Chapter 839: North and South Become King
In recent years, with the influx of international capital into professional football, the importance of a club's management system has become increasingly prominent. It not only includes daily management, but also includes talent selection and introduction, as well as long-term planning.
Kuhn and others are all operators of large companies. They know better than anyone that the most important thing in running a large company is how to establish an efficient management system.
If football is viewed as a world, then all the teams in the five major leagues are a big company.
Looking back over the past decade or so, the best performing teams in Europe have often excelled in terms of management.
The first three years of the first Galacticos, Juventus led by Moggi before the Calciopoli scandal, AC Milan during the golden age of Berlusconi and Galliani...
One of the important reasons why Mourinho's Porto was able to sweep across Europe was that a new business concept, headed by Mendes' third-party ownership organization, entered the Portuguese Super League and European football.
As it turns out, it was precisely the huge success achieved by Porto that greatly boosted the career development of Mendes and others.
When Barcelona was in deep trouble, Guardiola took over the team as the soul of the club and received full support from everyone from the chairman Laporta to the ordinary staff. He provided people and resources, and dismissed anyone he didn't like, thus establishing Guardiola's supreme authority in the Barcelona team.
At the peak, Guardiola's coaching team had as many as twenty people. It was not until Rosell came to power that the coaching team was laid off in order to cut the team's finances. This also caused the conflict between Guardiola and Rosell.
As for Mourinho's Inter Milan, there is no need to say more. He almost spent everything in the club, including Moratti's financial resources and all the resources of the team, and gambled away an unsustainable success.
After the success, Inter Milan quickly fell into decline.
As for Ferguson's Manchester United and Bayern Munich over the years, there is no need to say much. They are definitely a model for the management of European professional teams.
Just like Bayern Munich.
After experiencing success at the turn of the century, with the bankruptcy of the Kirch Group, the overall decline of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich also sank, and there was a period of turmoil that lasted for several years, and it was unable to make any achievements in the European arena.
However, Bayern Munich has not been without achievements in the past few years.
That is, the Bundesliga giants rely on their excellent management system to continuously break through their own management limits, expand financial revenue, and further consolidate their position as the supreme ruler of the Bundesliga.
It can be said that after those years of accumulation, Bayern Munich's dominance over the Bundesliga has almost reached its peak.
In recent years, a new term has gradually become popular in Europe: technical director.
It can also be called football director, sports director, whatever the name, the meaning is basically the same.
That is, to arrange a buffer position between the head coach and the management.
The most famous incident was when Chelsea forcibly poached the Danish football director Frank Arnesen from Tottenham Hotspur.
It can also be said that this incident allowed the football director, or technical director, to appear in front of the fans for the first time.
So what exactly is it?
Many fans have always had a misunderstanding that the players and head coaches standing on the stage should naturally become the protagonists of the team, just like Ferguson of Manchester United and Wenger of Arsenal. All the resources of the team should be tilted towards them. Is this really the case?
As we all know, for most teams, whether it is players or head coaches, even if they have contracts, they are positions with very high mobility.
Just ask, how many years can a player play for a club?
As we all know, the most reasonable coaching period for a head coach in a team is four years!
If it were a mature company, would it be willing to invest such tremendous resources in someone who is ready to change jobs at any time, or who can only stay in the team for four years and either change jobs or see his work ability decline after four years?
The answer is very, very definite, impossible!
Therefore, neither Ferguson nor Wenger should be regarded as typical cases. They are exceptions, not the norm.
But the real norm is that the head coach is just a project manager hired by the club. If he does a good job, he will stay; if he does not, he will leave. If you are poached, it doesn’t matter. I can find a suitable person to replace you in the shortest time.
This is the responsibility of the technical director or football director!
To be honest, if we look at it purely from a management perspective, Wenger's contribution to Premier League teams is greater than Ferguson's.
Why do I say so?
If you look closely, it is not difficult to find that Ferguson is not, strictly speaking, an excellent club operator.
Yes, he has a thorough understanding of tactics and a strong learning ability, but he still cannot get rid of the traditional division of labor in which the boss makes money and the head coach spends money. His achievements are basically based on his investment.
Once he stepped down, Manchester United immediately fell apart, which is very telling.
That is, from beginning to end, no matter how successful Manchester United is on a commercial level, its management on a competitive level is a mess.
But what about Arsenal?
Although Wenger's team has performed poorly in recent years, Arsenal has steadily secured a place in the top 16 of the Champions League, and Wenger's personal ability in financial control has ensured Arsenal's financial health and sustainable development.
Ever since Ferguson led Manchester United to win the Treble in 1999, he has lacked a long-term direction for the team.
For example, when you signed Veron at a sky-high price, everyone knew you wanted to change the team's tactics, but what was the result?
give up halfway!
Some people may say that it is because Veron can't adapt!
Yes, but as long as you recruit players, there will be risks.
If Veron can't adapt, can't we change the team's tactics to help him adapt?
In other words, if your philosophy is firm enough and Veron cannot adapt, can't you replace him with another player?
After that, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney appeared, and the team was immediately built around them and won a Champions League, but after Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid, Manchester United once again fell into a very chaotic team formation state.
During those years, it can basically be said that Manchester United was in chaos at the tactical level.
Yes, Manchester United reached the Champions League final twice, but was thoroughly beaten by Barcelona both times.
Even Ferdinand himself said that Manchester United had no power to fight back against Barcelona in the Champions League final.
And looking at Manchester United's record of reaching the Champions League final twice, have they ever encountered a truly strong team?
In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo was still there, and Manchester United had good luck in the group stage draw. In the knockout stage, they first met Inter Milan in Mourinho's first year, then Porto, and in the semi-finals it was Arsenal.
In 2011, the team was also lucky in the group stage draw. In the knockout stage, they first faced Marseille, then Chelsea, a team with unstable morale led by Ancelotti who was no longer in office, and Schalke 04 in the semi-finals.
It can be said that in those two Champions League finals, Manchester United almost never encountered truly strong opponents.
But in both Champions League finals, Manchester United was completely defeated by Barcelona!
Of course, reaching the Champions League final is a pretty good result, but, in those years, did Manchester United invest little in signings?
And after Ferguson left, what did he leave for his successor?
It’s not that Moyes is a jerk, it’s the lineup left by Ferguson that has to kneel even if the king of heaven comes!
On the other hand, although Wenger's achievements are not as good as Ferguson's, Arsenal's philosophy has always been firm and the direction is clear.
It can be said that even if Wenger steps down, as long as Arsenal's management continues to stick to the path that the team has been following for many years and the head coach selected is not too different from Wenger, Arsenal will not experience much turmoil.
So, what is the difference between Ferguson and Wenger?
It’s long-term planning!
Therefore, the club needs a technical director to coordinate competitive affairs, develop long-term plans, select head coaches and players who fit into these plans, and avoid the phenomenon of changing the player team when changing the head coach.
Moreover, the technical director must have a deep enough understanding of the professional football market, be familiar with the head coaches, understand their tactical styles, ways to success and different personalities, and be the first to grasp all kinds of information and dynamics in professional football so that when any position in the team faces poaching, he can come up with a substitute plan at any time.
In addition, he must manage the scouting team, be responsible for transfer negotiations, and establish good relationships with the players' agents, so that when the team needs them, he can introduce them as soon as possible, or discover suitable players internally.
So, what many fans are worried about is what to do if there is a conflict between the technical director and the head coach?
As for Yang Huan, he could only smile and say that the head coach was selected by the technical director, so what conflict could there be?
Even if it really happens, there will be only one result: the head coach will leave!
Because in the past history of professional football, the necessity of technical directors has been proven time and time again.
This time, Yang Huan made adjustments and reforms in the management of Southampton. One of the most important measures was that Peter Kenyon would leave the team and be promoted to Miracle Football Group as CEO, with full authority to manage and operate the company on behalf of Yang Huan.
Ron Gourlay will take over from Peter Kenyon as Saints chief executive.
In addition, Les Reid has made outstanding contributions to the club's work over the past period of time. His work ability has been unanimously recognized by people including Yang Huan, Peter Kenyon, Ron Gourlay and Bielsa. He is also a British player and is familiar with everything about the Saints.
Therefore, this time Yang Huan promoted Les Reid to technical director, who was fully responsible for coordinating the club's competitive affairs.
In this way, the management of the Saints will be determined, which is the combination of the big three of Nicola Cortes, Ron Gourlay and Les Reid, and Yang Huan will completely withdraw from the Saints and no longer easily interfere in the team's affairs.
After listening to Yang Huan's analysis, Klaus Michael Kuhn and others showed even deeper admiration in their eyes.
Yang Huan wants to use a modern management system to run his Miracle Football Group and the football teams under his command.
It is entirely foreseeable that with the completion of Southampton's management system reform, the management systems of several other teams will also face optimization and adjustment, which is bound to greatly enhance the competitiveness of these football teams.
And what about hamburgers?
I wonder what position hamburgers hold in Master Huan’s mind?
How did he position the hamburger?
Thinking of this, Klaus Michael Kuhn winked at Alexander Otto.
The latter understood what he meant and immediately smiled at Yang Huan, "Master Huan, that hamburger..."
Yang Huan smiled and nodded, "I've said before, what goals Hamburg can achieve depends on how much influence I can have in this team."
Klaus Michael Kuhn at the side finally couldn't help but ask directly, "Master Huan, what if you were given full authority? To what position can you bring Hamburg back to?"
After saying this, the super-rich man from Hamburg stared at Yang Huan with his old and somewhat cloudy eyes, but not without brilliance, as if he wanted to watch every move of Young Master Huan.
Yang Huan also stared at Kuhn without giving in. He smiled slightly, but said with a very strong confidence: "If Hamburg is under my control, we will return to the European arena within three years, and be on par with Bayern Munich within five years, and become the king of the north and south!"
This last sentence immediately made Kuhn's eyes light up.
"Master Huan, does this count?"
"I will never fight a battle that I am not sure of winning!" Yang Huan seemed very confident.