated with such lavish ceremony was the engagement ceremony of Yang Huan and Zhuang Ziqing.

This year, the old man decided to keep things simple and just set up a table at home and invite all his family members to come back and get together.

When Yang Huan and his wife arrived, the whole family was already there.

Zhuang Zicheng came back from Shenzhen yesterday and we met this morning.

As for Zhuang Mingyang, who is busy with official duties on weekdays, he went home early in the afternoon and even dared to cook a few dishes himself.

But Yang Huan was used to eating Xiaobu's cooking, so he couldn't say much about Zhuang Mingyang's cooking skills.

But is there any way?

He is both my father-in-law and a senior official at the core of power. How can I not say a few nice words to him?

Even though Yang Huan never flatters anyone on weekdays, he is often flattered by others. After being flattered so many times, he has learned something from them. A few meaningless words can make Zhuang Mingyang smile so much that he can't stop, and he keeps clinking glasses with him.

As a result, he even flattered the birthday boy, making the whole family enjoy the meal together.

Zhuang Ziqing was also very happy in her heart. Of course she knew that with Yang Huan's arrogant character, he was willing to flatter his family. On the one hand, it was because he was an elder, and on the other hand, it was because of her.

So, she secretly gave her husband a thumbs up, as if she was going to reward him well when she got home in the evening.

Yang Huan could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, and both Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang were wine addicts who rose through the officialdom, so during this dinner, the three of them drank from six in the evening until after ten and did not want to stop.

Unlucky Zhuang Zicheng lost consciousness after drinking three cups.

"Oh, Ah Huan, I'm a little drunk, but you look like nothing happened. I don't know what's wrong with you. You can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk!" Zhuang Mingyang drank until his face turned red and he spoke with a smell of alcohol.

Old Master Zhuang, who was standing by, had also drunk a bit too much. Seeing that Yang Huan still had a pale face and no trace of alcohol on his face, he felt depressed.

I used to find it strange when I heard about it before. How could there be people who could never get drunk after drinking?

Oh, even if you have no reaction to alcohol at all, you will still get bloated even if you drink water, right?

Look at Yang Huan’s figure and stomach, how could he possibly hold so much alcohol?

"Ming Yang, call the army and have this guy taken in for autopsy tomorrow to see what's inside him!"

When Zhuang Mingyang heard this, he nodded vigorously, "Okay, let's do it!"

Yang Huan smiled bitterly, "You two, are you guys such elders? If you dissect me, what will happen to your daughter and granddaughter?"

After hearing this, Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang looked at each other and felt depressed.

Hey, this kid is using Zhuang Ziqing to threaten them?

"Okay, kid, drink more!" Zhuang Mingyang got angry.

"Come on, I can't stand it anymore, one more person goes!" The old man also raised his glass.

Yang Huan laughed again, "I say, are you guys okay? This is 52 degrees Jiannanchun, this is no joke."

"Who can't? Drink!" Zhuang Mingyang got angry.

"Yes, I still don't believe it. I can beat the Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek, but I can't beat a brat like you!"

With a clang, the three of them each drank half a cup.

Grandma Zhuang, who was standing by, shook her head and quickly came out to persuade him, "Alright, alright, Lao Zhuang, don't deny your age. Look, you're already acting like a spoiled child. Do you still want to drink?"

"And you, Mingyang, you still have to work tomorrow, don't drink so much!"

Even though Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang are both powerful people, they have to submit to Grandma Zhuang.

Hearing Grandma Zhuang's call, Zhuang Ziqing hurried over to help clean up and asked someone to make some hangover tea.

As a last resort, the three of them had to move the battlefield to the living room.

"Look, your grandfather and your father like this son-in-law so much, they are so happy!"

Grandma looked at their backs and smiled.

"That's right, Mingyang rarely sees him drinking like this on weekdays, he is really very happy!"

Zhuang Ziqing listened to what her grandmother and mother said, and then looked at the three people in the living room arguing about continuing to fight tomorrow. She felt funny, angry, but also very warm.

Southampton played against Aston Villa at home. Less than half an hour into the game, Southampton had already taken a 2-0 lead. Suarez and Hazard each scored a goal, and they had an overwhelming advantage on the field.

"I read the newspapers outside, and they all said that you can successfully defend the title this season. Do you have confidence?" Zhuang Mingyang asked with a smile.

Yang Huan smiled and nodded, "I definitely have confidence, but I can't be careless!"

"Well, well said!" Mr. Zhuang also smiled and praised, "Chairman Mao said that we should despise the enemy strategically, but take the enemy seriously tactically. This is the way to win!"

"The main reason is that several other Premier League teams have big problems this year, which is why Southampton has come to the fore!"

Yang Huan's words were not entirely modest, because the start of the Premier League's strong teams this season was indeed not ideal.

The league has played thirteen rounds so far. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have each lost three games, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have lost four games, not to mention Manchester United, which has lost six games. These are all quite bad performances.

On the contrary, a team like Everton only lost two games in total, but Everton’s problem is that there are too many draws and they are not good enough to grab points.

Southampton has only lost one game and drawn one so far, so they are six points ahead of second-placed Arsenal in the standings.

"A season is very long. Getting a head start is indeed very important, as it allows us to take the initiative. However, the winter break and the second half of the season are the key. Many teams will make up for the loss during the winter break and transfer period to strengthen their own strength and exert their strength in the second half of the season!"

When did Southampton’s miraculous comeback to win the championship last season begin?

Wasn’t it the efforts in the second half that created the miracle of the newly promoted team winning the championship?

There are many such cases!

Teams such as Manchester United and Barcelona have all staged classic scenes of exerting strength in the second half of the season.

Therefore, as a leader, the pressure is quite great.

After listening to this, Mr. Zhuang nodded and sighed, "European leagues have already developed quite well in terms of both commercial management and the entire rules of the game. In this regard, our domestic leagues are far behind them!"

"This is natural. They have been developing for at least several decades, and some have even been around for over a hundred years. They have long since figured out their own set of rules. However, it is not easy for others to learn the same set of rules. Even if you learn them, you cannot use them verbatim. The situations in different countries are completely different!" Yang Huan said.

When he was a fan, he really thought that the organizers of the domestic league were fools.

Why?

Because the European leagues are so developed, with such a complete league organization, they let you copy and learn from them, so why can't you copy or learn them?

But after truly gaining a deeper understanding, Yang Huan discovered that many things cannot be used just by copying, learning, or even mastering them, because they are only theories, but the practice is quite complicated.

Let’s not talk about the complicated league consisting of twenty teams, let’s just talk about the simpler International Champions Cup of Miracle Media!

Holding the International Champions Cup in the United States and holding it in China are two completely different situations.

Even if the government gives you strong support, the different business environment, quality of fans and purchasing power will result in the same event being operated by the same company, but the results will be two completely different models.

Even though Miracle Media has sufficient experience after acquiring Infront and IMG, and operating the International Champions Cup, this summer's Asian Championship was still a bit chaotic because there were too many problems and it was too complicated to implement.

This is the case for a short-term cup competition, let alone a long-term league.

Do you really think that the experience accumulated by the Premier League, which has been fought for more than a hundred years and accumulated with the hard work of countless people and the squandering of countless money, is fake?

Even asking a basic question is, why did the Premier League come into being?

If you haven't developed to the level of the English First Division at that time, you would never understand how complicated the interests are and how many difficult knots are involved. These are things that can only be experienced personally, and outsiders cannot learn them.

If you try to learn by forcing yourself, you will end up with something less than what you want!

Who are Mr. Zhuang and Zhuang Mingyang?

With their status and knowledge, Yang Huan only said a few simple words, but he had already made clear countless troubles and conflicts of interest.

"Ah Huan, what do you think about the development of our football?" Zhuang Mingyang sighed and asked.

Regarding this issue, countless domestic experts have visited abroad and conducted research behind closed doors, but in the end they failed to find a suitable answer or path.

Are they stupid? Are they dumb?

Anyone who thinks so is a fool and an idiot!

What is the reason?

"I can only say that in our current social environment, it is difficult for football to develop. There is no need to say much about other things. Let me just say a few things. With such an alarming elimination rate of professional players, what should be done with those eliminated players? Football fields are different from basketball fields. How should we solve the problem of requiring so much land? The future maintenance is also a considerable expense. Who will be responsible for it?"

“Also, how many parents are willing to send their children to football training instead of cram schools?”

After hearing this, Zhuang Mingyang sighed again, "This is also the crux of all the problems!"

In recent years, the number of young players receiving football training in China is getting smaller and smaller. Even each national youth team can only be selected from dozens or even hundreds of people. So, how high can the level of these selected children be?

Some people have even begun to pessimistically believe that if things continue like this, such a huge country as China may not even be able to form a national team, and may be reduced to a tiny country like Monaco!

Does that mean I can give up football?

No, because sports have become indispensable in modern society, and football, as the number one sport, is even more indispensable, so the development of sports and football is of vital importance.

"I think that before we do anything, we must first figure out why we are doing it, what our purpose is, and what we want to get. Only after we figure this out can we move forward."

Zhuang Mingyang also nodded continuously. Yang Huan's words touched upon the key point.

"In the past few years, we have been organizing experts to discuss and research, and also going abroad for exchanges, in order to explore a set of football theory systems that can be practiced and promoted in our country, especially youth training theory."

Is theory important?

Very important and very significant!

As the saying goes, without rules, there can be no order. Without guiding theories, how can we put it into practice?

Even if you want to cross the river by feeling the stones, you have to know which stone you are feeling and which river you are crossing, right?

After the youth training reform in England was launched, many people felt that it was very vigorous and efficient, but no one knew that behind the scenes, the English Football Association had spent a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources, and had visited so many countries in order to promote the entire set of theoretical reforms.

Why?

Because England's climate, race, and environment are completely different from those of other countries on the European continent.

So, you can't expect England's players to learn Spain's quick and agile style of play, right?

By the same token, you can't expect the Spanish hipsters to learn the power-playing styles of Nordic countries like Denmark and Sweden, right?

In China, with such a large area and such a complex climate, how do we deal with it?