Chapter 344 One step away

Wenger stood in front of the coaching booth at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He looked very gentle and elegant in a suit, but the wrinkles on his face showed his deep sorrow at the moment.

His players cried bitterly on the field, feeling indescribably depressed, but on the other side, Chelsea's players were happy, celebrating their treble almost crazily, and in the stands, Chelsea fans were also celebrating, and the scene completely became a stage for the Blues to celebrate their championship.

Drop by drop~drop by drop~~

A little bit of coldness fell on the back of his neck, Wenger raised his head, it turned out to be raining.

The weather in the UK is like a woman's mood, it changes as soon as it is said, it rains as soon as it is said, it comes quickly, but it also goes quickly.

Not long after, the entire Millennium Stadium was covered by a drizzling rain curtain, not big, but very dense.

The players of both sides did not change their mood at all because of the rain. Arsenal players still sat on the grass, even though it had turned into mud, and Chelsea players still celebrated in the rain, even though they were soaked.

The Millennium Stadium could have closed the roof and turned the entire stadium into a sealed space, but perhaps because the game was over, or perhaps because they were worried that the crazy celebrations of Chelsea would cause the sealed stadium to suffocate, so they finally chose the most romantic and poetic way, getting wet in the rain.

People living in the UK are already accustomed to the weather and rainy season here. The arrival of rain did not disrupt the mood of both sides. The stadium was still boiling, and all Chelsea players and fans were still celebrating, especially after the rain, they simply took out the champagne they had prepared before and sprayed each other, as if the champagne was free.

Wenger stood on the sidelines, watching this scene silently. The moment the game ended, his mood was calm, and he could accept any result, because he had been mentally prepared for many things before the game.

Chelsea is the strongest team in the Premier League and even in Europe. If it were last year's Arsenal, they might have a chance, but this year's Arsenal is obviously not as good as last year. At least the team's strength has been weakened, while Chelsea has strengthened its own strength, which directly leads to the widening of the gap between the two sides.

In this case, it is not easy to beat Chelsea, and Arsenal has no tactical advantage.

Looking at the entire Premier League, the only team that can be tactically equal to Chelsea is Benítez's Liverpool.

Even though this team's performance and ranking in the Premier League this season are not outstanding, falling to fifth place in the Premier League, in fact, this team's combat effectiveness is very good, especially in some important games, Benítez's tactics can often suppress opponents in a targeted manner, leaving opponents powerless.

Of course, every team has its weaknesses and shortcomings. Liverpool's problem is that its offensive ability is very poor. The biggest gap between them and the top three teams in the Premier League is in offense. Benítez is a master at coaching defense, but it is hard to say that he is outstanding in offense.

As for Chelsea, this team is very balanced in both offense and defense. If you have to find out the weakness and shortcomings, it is that their wing attack is overly dependent on the full-backs. Even after changing to 4231 this season, their offense is still mainly based on the full-backs. This more or less makes Chelsea's wing attack very risky.

But no matter what, Chelsea has built this team with such an amazing transfer fee. The strength is absolutely unquestionable, and the offense and defense are also outstanding. The so-called shortcomings are covered by their strong overall strength, and it is difficult for opponents to catch them, let alone use them.

At least Arsenal did not make good use of this point throughout the game!

"Are you unwilling?" Ye Qiu didn't know when he walked to Wenger's side. He was also soaked, but he looked very happy because he finally won the third championship trophy of this season.

Triple Crown, even if it is a reduced version of the Triple Crown, this is a very happy thing.

"There's nothing to be unwilling about!" Wenger forced out a smile, pretending to be strong, "I chose the road myself, I won't regret it!"

From the moment he decided to fully support the club in building a new stadium, he had clearly anticipated that sooner or later there would be such a day, and he knew very clearly that his team's strength would be weakened, because the professional league is like this, if you don't advance, you will retreat.

"Honestly, you are right!" Ye Qiu thought about how to comfort Wenger, and finally said such a simple sentence.

"This seems to be the first time you said this to me!" Wenger smiled. At his age, at his status and influence, he has already looked down on winning and losing, and can even be said to be numb.

"Of course, I said this just to agree with your contribution to Arsenal. I believe this club will understand this, but I must also say that in the future, the competition in the professional football league will definitely become more and more fierce, especially in the Premier League."

Wenger listened and nodded. This is also something he has only discovered in the past two years. "More and more foreign funds have poured into the Premier League. On the one hand, it has indeed contributed to the influence and attention of the Premier League, but it has also brought more intense competition."

The superiority of the Premier League model has become more and more evident, because even the middle and lower-tier teams can get a huge share of the broadcast fees every year. As long as they are well managed, any team can continue to do so. The continuous investment in team building will make the competition in the Premier League become more and more fierce.

This is a mixed blessing for the Premier League giants.

The good thing is that as more and more stars pour into the Premier League, the wealthy clubs will undoubtedly become the biggest beneficiaries, but the disadvantage is also very obvious, that is, the challenge will become more and more risky, and you may even be kicked out if you are not careful. Pull down.

Of course, with the background of Manchester United and Arsenal, even if they perform poorly, the gap between them and the middle and lower-tier teams cannot be made up overnight or simply by money. Chelsea can catch up in the shortest time. He went to Manchester United and Arsenal not only because they were among the top teams in the Premier League, but also because of Abramovich's huge investment and Ye Qiu's strategizing.

As for other teams, they are still a little short of catching up with them. Liverpool is a possibility. This is also a traditional giant team with a solid foundation. However, even if other teams have continuous investment, they still have to catch up with the traditional giants. That would be impossible without three to five years, or even longer.

Of course, what we are talking about here is to keep pace with Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea for a long time. If it is to suddenly break out in a short period of time and compete for the championship, it is difficult to say. For example, Leeds United at the beginning of the season, Everton this season Dun also performed very well, but they were difficult to last because once they performed well, poaching followed closely.

"But..." Wenger changed the topic and looked at Ye Qiu with a smile, "You don't seem to have to worry about competition, right?"

With Chelsea's financial resources and strength, coupled with Ye Qiu's ability, the Blues really don't need to worry about such competition, because those middle and lower-tier teams can't keep up with Chelsea.

Ye Qiu smiled in response to Wenger's teasing, but didn't say much because he didn't sense any provocation or irony in Wenger's words. It was more of a joke between friends.

"No matter what, I still want to congratulate you for winning the Triple Crown. What I have been fighting for for so many years, you have won in just two years after coming to the Premier League!" Wenger smiled and stretched out his hand. , "Finally, I also wish you a miracle in the Champions League final!"

After hearing this, Ye Qiu smiled bitterly and shook his head, but still shook hands with Wenger.

Indeed, Chelsea is missing 7 main core players, plus Ye Qiu was sent off the field and received a red card. If this can still defeat Benitez's Liverpool, it will really be called a miracle.

Fans may still have a lucky mentality, but as an experienced head coach, no one is optimistic about Chelsea. At least from a probability perspective, the possibility of Chelsea winning the championship is very slim.

This is why Ye Qiu wants to do his best to compete for the FA Cup. At the very least, he needs to use more championships to cheer up the team for the upcoming game, make full preparations, and go all out to create miracles. .

He tried his best, but whether a miracle would come or not was beyond his control!

"No matter what, I believe we will have a chance to be rivals in the future!" Ye Qiu said with a faint smile.

Wenger was a little stunned after hearing this, and then a trace of disbelief flashed in his eyes, but Ye Qiu didn't say anything, turned around and walked towards the stadium, leaving Wenger with a back full of complicated feelings, which made the Frenchman wait for a long time. Speechless.

The great Chelsea won the third championship, just the last step away from the legendary epic!

The magical magician kills the Gunner Professor and tyrannizes the Blues to sweep away the thousand-year curse on the stadium!

Bergkamp II showed off his power and scored twice to help Chelsea win another championship!

The next day, media outlets across the UK and Europe focused on Chelsea's FA Cup victory. This was also Chelsea's third championship trophy this year, marking another treble in English football after Manchester United in 1999. .

Inevitably, almost all the media adopted a praising attitude towards Chelsea, praising the team's outstanding performance in the FA Cup final. They believed that as long as Chelsea can continue its excellent performance in the FA Cup final, it will be a success. Killing Liverpool will be a piece of cake.

But at the same time, many people feel that Chelsea had such a stalemate with Arsenal in the FA Cup final before the Champions League final. In addition, many main players were absent and the head coach was sent to the stands. This will inevitably put Chelsea at an absolute disadvantage in the Champions League final.

This time even Martin Samuel pointed out in a column in The Times, “If Chelsea wants to gain something in Istanbul, they must not only play their best, but also wait for a miracle to appear. "

But there are also some media who believe that Chelsea can take advantage of the victory and defeat Liverpool in Istanbul. Even though the Red Army has caused a lot of trouble to Chelsea in the past few games, they believe that Ye Qiu will definitely have a way to solve Liverpool.

After the FA Cup final, the Champions League final is imminent. Chelsea did not parade around the city for the FA Cup champion and league champion. The media obviously did not have time to hype Chelsea's Triple Crown because everyone was looking forward to it. Whether Chelsea can win an epic fourth championship in Istanbul.

For this reason, the British media have also paid attention to every bit of news about the two teams. For example, the Daily Telegraph reported not long ago that UEFA President Johansson hinted in an interview that as long as Liverpool can win the championship, and after the game If you apply, UEFA will give full consideration to granting Liverpool an exception to qualify for the Champions League next season.

This undoubtedly also shows UEFA's attitude towards this final. They do not want Chelsea to defend their title. They hope that Liverpool can go all out, even at the temptation of qualifying for the Champions League next season. After all, this means a lot to Liverpool. This is a revenue of more than 30 million euros.

But at the same time, The Sun also reported the news that Ye Qiu was forced into the palace by the technical director.

"When Redknapp resigned from Portsmouth, we said that this was not the first time, and it would not be the last time. Sure enough, now it has fallen to the glorious Ye Qiu."

"According to our internal intelligence at Stamford Bridge, after Ye Qiu was suspended by UEFA, the Chelsea management decided to parachute a technical director, who will be on the bench for the next few games. His name is Avran Grant, he is from Israel, he is regarded as a talented head coach by the Israelis, and he is currently the technical director of Chelsea.”

The reporters from The Sun were truly pervasive. They quickly found out everything about Avram Grant. They also completely exposed the conflict between Ye Qiu and Abramovich after he went to Stamford Bridge.

Avram Grant sits on the bench in every game. This scene is not noticed by many fans because no one pays attention to what happens on the bench. But now that it has been revealed, it has become a symbol of Evidence of the authenticity of the report.

"When the reporter interviewed Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon, the latter said that Avlan Grant's technical director was to serve Ye Qiu and his coaching team, and there was no speculation about Ye Qiu's ideas from the outside world. As for many media rumors that there is a huge conflict between Ye Qiu and Abramovich, Peter Kenyon also denied it. "

"But a lot of intelligence shows that the contradictions and differences between Abramovich and Ye Qiu are getting bigger and bigger, and airdropping a technical director is undoubtedly just the first step for Abramovich to regain control of the Cobham training base. , Next, he also wants to be more involved in the daily operations of the team, and even the arrangement of the game lineup.”

"Not long ago, our reporters took photos of a secret meeting between Abramovich's close friend Pini Zahavi and AC Milan general manager Galliani. We have enough reasons and intelligence to prove that the two sides have discussed Shevchenko's joining. An agreement has been reached with Chelsea, and Abramovich has even signed a secret agreement with AC Milan."

"At the same time, Abramovich also obviously wanted to put pressure on Ye Qiu. Just a few days ago, the Portuguese media suddenly broke the news that Brazilian agent Juan Figel visited Portugal and had a secret meeting. Portugal's agent giant Mendes, the two have a close relationship. Mendes was Juan Figel's spokesperson in Portugal at that time, but later he set up his own business, but the relationship between the two is still very close. "

"According to the Portuguese media, one of the important issues for Figel when he came to Portugal was to find out whether Jose Mourinho, the head coach of Porto who has been in the limelight in the past two years, has any intention of leaving Porto, and according to Mendes' comments about Portugal According to media reports, the Portuguese madman’s next stop is likely to be the Premier League.”

"Mendes said that there are currently at least two Premier League teams interested in Mourinho, one of which is still the strongest team in the Premier League, and there is no doubt that Ferguson and Wenger are in full swing in their respective teams. , very stable, only Chelsea's Ye Qiu. Abramovich has always been annoyed and dissatisfied with Ye Qiu's refusal to introduce Shevchenko. On the contrary, Mourinho did not resist Shevchenko. He served as an assistant in Barcelona. During this period, I had rich experience working with many superstars.”

"Of course, there is no need to worry about Ye Qiu having nowhere to go after leaving Chelsea. At least for now, as long as Ye Qiu wants to leave Chelsea, there will be many wealthy clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, etc. The team will immediately extend an olive branch to him, at least Ye Qiu’s coaching ability has been fully proven in the past few years.”

Chelsea officials responded immediately to the Sun's series of reports, directly denying the news that Ye Qiu had a falling out with Abramovich. CEO Peter Kenyon once again reiterated that Ye Qiu will definitely continue to stay at Chelsea. .

However, Chelsea fans clearly felt signs of danger. On the day the team was preparing to leave for Istanbul, they gathered at Stamford Bridge to put pressure on the management and stated that the team needed to do their best to retain the head coach.

"Without Ye Qiu, there would be no Chelsea championship!"

"I want Ye Qiu, not a superstar, not rubles!"

"When you get rid of our head coach, you're going to get kicked out of us too!"

Many old Chelsea fans have also come forward to exert their influence. Ron Hawkins, known as the spokesperson of Chelsea fans, directly accepted an interview with BBC TV and publicly stated in a high-profile manner, "If the management intimidates the coach in this way, It would be a shame and darkness for Chelsea if it even forced the head coach to resign!”

"The Portuguese José Mourinho is our mortal enemy. It was him and his barbaric team that caused us to suffer huge losses in the semi-finals. His barbaric football must not appear at Stamford Bridge. That would be Chelsea's nightmare!"

There are even many Chelsea fans who have called for the wealthy Chelsea fans in London to come forward and raise funds to buy back Chelsea from Abramovich and retain the head coach, but this is obviously unrealistic because the current value of Chelsea is far from the 200 or 300 million two years ago.

At Heathrow Airport, the team was sent off by thousands of Chelsea fans. Many Chelsea fans at the scene pulled out banners to retain Ye Qiu, hoping that the head coach could continue to stay in the team.

Ye Qiu did not intervene in what happened in the outside world. He even issued a gag order to the team, prohibiting any player from contacting the media and accepting interviews privately. In the face of fans and the media, he always responded with a calm smile.

Because for him, the most important thing is the Champions League final!