Chapter 114 New Captain

When Ye Qiu, wearing a neat casual shirt and black trousers, accompanied Van der Sar and Van Praag to the press conference at the Arena Stadium, the spotlights flashed frequently, and everyone aimed their cameras at Ye Qiu and the other two.

The host introduced the purpose of this press conference to all the reporters present, which was to witness Van der Sar's signing with Ajax, which undoubtedly confirmed that Van der Sar would belong to Ajax for the next four years.

"I am very happy. Edwin is a very capable and level goalkeeper. I don't think he should be blamed for what happened in Juventus, because that was not the real Van der Sar, so I firmly believe that returning to Ajax, returning to this familiar place, he will have an impressive performance!"

When interviewed by reporters, Ye Qiu smiled and expressed his expectations for Van der Sar's future.

"We are a very young team, but precisely because we are young, we need an experienced veteran to lead the team. I have to thank Fred Grimm from our team last season. He did a great job in the team. Now, I hope Edwin can continue to play the role of the former European champion goalkeeper in the team!" Ye Qiu's affirmation of Van der Sar was not unexpected by the reporters present, because everyone already knew that Van der Sar was introduced to Ajax by Ye Qiu himself, not by the board of directors, because in the current Ajax power system, the board of directors' power in the field of football competition is not even as strong as Ye Qiu's. "Edwin, first of all, welcome back to the Eredivisie. Can you tell me how you view your trip to Italy over the past two years, and how you evaluate the new head coach Mr. Ye Qiu, and your future position in Ajax?"

Van der Sar sat next to Ye Qiu, looked at the head coach, and smiled, "I think the trip to Italy over the past two years was a wrong adventure, because I felt very uncomfortable with the team's tactical style and communication with the outside world, perhaps because this is my first time playing football abroad."

"I am very grateful to the head coach Mr. Ye Qiu. When I was hesitant and confused about whether to stay or go in Turin, he and Ajax reached out to me, so I returned to Amsterdam and returned to Ajax. The moment I set foot on De Tokmost and Arena Stadium, I had A feeling, a feeling of going home!"

"I firmly believe that Ajax will perform better and better under the leadership of Mr. Ye Qiu, because we not only have a group of very outstanding talented players, but also an outstanding and talented head coach!"

"Mr. Ye Qiu!" A reporter stood up with a sneer, "You used the highest transfer fee in Ajax's history to introduce a goalkeeper who performed poorly in Juventus. Do you think this is a risk?"

Ye Qiu recognized that this was a reporter from Italy, so he smiled and shook his head, "I never thought it was a risk, because I always thought that Edwin's poor performance in Juventus was not a problem of player strength, but a problem of the team. This reminds me of someone, Henry!"

This counterattack was very sharp, and some people even applauded and cheered directly.

Although Moggi has always been regarded as the most astute club operator in Serie A, he seems to be a little dazed recently, especially after Juventus reached its peak at the end of the last century, the Zebras have always been in a very awkward state. Many players did not play well in Juventus, but performed well after switching to other teams. The most typical one is Henry.

He performed poorly in Juventus, but immediately became popular after going to Arsenal.

"Do you think that Van der Sar's transfer to Ajax will be like Henry's transfer to Arsenal?" The reporter was still unconvinced.

"I will prove this with facts!" Ye Qiu replied with a confident smile.

"Then we will wait and see!" The reporter sat down angrily.

Although Van der Sar did not perform well in Juventus, his value was there. Juventus refused to reduce it, and Ajax finally had to choose to accept it, so the transfer fee was as high as 7.5 million euros, which has created the highest price in Ajax's history.

Fans generally give positive comments on the team's heavy investment in Van der Sar, and the five-member board of directors also supports it. Ye Qiu has a nearly 100% success rate in recruiting players. Looking at the group of players he introduced before, almost every one of them has become a capable warrior of Ajax. Therefore, since he thinks Van der Sar is worth the price, no one can refute it.

"Mr. Ye Qiu, this is the last question. We are all looking forward to it. After introducing Van der Sar, will Ajax continue to make moves in the transfer market? Do you have any new targets?"

Ye Qiu shook his head, "I can say with certainty that Edwin is the last perfect puzzle in my tactical board. Our transfer recruitment this summer ends here. We will not make any other transfer operations. Next, we will start the pre-season preparations for the new season."

Ending the transfer operation before the pre-season preparations is also a strategy that Ye Qiu likes very much, because this allows the team to be more focused during training and preparations, so that the players don't have to worry about transfers at that time and cannot devote themselves to preparations.

Ajax has a heavy task in preparing for this summer.

Preparations will begin in mid-July. The team will conduct a two-week closed training camp in Amsterdam, then play a warm-up match, and then conduct training. The Amsterdam Cup will be held at the end of the month and early August.

The other three teams invited to this year's Amsterdam Cup are from Serie A, the Premier League and La Liga, namely AC Milan, Valencia and Arsenal. This is the second consecutive year that Arsenal has participated in the Amsterdam Cup.

Ye Qiu originally considered inviting a Bundesliga team because Ajax had to face the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in the European Super Cup, but in the end he had to give up because the schedule didn't match up.

According to the practice of the Amsterdam Cup, Ajax met AC Milan and Arsenal successively. After the cup, Ajax will have another warm-up match with Valencia. The schedule of the three games is kept very compact.

After playing this series of warm-up matches, the team made some adjustments and ushered in the Dutch Super Cup, also known as the Cruyff Cup. The opponent was still PSV Eindhoven. A week later, the Eredivisie league officially started. .

The duel between Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, a pair of Eredivisie giants, is scheduled for the end of November. The duel between these two teams has also become the most interesting game in the Eredivisie this season. Ajax last season Kekes has written a humiliating mark on PSV's championship journey, and now everyone at PSV is vowing to avenge their disgrace.

Ajax lost the league championship at the last moment, and Ye Qiu and his players are also determined to regain the glory of the Eredivisie championship they won.

After two rounds of the Eredivisie, Ajax still has to participate in the European Super Cup and Bayern Munich, followed by the draw for the European Champions League group stage. This is also the first time Ye Qiu has led a team to participate in the European Champions Cup. Attend the draw event.

But all of this is in the future, and Ye Qiu must solve a problem next.

…………

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Everyone who has stayed in Detok Most for a long time knows that Bobby Harms is praised by everyone as Super Bobby, but this fat old man is not a workaholic, especially under Ye Qiu's leadership. After joining the team, he played more of a consultant role, and laziness became his main label.

If you want to find him, there are only two places. One is the coaching room on the second floor of the first team training building, where he should be watching TV; and the other is the medical department in the second team training area, where he comes to chat with Van Dude.

Sometimes we really should admire the stubbornness and even stubborn work and rest habits of elderly comrades.

"Hey, you came just in time, I was looking for you!"

As soon as Fan Dude saw Ye Qiu walking in, he almost sent him to Mr. Bao's court.

"What's the matter?" Ye Qiu asked with a strange smile.

Fan Dude spread his hands towards Ye Qiu, "You abducted my apprentice, and now I am doing everything here, big and small. Tell me, what should I do?" Seeing his red face, Ye Qiu Qiu could feel the threat from him.

Looking at Bobby Harms smiling from ear to ear, Ye Qiu knew in his heart that what Fan Dude was most depressed about was not that Huang Chu was gone, because Huang Chu went to Cambridge University to study, which had a great influence on Huang Chu. The good thing is that Van Dude is also very supportive. The key is that he is the only one in the medical department now. He is busy and has no time to chat with Bobby Harms. The key is.

"Maybe I should find something for Bobby to do!" Ye Qiu said with a smile.

Van Duder was stunned, and Bobby Harms on the other side laughed and scolded him, "What does it have to do with me? He is complaining to you, okay?"

Seeing the old fat man complaining, Ye Qiu smiled, "If you didn't come to seduce him every day, would he complain?"

Bobby Harms was speechless for a moment, because this was indeed the truth.

The two have a very close relationship. After all, they have worked at Ajax for so many years, and they have formed an extremely deep friendship with each other.

Think about it carefully, how many people in the world can be like them who have dedicated decades of their lives to Ajax?

Seeing that Ye Qiu had caught his weak spot, Fan Dude shook his head helplessly, "No wonder Bobby said it's useless. You are just a cold-blooded guy. I will definitely tell Huang Chu!"

Ye Qiu laughed, not because he was afraid that he would say bad things about himself in front of Huang Chu, "Okay, I agree, Pim, I will recruit two more assistants. You can choose them yourself. I don't care. Just leave them to me when the time comes." Just sign it!”

Ye Qiu now not only controls Detok Most's player transfers, but also has the power to appoint and remove personnel.

Ajax's medical system does not actually rely entirely on the medical department. Each echelon has a supporting team doctor, one for the younger age groups, two for some older age groups, and four for the first team. Among the four first-team doctors, three have their own private clinics outside, and one is based in the club and works with the team.

Ye Qiu also invited Peter Brandt to become the team's physical coach, and set up a player physical examination team specifically for him, so that many first-team player injuries and other issues did not need to go through the medical department.

But this does not mean that the medical department is unimportant, because the medical department is responsible for overall coordination, and at the same time, it also records some player data sent by each echelon and inputs it into the player data system that Ye Qiu previously built for Ajax.

This system is designed to facilitate long-term observation and detection of players' physical data.

After a year of reforms by Ye Qiu, the medical department has become more like a medical data center. Van Dude has gradually lost the opportunity to treat players, and is more like a technical analyst for the physical data of youth team players.

Ye Qiu knew how important this was to a team, especially Ajax's youth training camp, so he decided to hire more people.

Fan Dude is also a naughty old man. He complained vigorously before, but after Ye Qiu agreed to him, he immediately started working with a smile, just like a child who got a promise.

"You came to see me?" Bobby Harms asked with a smile when he saw Ye Qiu walking into the reception room.

Ye Qiu nodded and sat down, "I have something to discuss with you!"

Bobby Harms acted like he was listening and said nothing.

"I want Edwin van der Sar to be the captain of the team!" Ye Qiu's tone sounded more like an announcement than a question.

This also proves that Ye Qiu is now more and more able to make decisions independently. At least he no longer needs to ask others for everything. When he encounters problems, he has to go to others to discuss. He can now clearly know what he wants and should How to do it.

Bobby Harms was even more happy about Ye Qiu's transformation, because he saw with his own eyes how this young man, who was about to celebrate his 27th birthday, grew from scratch into a qualified man step by step. Excellent head coach.

"Change the captain?" Bobby Harms frowned, guessing what Ye Qiu was thinking.

"We can't talk about substitution!" Ye Qiu chuckled, "We actually didn't even see a captain last season!"

The captain of Ajax last season was Grimm, but this veteran did not actually play his due role as a captain, and there was always a big gap between him and a group of young players.

Ye Qiu knew in his heart that there were many reasons for this estrangement. One of the most important aspects was that the age gap between Grim and them was too big to get along, and Ye Qiu also had feelings for old players and young players. The players were purged, which directly caused Grim to be unable to integrate with a group of young players.

Speaking of which, players such as Van der Vaart and Kivu have more or less played the role of captain, but it is not obvious because they are too young after all.

"Van der Sar has just come to the team, but he was a contributor to the team's victory in the Champions League in the past, and he has a certain influence in the minds of players such as Van der Vaart and Sneijder. This player has experience He is rich and has a strong sense of professionalism. I think it is very suitable for him to be the captain of the team.”

In fact, Van der Sar's character is not a very strong captain, similar to Keane, Vieira or Effenberg. In Ye Qiu's view, Van der Sar should be more like a follow-up and good leader. As an older man, his duty as captain is to teach the players how to win the game and lead this group of young teammates to defeat their opponents.

The players are too young and inexperienced. Even if they meet a tough guy like Keane now, the effect may not be better than Van der Sar, because Keane's role is in such a young team. It may not be effective, but Van der Sar will definitely be effective.

Bobby Harms also knew what Ye Qiu was thinking, but he was a little surprised, because he did not expect that Ye Qiu would be so magnanimous and directly hand over the captain's authority to a person whose reputation might even surpass him and threaten him. On someone with the authority of the head coach.

This made Bobby Harms wonder whether Ye Qiu should be said to be confident? Or maybe he doesn’t know how to weigh things up.

"It's easy to give the armband, but it's difficult to get it back!" Bobby Harms said lightly.

He and Van der Sar have a good relationship, but there are some things that cannot be said to be right and who is wrong. If there is a problem between Van der Sar and Ye Qiu in the future, then Van der Sar, as the captain, will become Ye Qiu's biggest threats.

"Don't worry, Bobby. If I can give something, I can definitely take it back. No one can shake my influence on this team. I am confident enough about this. Otherwise, I won't Choose Van der Sar!”

Bobby Harms thought about it and believed that this team was brought up by Ye Qiu. Last season, he even went to the board of directors for Ye Qiu. This is enough to show that Ye Qiu is in the team. In addition, the captain's armband last season was held by the veteran Grimm, and Grimm was not seen causing any trouble.

"What do you want me to do?" Bobby Harms asked.

Ye Qiu knew that he agreed and smiled, "I hope you will talk to Van der Sar in private. I hope that after he becomes captain, he can better play the role of an old player and use his experience and abilities. , lead and help this young team!”

Bobby Harms listened and nodded in agreement, "Okay, I'll go talk to him later."

Ye Qiu smiled and chatted with Bobby Harms for a few more words, and then left the medical department. He had other things to do with the first team.

The team will be training soon, and as the head coach, he will definitely have a lot of things to do.

Watching Ye Qiu leave, Fan Dude walked in.

"This guy is becoming more and more like a head coach now." He was also an old senior who watched Ye Qiu grow up step by step.

Bobby Harms smiled and nodded, "His progress not only surprised others, but also surprised me. In just two years, he has achieved results that many people may not be able to achieve in their lifetime. It's hard for me." Imagine what Ajax will become in his hands!"

"Perhaps, he is stronger than Van Gaal back then!" Van Dude said with a smile.

Bobby Hams smiled noncommittally and stood up from the sofa, "I am also old, and my health is getting worse day by day. I have no regrets to meet a head coach like Ye Qiu. I hope I can see him lead Ajax to the day of revival!"

"It will definitely work, old friend!" Van Dude said with the same feeling.