Chapter 191 A lottery full of coincidences
Returning from Manchester, Ajax soon welcomed Vitesse.
At the Arena, Ajax defeated Vitesse 2-0 thanks to Van der Vaart's brace.
Three days later, again at the Arena Stadium, Ajax defeated Groningen 4:1 and successfully reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup. Their opponents in the semi-finals were Feyenoord and the other game was Uruguay. Derecht and Eindhoven.
On March 8, Ajax challenged Zwolle away from home. This game completely became the stage for the performance of the Ajax Trident.
Van der Vaart scored in just 5 minutes of the opening game. This talented star, who is known as the new Cruyff, has performed very shockingly this season and has scored consecutive goals recently.
Ibrahimovic was not to be outdone, and soon in the 20th minute, in the small area of the opponent's penalty area, after passing two players of the opponent in a row, he scored with a single shot, 2:0.
In the 32nd minute, Robben suddenly entered the penalty area from the left. After receiving a pass from Arteta, he shot with his left foot, helping Ajax further expand the score to 3:0.
The outstanding performance of the Trident made Ajax look unstoppable, and in the second half, the Trident's limelight was not diminished at all. Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic scored consecutively in the 58th and 65th minutes respectively. Helped Ajax beat Zwolle 5:0 away from home.
This victory once again shocked the entire European football world.
The 21-year-old Ibrahimovic, the 20-year-old Van der Vaart, and the 19-year-old Robben, Ajax's front three are not only young and have outstanding talents, but also showed their strong ability. personal abilities, and when they work together, they form an extraordinary tacit understanding.
In the four major leagues, people around the age of 20 are still considered rookies, and they can only play in the first team and get some playing experience. However, in the Eredivisie and Ajax, this group of players have already played in the first team. After three years of playing in the league, they have accumulated extremely rich competition experience. They have won the UEFA Cup, the Eredivisie championship, and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Not only the forward trident, Sneijder, Arteta and Mascherano in the midfield are also very young, and Maicon, Kivu, Lucio and Abidal in the backcourt are also the same age. No matter how big it is, this group of young guards, composed of about 20 years old, has shown strong combat effectiveness in the Eredivisie and European competitions, which has attracted the attention of the whole world.
"This Ajax team reminds me of the talented young team that Louis van Gaal won when he won the Champions League."
This is what Cruyff said in his column after Ajax defeated Manchester United, but he also said, "But Ye Qiu is obviously different from Van Gaal. Ye Qiu's arrogance is hidden in his heart, while Fan Gaal Gal's arrogance is exposed on the surface, which makes the former more receptive to other people's opinions, while the latter appears more stubborn and domineering. "
"I have no doubt that it is difficult for Ajax to satisfy Ye Qiu. He should go to a broader stage to prove his strength. With his style, he should go to La Liga and Barcelona. I am very much looking forward to Ye Qiu. With the combination of Qiu and Barcelona, he will revitalize Barcelona and regain its dominance in the European arena, becoming invincible!”
This is the first time Cruyff has unabashedly expressed his admiration for Ye Qiu and expressed his hope that Ye Qiu will take over Camp Nou, but this cannot be done in a short time. .
Because Barcelona's interim president Reina is only of a transitional nature, he will not sign or sell players, nor will he fire or hire a head coach. All of this will have to wait until the end of the season, after Barcelona re-elects its head coach. to be able to make a decision.
But there is no doubt that Cruyff's admiration for Ye Qiu has caused many candidates for the Barcelona chairman to pay attention to the Ajax coach who has become famous in recent years, hoping to tie him to their side. .
They all know that having Ye Qiu join them is equivalent to getting Cruyff's support.
For a time, the media throughout Spain and even Europe began to hype the news that Ye Qiu would take over Barcelona in the summer. Based on the relationship between Ajax and Barcelona, and the relationship between Van Praag and Cruyff, all Everyone thinks this is a natural thing, and this is how Van Gaal came through.
Faced with the media hype, Ye Qiu had to stand up and clarify.
"I have never received any invitations and have no thoughts of leaving Ajax. I only have one idea now, which is to lead the team to better results. I will not consider anything about me until the end of the season. Things to come.”
As Ye Qiu's agent, Eliza was happy to see such news and hype, but she also knew very well that Ye Qiu wanted a quiet coaching environment, so it was rare for her not to stand up this time. Instead of adding fuel to the flames, he secretly pushed Ye Qiu's influence to a higher level.
On March 11, Ajax welcomed Bayer Leverkusen at home at the Arena Stadium.
This unlucky Bundesliga team has lost four consecutive games in the group stage, but their top priority now is obviously not the Champions League, but the relegation of the Bundesliga, so this game is still very unmotivated. A lot of substitutes came out.
Ajax has gradually secured the top spot in the group, and Ye Qiu also began to save some strength, but the goals of Huntelaar and Kolo Toure helped Ajax beat Leverkusen 2:0.
Manchester United encountered a tenacious sniper from Moscow Lokomotiv at Old Trafford, and the two sides finally tied 1:1. Manchester United's unlucky defense line once again exposed problems. Everyone felt that if the problem of the defense line was not solved, it would be very difficult for Manchester United to continue in the Champions League.
On March 15, Ajax defeated SBV Elite 5:1 at home. Sneijder, Robben, Arteta, Ibrahimovic and Maicon scored for Ajax respectively.
On March 19, Ajax challenged Moscow Lokomotiv away and finally defeated the opponent 2:0. Huntelaar scored twice, showing the high efficiency of the Dutch shooter.
So far, all six rounds of the second round of the Champions League group stage have been played. Ajax finally qualified from the group with an unbeaten record of 5 wins and 1 draw, while Manchester United took the second place in the group, Lokomotiv Moscow was third, and Leverkusen lost 6 games in a row, ranked last in points, and was eliminated miserably.
Not only that, Ajax scored 15 goals and conceded 3 goals in 6 games, making it the team with the most goal difference in the second round of the Champions League group stage. Their number of goals was 3 more than Barcelona, which ranked second, but the latter only conceded 2 goals, and was slightly more stable in defense than Ajax.
The most surprising thing was Valencia, which performed very well in the first round of the group stage. When Benítez's team really encountered a strong opponent in the second round of the group stage, their performance was greatly reduced.
They achieved 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in 6 rounds. Although they won the first place in the group, they only scored 5 goals and conceded 6 goals. Compared with the first round of the group stage, this report card is really far behind that of the first round of the group stage. Therefore, many people have greatly discounted Valencia's performance in the first round of the group stage, thinking that it was a result of the weak team.
On the contrary, Ajax became the best performing team in the second round of the group stage, overshadowing Real Madrid, which surprised fans and professionals, but bookmakers still did not have high hopes for this team.
Among all the teams that made it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Ajax's odds of winning the championship ranked fifth, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United, which once again proved that the giants are still the protagonists of this game.
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Ajax seemed extremely happy to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League again, which can be seen from the atmosphere of the club.
On the second day after the six rounds of group matches, UEFA will hold the draw ceremony for the quarter-finals in Nyon, but Ajax only arranged for technical director Leo Beenhakker to go this time, while Ye Qiu and Bobby Hams were invited to Van Praag's office.
As soon as he entered the door, the chairman of Ajax smiled and gave Ye Qiu a report from the finance department.
The team's performance has been rising steadily in recent years, and part of the club's business has been authorized to Eliza's company, which has greatly increased Ajax's income and improved its financial situation. If the shareholders were not very dissatisfied, Van Praag would even consider taking back all the shares.
Of course, it doesn't matter whether to take it back now, because the shareholders can no longer interfere with the club's operations.
Today, the real decision-making body of Ajax is the board of directors composed of five people, and Van Praag now has the power.
"10 million euros?" Ye Qiu was somewhat resistant to this kind of report. He just casually browsed the summary at the bottom and was a little surprised, because the team only made it to the quarterfinals, but it actually increased its income by 10 million euros?
"Yes, the income this season will be much higher than last season. The Finance Department even gave me an estimate. If we make it to the semifinals, it is expected to reach 15 million, and if we make it to the finals, it will be 20 million, not counting the share and bonus given by UEFA."
Ye Qiu knew that the Champions League made money a long time ago, but when he really saw this data, he realized how profitable the Champions League is.
Thinking back to when he just took over Ajax, the team was worried about the transfer fees of several million like a toilet lid, but now it earns more than 10 million from playing in one event, not counting the income from the group stage, but only the increased income. Oh my god, it's terrifying!
No wonder the current giants are fighting hard to play in the Champions League, it's too profitable!
"This time I came to you mainly to talk to you about how to spend money!" Van Praag said with a smile.
In the past, Ajax was always worried about money, but now they have to worry about how to spend it.
"Our current financial situation is good, but this is only temporary. Money should be spent on places with potential for value-added, such as further improving the scout system, further improving our youth training system and the De Tokmost training base." Ye Qiu suggested.
These are all places that can bring continuous income to Ajax in the future. Even if Ajax's performance declines in the future, they can still get strong supplements and lay the foundation for its future resurgence.
On the other hand, if you spend money now, it will be too late to regret when the fiscal revenue is tight in the future.
"I have also considered what you said, but there is one important point, I think it must be implemented as soon as possible." Van Praag has always been obedient to Ye Qiu, and now what he wants to do most is to keep Ye Qiu.
It is rumored throughout Europe that Ye Qiu is going to Barcelona. Although Van Praag has repeatedly hinted at it and also asked Bobby Hames, Ricklink and Roland, who are close to Ye Qiu, they all got clear news that Ye Qiu is now all focused on Ajax, but he is still very worried.
Van Praag knows how Ajax rose. Without Ye Qiu, this team has lost its soul.
Recalling the incident three years ago when a group of Ajax players rushed to the Ministry of Administration to force the palace, Van Praag is very clear about Ye Qiu's influence in Ajax. Once he left, the people of Ajax would be scattered, and it would be a matter of time for these players to leave the team.
But some things are better to come late than early, at least he can prepare calmly.
"What's the matter?" Ye Qiu was a little confused.
Van Praag smiled and said, "Give the players a raise and a contract extension."
Generally speaking, if the club wants to renew the contract with the players, it depends on the situation. If it is a veteran, it is good if the salary is not reduced. If it is a young rookie or a player in his prime, the salary is generally increased. If the contract has not expired yet and the club is in a hurry to renew the contract, it is definitely a salary increase.
Now this group of Ajax players have not yet expired. Van Praag is in a hurry to renew the contract. Obviously, he has received pressure from the outside world. This treasure house of Ajax is being watched by many giants. If they don't renew the contracts one by one quickly, it is hard to guarantee that they will not be in a passive situation in the future.
Moreover, if they renew the contract now, even if they sell players in the summer, Ajax can use this as a bargaining chip for negotiation and price increase.
"I have decided to use all the 10 million euros for player-related investments, basically salary increases and signings, and part of it will be used to improve the environment of the players' living area in De Tokmost. We want to create a comfortable resting environment for the players."
Some clubs don't pay attention to these at all, such as Inter Milan, where the dormitories don't even have air conditioning, while some clubs pay a lot of attention to them. Ajax didn't pay much attention to this aspect before, but after Ye Qiu came, the situation improved a lot, but Ye Qiu felt that it was not enough. Now Van Praag obviously wants to continue to improve.
Of course, these don't cost much money, and most of them should still go into the players' pockets or be used to sign players.
With the current influence of the Eredivisie, a player can spend 3 to 5 million euros, which is the highest. In addition, Ajax's salaries are generally not high, and 10 million can do a lot of things.
"I think some news should be revealed in this regard, but the specific negotiations should be left until the end of the season. I hope to minimize the emotional fluctuations of the players." Ye Qiu suggested.
Negotiations are about salary. Starting negotiations now will inevitably affect the players' training and games.
Ajax's players have no contract expiration date in the summer, so strictly speaking, there is not much difference between renewing the contract now and renewing the contract after the season.
"Okay, you will prepare a report at that time." Van Praag handed the matter to Ye Qiu for full responsibility.
If Van Praag's power in Ajax is more in the administrative department, then the power of the competitive department is all in Ye Qiu's hands. Even the appointment and dismissal of personnel are decided by Ye Qiu, not to mention the issue of salary increase for players. This shows how powerful he is.
When Ye Qiu nodded in agreement, he also thought about it more deeply, that is, giving players a salary increase also means that his salary will also increase, because there is a clause in his contract with Ajax that he will definitely be the highest paid person in Ajax.
As Eliza said, you can ignore the amount of salary, but you cannot ignore the impact of the salary level. When you are paid less than others, it is difficult for you to make others listen to you obediently.
Therefore, in the past few years, Ye Qiu has always been the highest paid person in Ajax.
Now that the players are going to be paid a salary increase, he, the head coach, will definitely not be able to avoid it and will also increase.
There was no need for Ye Qiu to say or ask about this kind of thing, he knew that Van Praag and the club knew how to do it.
When your importance reaches a certain level, you don't need to fight for any benefits, they will come to you automatically.
Just when Ye Qiu was talking to Van Praag about how to spend money, Leo Benhakker, who was far away in Nyon, called and gave the draw for the quarterfinals.
In fact, many media had guessed a rough idea before the game, and some even guessed it right.
Ajax was divided into the upper half, and the opponent they met was Juventus from Serie A, which was a tough opponent. Although Lippi's team only had 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses in 6 rounds of group matches, conceded 11 goals and scored 11 goals, this team is very good at playing knockout games.
Some teams are good at playing points games, while some teams are good at playing targeted knockout games. Ye Qiu is most reluctant to face such tough opponents. Whenever he thinks of them, he feels unhappy because Juventus is almost the strongest team among the second teams in the group.
If Ye Qiu could choose, he would like to face Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter Milan, but not Juventus. Lippi, the old fox, is too difficult to deal with.
Barcelona and Arsenal are in the upper half of the group along with Ajax, while Real Madrid and Manchester United, Inter Milan and Valencia are in the lower half. Interestingly, there are three teams in La Liga, two teams in the Premier League and Serie A, but there is no derby in the same country. This is a very interesting coincidence.
And this result has been reported by many media a long time ago, but it was unexpected that it actually happened.
When Van Praag announced the result of the draw, Ye Qiu did not express his opinion. Instead, Bobby Hams, who had been silent, had a strange look in his eyes, snorted and smiled, and said lightly: "It seems that someone wants us to meet a strong enemy in advance!"
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