Chapter 1124 Rebuilding a Chinatown

"What? Zidane is leaving?"

The morning after defeating Real Madrid, Gao Han was shocked when he heard Cantarero's report in the office.

He had no idea about this and no one informed him.

"What's going on?" Gao Han looked at Armando Marcos and Cantarero sitting in front of him and asked with concern.

Of course he would not doubt his two right-hand men. Zidane's departure from the team was certainly not due to internal conflicts.

"He told me about this not long ago. He felt too tired."

Cantarero's words left Gao Han silent.

Being a head coach is indeed a very tiring job, and not just anyone can bear it, especially someone like Zidane, who took charge of Chinatown, successfully defended the Champions League, and became the target of public criticism. The pressure is higher than that of other teams. Bigger.

"In the past year, the tactical upgrade in European football has also been obvious. Many of our games have not been easy, and the counterattack tactics of many wealthy teams have made it increasingly difficult for us to cope. For this reason, Zidane often Insomnia."

Chinatown's performance this season is indeed outstanding. The strong dialogue in the league ended with a complete victory. The Champions League is also going strong. The Copa del Rey has reached the final. The opponent is Sevilla. The possibility of winning the championship is still very high.

But behind this brilliant report card, Zidane and the coaching staff racked their brains and worked day and night.

Gao Han can completely imagine how much Zidane paid for this.

"Is it just because of these?" Gao Han asked again, he vaguely noticed something.

"Of course it's more than that." Cantarero nodded. "Makelele is going to coach alone. Several French Ligue 1 teams have invited him to come and leave after the end of this season. Real Madrid's Florentino has also been Zidane, who was pursuing Zidane so hard, couldn't bear his feelings, but he said he planned to take a year off."

Taking a year off can be regarded as a buffer, and it is natural for him to return to take over Real Madrid after one year.

After Galactico hired Ancelotti to coach, although they spent heavily on signings, their results did not improve much. Florentino was not very satisfied with Ancelotti, which is normal. He invited Zidane to return to the Bernabeu to coach. No matter which angle you look at it, it is the best choice.

As for Zidane, he is a person who misses old friendships. He will definitely not be willing to see President Florentino lose his position and return to the Bernabeu to repay Florentino for his kindness back then. This is not called People are surprised.

"Originally I planned to discuss it with you before, but the Chinese national team you were coaching at the time was facing a big competition, and I felt that I could handle it, so I didn't tell you to avoid distracting you." Cantarero explained. .

This is in line with Cantarero's style. He has always understood Gao Han best.

After coaching this season, Zidane is leaving, and neither Gao Han nor Chinatown has any reason to force him to stay.

After coaching in Chinatown for three years, it is normal for Zidane to leave the team at this time.

"In addition to the change of the coaching staff, our team may also need to undergo a reorganization." Cantarero said solemnly.

Gao Han frowned, "How do you say that?"

"As I just said, in the past period of time, we have become the target of public criticism in European football. We are too successful and too dazzling. The most important thing is that our overall strength is indeed stronger than other giant teams. In addition, The tactical system we have inherited over the years has created our strong competitiveness."

The current batch of players in the Chinatown team were all selected and introduced one by one by Gao Han. Each one was inspected with a keen eye. It is no exaggeration to say that with the current lineup configuration of Chinatown, they will be placed in European football. The altars are all the most luxurious and top-notch.

"In the past three years, Zidane has been the boss in the locker room. The way he gets along with the players is that of a big brother. He always stands up for the players and the players obey him. But now he wants to leave unless We invite top coaches, otherwise, no matter who takes over, it may not go well."

"What's more, we must be clearly aware that since the beginning of this season, some signs have gradually appeared in the team, and many players have begun to show signs of slackness. Now the team must launch an attack on the La Liga championship. This This situation is not obvious yet, but once we win the La Liga championship, the consequences that will follow..."

There must be troughs after the peak, and players cannot always maintain their hunger for victory. This is human nature.

Therefore, transfers, metabolism, and fresh blood are needed to stimulate the team's internal competition.

Chinatown has always done well in this regard, but the reorganization Cantarero mentioned this time is obviously more dynamic.

"Not only that, our team is now facing great pressure on the salary structure. The salaries of outside players are rising steadily, and the annual salaries offered by many wealthy teams are more attractive than ours. It is impossible for us to meet the salary increases of all players. It’s impossible to retain so many people if we don’t have enough salary.”

After all, the transfer market in European football has been so crazy in the past two or three years.

Needless to say, players' values ​​have skyrocketed. The most frightening thing is that their annual salaries have also continued to rise.

After Neymar switched to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, in addition to receiving a record transfer fee, his annual salary also reached 20 million euros. However, there is news that he will receive another salary increase after only one year after joining. At least 30 million euros each time.

Messi will also get another raise. His current contract is 23 million euros, but it will rise to 40 million euros in one go. This will surpass Cristiano Ronaldo and become the player with the highest annual salary in the world.

Hazard previously signed a contract extension of 10 million euros, but after helping Chinatown successfully defend the Champions League, Hazard won the first of his career in January and the first international football championship in the history of Chinatown. In conjunction with the Golden Globe Award, contract renewal is also on the agenda again, and this time it will probably be an astronomical figure.

In addition to Hazard, other players in the team are also about to renew their contracts. For example, Pogba has performed very well this season. It is already rumored that a wealthy team is willing to offer him 15 million euros. Annual salary, this is impossible to get in Chinatown.

"Armando, what do you think?" Gao Han looked at Armando Marcos.

The general manager of Chinatown also had a bitter look on his face. He was very aware of the contribution and role of the superstars to the team, but he was also very clear that endless salary increases would place a heavy burden on the team.

The transfer fee is just a one-time deal, but the annual salary is long-term pressure.

"In the past few years, the global economy has been depressed, major economies have launched quantitative easing policies, and all kinds of hot money have poured into European football, resulting in an extremely obvious bubble in the transfer market, but I don't think this situation is benign and healthy. Sustainable.”

Gao Han understood what Armando Marcos meant.

There is a saying that is true, you only know who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

Now that the tide is high, the situation is very good, and no one has the slightest sense of crisis.

"I think the intensity of the reorganization depends on the technical department's confidence in the thickness of our bench. We need to carefully evaluate the gains and losses."

Armando Marcos's words were very suitable for his position, and also reminded Gao Han that the bench players in the team are not bad.

Jesus, Jesus, Martial, Dembélé, Mbappe, Kingsley Coman, Kovacic, Asensio, Ceballos, Bellerin...and from China Four players Yang Xin, Zhao Jun, Wang Lei and Gao Ren.

As long as they are given enough training opportunities, within three years, these players will become great players and will definitely be able to support the world of Chinatown.

What's more, after Gao Han's active efforts, Spain and China have basically reached an agreement. In the future, Chinese players will no longer occupy the foreign aid quota when entering the Spanish league.

Reorganizing the team's lineup and selling a group of stars can not only bring in a large amount of transfer revenue, but also significantly reduce the team's salary. It can also leave more game opportunities for the young players in the team, and then No one knows the potential of these young players in the team better than Gao Han. As long as they are properly cultivated, within three years, they will create an unstoppable Chinatown team.

In terms of profit and loss, is it worth it to earn several hundred million in three years?

"Zidane is leaving, is there a suitable candidate?" Gao Han looked at Cantarero again.

The technical director nodded slightly, "Of course the most suitable one is Guardiola, but he is at Manchester City and cannot leave in a short time. I do have a pretty good candidate, but he lacks the experience of coaching a strong first-line team."

"Who?" Gao Han asked with concern.

"Valverde."

Gao Han suddenly understood and couldn't help but nod.

Valverde is the current head coach of Athletic Bilbao and has a rich coaching resume. He has coached Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villarreal, and Valencia in the past three years. Coaching at Athletic Bilbao.

And everyone knows that the coaches who coach Athletic Bilbao are often good at developing young players.

Now it seems that Cantarero's technical team thinks highly of Valverde.

"Our head coaches often don't have experience coaching strong teams." Gao Han said with a faint smile.

Two different team formation models are generally popular in European football. One is theory-based, and the other is resource-based. The former mainly requires a mature technical and tactical style, and then revolves around this style. The most typical example of investment and signings is Barcelona, ​​and the latter has no fixed style. Different head coaches may even bring different styles. The main purpose is to collect the most dazzling stars in the world and polish them into the best players in the world. team.

It’s hard to say the advantages and disadvantages of these two teaming models. The theory is the main one and the emphasis is on the same origin. The investment is relatively small and the risk is relatively small, but it is easy to rest on one’s own laurels. However, the resource investment is the main one. The style changes too much and the investment is large. , but the risk is very high.

Chinatown has always followed a theory-based approach. After all, it is a team with youth training as its core. However, Chinatown does not revolve around a certain tactical style or a certain head coach. To build the team, it is more about the technical team headed by Gao Han and Cantarero as the core.

For example, in the past few years, the technical team has been studying the evolution of techniques and tactics in Chinatown and the development trends of techniques and tactics in European football, and providing theoretical guidance to the coaching staff and youth training echelon. Now that Zidane is leaving, the team To reorganize, the technical team must deduce the technical and tactical development trends in the next few years, determine the list of players who will stay and leave the team, and select a suitable head coach based on the technical and tactical style.

So, in theory, it doesn't matter even if the head coach doesn't have much experience, because Chinatown has a mature team.

This is where Zidane took over Chinatown as a rookie coach and achieved great success in his first season.

Gao Han is still very impressed with Valverde. He once considered him when selecting a coach three years ago. His defense focuses on pressing and pressing from the high position. When attacking, he pays attention to width and support. He is very good at attacking in the ribs and his rhythm is faster and more concise. .

It should be said that Valverde's coaching characteristics are in line with the requirements of Chinatown.

"Looking for an opportunity, I'll have a good talk with him." Gao Han said with a faint smile.