Rebirth 1994: Football Situation

Chapter 686 Welcome to Newcastle
Maicon arrived in Newcastle quietly on the second day after signing the contract. There were no fans at the airport to welcome them, no reporters flocking to them, and no flashing lights. Only two staff members from the Newcastle club came. Pick up.

This is normal, because these days are just a few days before the start of Newcastle's summer training camp. Except for the players who were in the team last season, other new players have to attend the press conference in these few days. The clubs have to send people to pick them up. Since Pei Wei and Mourinho don't know how to separate themselves, it is better to treat everyone equally than to pick up a certain player and not pick up other players, which may make the media stir up trouble.

Maicon's agent complained a bit, but Maicon didn't feel any disrespect, and said with a smile to his agent's complaint: "It's just right... I'm not here to be a star, I'm here to play football. "

Since Maicon said so, the agent naturally has nothing to say. When he knew that the other players who came to report were only club staff who came to pick up the plane, he was relieved—not worrying about shortage but unevenness, not only The Chinese have this idea.

During this period, Newcastle completed several player transfer transactions. Viana and Bellamy were loaned to Sporting Lisbon and Celtic respectively. Pei Wei got Nani's excellent purchase right as he wished.

After actively contacting other clubs, Viduka has been favored by many mid-range clubs in the Premier League. In the end, Middlesbrough, which is the closest to Newcastle, got the first chance. Their sincere attitude impressed the Australians, and they offered 750 million The transfer fee in pounds is also the highest, and Newcastle readily agreed to Middlesbrough's offer. This can be regarded as Pei Wei's compensation for taking away the first championship trophy in Middlesbrough's history.

Woodgate's choice to leave was unexpected to everyone. After winning the European Champions Cup last season, the England international wanted to play abroad. At this time, Real Madrid They came to the door again, and the two sides hit it off.

Although Newcastle was reluctant to let him go, the player wanted to leave, and Pei Wei did not intend to force him to stay. In the end, Real Madrid, who were eager for talents, offered a high price of 340 million pounds and finally brought the England international. Bernabéu Stadium.

Harper, Griffin, Woodgate, Speed, Solano, Viana, Bellamy, Viduka, Lualua, these are the nine players Newcastle left this summer Nine players recovered a transfer fee of 780 million pounds. Compared with last season's large expenditures, Newcastle only spent about 3000 million pounds this summer.

In terms of spending on introducing players, Newcastle ranks second in the Premier League, and in terms of actual spending, Newcastle even spends less than Manchester United and Liverpool, only ranking fourth in the Premier League.

With the introduction of seven players and the departure of nine players, the number of Newcastle's first team has been reduced to 24. However, compared with last season, the composition of personnel has become leaner and more practical. Every player has the ability to play. Each position has at least two players capable of playing the main force, and the entire team appears to be more effective.

And on July [-]th, the day when the Newcastle team began to concentrate on preparing for the pre-season training camp, Newcastle specially arranged a press conference to introduce the seven new players to the fans and the media.

The press conference was extremely high-profile. Newcastle club chairman Pei Wei, head coach Mourinho and technical consultant Bobby Robson all attended the press conference and introduced the seven new players to the fans. They are Mourinho's idea. He thinks that this can show that no one in the team is special. Robson agrees with this proposal, and Pei Wei naturally has no objection.

Petr Cech, Maicon, Ribery, Drogba, Lennon, Essien, Larsson, the seven new players stood in a row on the stage, holding their new jerseys in their hands, facing the reporters The camera smiled.

Cech is holding the No.12 jersey left by Harper. After Griffin left, his No. 13 jersey was taken away by Bernard. Maicon put on the No. 18 jersey worn by Bernard last season. .20 jersey, after Bellamy left, his No. 11 jersey was taken away by Ibrahimovic, and the NO. The owner of the jersey last season was Viduka, and Larsson still chose his NO.19 in the Swedish national team. This originally belonged to the veteran Speed, Essien was number [-], and Lennon wore NO. [-].

One of the last two numbers belonged to Solano, who left, and the other belonged to Bramble. After all, Pei Wei finally softened his heart. After the transfer started this summer, he finally terminated the contract with Bramble and let him go freely. Find a new home-he has learned enough lessons from his career in the reserve team for more than half a year, and more importantly, other players have also learned enough lessons.

Franck Ribery and Didier Drogba in front of the camera smiled especially happily. They were extremely happy to be able to play under Pei Wei and Mourinho again. Franck Ribery's scar seemed to be shining. Luoba laughed so much that his mouth almost reached his ears.

The cameras in the hands of the reporters in the audience kept flashing, but they were constantly slandering in their hearts-not to mention the few players Newcastle bought this year, they were really not good in appearance, except for Cech's tall stature, Apart from being extraordinary, everything else is crooked - Maicon has a simple and honest face, Essien has big lips and thick lips, Drogba looks like a prehistoric ape-man, and Ribery is disfigured with a single scar. Lennon and Larson can only be regarded as mediocre in appearance. After this year's transfer, whether Newcastle's strength has increased or decreased is hard to say, but what is certain is that after letting go of Woodgate and Viana After a handsome player, the charm index of the entire Newcastle has dropped a lot.

Some reporters also sneered in their hearts. The seven players introduced by Newcastle this year came from seven different countries. Except for the tacit cooperation between Ribery and Didier Drogba, the other players have never cooperated or even played. Can a short pre-season training session allow them to cultivate a tacit understanding?It seems that the beginning of the new season for Newcastle will definitely not be too easy.

Whether you are optimistic or not, Newcastle's pre-season training has officially begun.

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At the Longbenton training base, Newcastle started the first day of training for the new season.

The 24 players in front of him stood neatly in three rows in front of Mourinho. Behind Mourinho, Robson looked at the faces that were either familiar or unfamiliar, and he was filled with emotion.

The Newcastle team under him in the 02-03 season is still in the team. There are only eight players left, Shay, Keig, Bernard, Taylor, Janus, Dyer, Robert, Shearer , In two years, twenty players left.

But Robson also has to admit that the current Newcastle team is several times stronger than a year ago. Although this approach is a bit unreasonable, it has indeed improved the strength, cohesion and competition mechanism of the entire team.

His eyes fell on Mourinho in front of him again. This young man who became his translator ten years ago has now become the best among the hottest young coaches in the European continent. He won the dream goal of countless European coaches - the champion of the Champions League. He used his iron fist, wit and influence to create an iron army. It seems that it is really the age of young people.

It's a pity that my body is no longer allowed to work hard on the front line, otherwise I really hope to lead a team to compete with him on the court, but it's not bad now, watching Newcastle create unprecedented brilliance, isn't it Is it your long-cherished wish?
At this time, Mourinho began his pre-season speech: "Gentlemen, the holidays have passed and the new season is about to begin... I don't care if you are already in this team or newcomers. In my eyes, there is no difference in this respect, from now on, you are all my players, at least in the next season, we will all work together, unity, is the most important thing."

His eyes swept over all the players: "Last season was a fantastic season for Newcastle, but the honors won last season did not bring any substantial benefits to this season. They will willingly lose to us in the Champions Cup because we were the Champions Cup champions last season. On the contrary, they will use more strength to deal with us-because we have come from the dark to the bright, So this season, it will be more difficult than last season - are you afraid?"

"Not afraid!" The players replied in unison—they would not show timidity in such a situation. The rookie had to show his desire to win, and the old man already knew what kind of answer Mourinho liked.

"Very good." Mourinho showed a smile: "In order to be able to have a good holiday after the end of this season, we have to pay more during this period of time... In the next month, we will We will undergo strict training to allow our physical functions to quickly recover to the level where we can participate in the competition, and to accumulate physical fitness for the whole season. Therefore, this month will be very difficult. I will base on your training and warm-up matches Your performance will determine your position in the season."

Mourinho opened his arms to everyone: "Welcome to Newcastle!"

(End of this chapter)