Chapter 398 Helping Manchester United win the championship

After the team returned to London from Cardiff, Wales, they sent the League Cup trophy directly to the fan souvenir shop for exhibition, so that all fans who entered the shop could see the trophy with their own eyes.

You can only look at it, but not touch it, because it is covered with glass, which also prevents anyone from damaging the trophy.

This directly led to the Tottenham Hotspur fan souvenir shop being overcrowded the next day. Countless Tottenham Hotspur fans wanted to see the real face of the League Cup trophy, and wanted to stand in front of the trophy, take a photo with it, and take a photo as a souvenir for the future.

Although Tottenham Hotspur did not force all fans who entered the fan souvenir shop to consume, it still brought a hot souvenir sales boom, bringing Tottenham Hotspur a lot of income.

Of course, compared with the giants, the League Cup champion's winning bonus and Tottenham Hotspur's fan consumption and other income are very insignificant. In the words of the Premier League giants, the income from winning a League Cup is not as much as the income from a Champions League group match, which is why they lack fighting spirit in domestic cup games.

According to this season's Champions League operation, UEFA announced that the total income of this season's Champions League has basically been determined to exceed 750 million euros, an increase of 80 million euros from last season's 670 million euros, or even more than 100 million euros, and the prize money of participating teams will also increase significantly.

According to the Champions League group stage share, as long as they advance to the main competition, all teams can get about 2 million euros in income, and then each game can get nearly 400,000 euros in appearance fees, 400,000 for winning, 200,000 for a draw, and nothing for losing, so even if you participate in the Champions League and don't win a game, you can get nearly 5 million euros in income.

And don't forget, this is just the appearance fee and bonus for the group stage, there is also a share of the TV broadcast fee, which is also part of the income from participating in the Champions League, and the ticket income on the match day. You should know that the tickets for European competitions are not included in the season ticket. The season ticket only includes the league ticket, and all cup tickets are calculated separately.

In addition, the stadium management on the match day, such as the sale of fan souvenirs, beverages, food sales, etc., and the stadium advertising on the day of the game, are all a series of huge income.

Relatively speaking, the income from playing in the League Cup is the lowest and the least, while playing in the FA Cup is relatively better, playing in the League Cup is more effective, and playing in the Champions League is undoubtedly the best. Therefore, for any team, whether it can enter the Champions League is not just a matter of ranking, but a difference of 10 or 20 million euros in income.

And this does not count the team's increased influence due to playing in European competitions, especially the Champions League, which in turn drives the increase in the team's sponsorship income, as well as a series of other soft power improvements.

This is why many people feel sorry for Everton. When Everton entered the Champions League, it was a very good opportunity to rise, but the club did not pay enough attention to it, which led to Everton still being half-dead. Otherwise, they should have been reborn.

Relatively speaking, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are all fighting to ensure that the team stays in the Champions League. The reason is very simple. Staying in the Champions League can guarantee the operation of the team. Leaving the Champions League means a decline in income and the loss of stars. Once you leave the Champions League for a long time, it will be very difficult to return to the Champions League.

This is also why Ye Qiu set the team's goal in the top four of the league from the beginning. He wants to fight for the Champions League qualification!

When everyone in Tottenham Hotspur was immersed in the joy of winning the championship, European media also paid attention to and focused on this League Cup final. After all, this was the first championship won by Ye Qiu after he took charge of Tottenham Hotspur. Even if it was a tasteless League Cup championship, it was enough to make Ye Qiu's fans proud and happy.

The British media gave high praise, believing that whether from the process of the game or from the significance of this game, Tottenham Hotspur's ability to defeat Chelsea and win the League Cup championship was a great victory in itself.

Ye Qiu's counterattack against Mourinho in an interview with the media after the game was also reported by the media. Many media even went to the Cobham training base the next day, hoping that Mourinho could retaliate against Ye Qiu's words, but Mourinho refused to show up in front of the media and reporters.

Alan Hansen, a former Liverpool star who was questioned for saying the same thing before, laughed and joked in his TV show [Daily Match], "From now on, I am finally no longer alone, because I can fight side by side with the great The One. Should I be proud of this?"

Mourinho obviously chose to endure it silently this time, because he had no means of counterattack. Who made him lose the game?

Not only him, but Chelsea adopted a silent strategy for this game. Everyone kept silent about the media and was not allowed to accept interviews easily. This also made the media and reporters who were originally looking forward to a noisy feast feel bored.

This made Ye Qiu, who was sitting in front of the office computer and browsing various websites, smile gloatingly.

This group of media just likes to stir up trouble, and now Mourinho and Chelsea have chosen to keep silent, so they have no place to attack, and finally they can only give up. As long as Ye Qiu thinks that Mourinho, who is usually eloquent and can even make the dead come back to life, is now so angry that he almost vomits blood, he is so happy.

He has been patient with Mourinho for a long time, and this time he can hit him hard, and he is in a good mood.

Because the team won the League Cup, Ye Qiu let the team take a half-day holiday, and then began to prepare for the next round of the league without stopping. Tottenham Hotspur did not hold any celebration ceremony for this.

However, winning the League Cup also brought another benefit, that is, in the next round, the team will visit West Ham United's Upton Park Stadium. At that time, Tottenham Hotspur, with the aura of the League Cup champion, will inevitably further increase its status and influence in the minds of the London City Council and the Olympic Preparatory Committee.

To be frank, they certainly hope that the team that continues to use the Olympic Stadium after the Olympics will be as strong as possible, so this time is a very good opportunity for Tottenham Hotspur, and Ye Qiu has also made careful preparations for this game.

As a result, Tottenham Hotspur seemed very depressed at the start of Upton Park, and West Ham United striker Tevez seized an opportunity and took the lead in breaking the deadlock on the field.

But Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur were obviously prepared, and Van Nistelrooy equalized the score for Tottenham Hotspur soon after.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and Tottenham Hotspur reversed West Ham United 4:1 with goals from Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and Hangeland. In this game, the most eye-catching performance was not Van Nistelrooy who scored twice, but Beckham who made one pass and one shot.

The Englishman's performance in recent times has indeed become more and more eye-catching. If the League Cup final against Chelsea won the best player of the game, which gave him strong confidence, then in this game against West Ham United, he proved with facts that he really has the ability to decide the game.

Van Nistelrooy's equalizing goal occurred in the 31st minute. After Tottenham Hotspur finally stabilized the situation, Beckham got the ball and attracted attention, and then passed it to Fabregas, who passed it directly to Van Nistelrooy at the front of the penalty area. After that, the Dutch center took the ball and turned around to equalize the score for the team.

In the second half, he took the lead in taking advantage of an opportunity to get the ball at the front of the penalty area and shot a long arc ball straight into the dead corner. The opponent's English goalkeeper Robert Green was powerless against Beckham's long shot. He watched the ball go into the dead corner and could only angrily fish the ball out of the goal line and kicked it fiercely to the midfield.

After that, Beckham made a forward run and passed the ball to the left, passing it to Vargas, who cooperated with Ribery and passed the ball to Van Nistelrooy, who scored in front of the goal and expanded the score to 3:1.

After losing two goals in a row, West Ham United gradually showed the unique toughness of the Hammers and began to commit frequent fouls. As a result, Beckham once again took advantage of a set-piece opportunity in the frontcourt to assist Hangeland to score a header in front of the goal, locking the score at 4:1, which also made West Ham United dissatisfied and booed by fans at their home stadium.

Because all the Hammers fans knew very well that the home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur would not only allow the team to continue to be the second-in-command in the league, but also allow Tottenham Hotspur to gain more initiative in the competition for a new stadium.

If they could say that Tottenham Hotspur had nothing but money before, and organized the city council and the Olympic Games Preparatory Committee to negotiate and discuss with Tottenham Hotspur in the name of money, then now, the results have undoubtedly become an important basis for the left and right teams, and Tottenham Hotspur is currently ranked fifth, while West Ham United is ranked 20th.

After losing at home, West Ham United continued to rank last. Even if they succeeded in relegation in the end, who can guarantee that they will not be relegated again next? Who can guarantee that after the Olympics, the Olympic Stadium will not fall into the hands of a team in the second-tier English league? How will the world view London at that time?

After the 29th round of the league, Tottenham Hotspur ushered in the first leg of the UEFA Cup round of 16 knockout match. The opponent is Braga from the Portuguese Super League. The team will challenge the opponent away in the first leg.

And this time Tottenham Hotspur defeated Braga 2:1 away from home, and the possibility of qualifying is very high.

But when the team returned to England from Portugal and played against Manchester United at White Hart Lane in the FA Cup quarter-finals, they tied 3:3 at home, which made Ye Qiu feel helpless.

Tottenham Hotspur's starting lineup was adjusted in this game. Because of the continuous battle, Ye Qiu arranged Kompany to start at the central defender position, Gareth Bale to play as the left back, Yaya Toure to replace Mascherano in the midfield, and Ashley Young, Arshavin and Van Persie on the wing all got the starting qualification.

The reason why Tottenham Hotspur didn't try their best was that there was a second round of the League Cup round of 16 in the middle of the week, but Manchester United's Champions League round of 16 had already been played and was in the rest period, so Ferguson arranged a large number of main lineups to play.

The game was indeed very exciting. Both sides fought back and forth. Manchester United did not hold back at all because they were playing away, while Tottenham Hotspur was hampered by the team's poor defense. Kompany was in a mess this time under the alternating attacks of Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Not only him, but Thiago Silva, who partnered with Kompany, also performed poorly. Almost as soon as the team scored a goal, they lost the ball behind them. The game ended with a big score of 3:3.

Ferguson, the old guy who always takes advantage of others, smiled from ear to ear after the game. He repeatedly said that he was very satisfied with the score in the away game. He also expressed his hope to defeat the opponent in the second round and successfully advance.

Ye Qiu once again defended his players and expressed his trust in Kompany, Thiago Silva and Yaya Toure, who performed poorly in this game. At the same time, he also believed that the team's poor performance was not only due to the players, but also other factors, such as the fatigue caused by the team's multi-line operations.

This is also the concern of many media about Tottenham Hotspur, because this season Tottenham Hotspur has been fighting on four fronts: the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Premier League and the League Cup. Although Tottenham Hotspur has kept pace with the four fronts with a good bench lineup, no one can guarantee when it will not be able to hold on.

So many media speculated that Ye Qiu used the FA Cup to train his troops. At least when he played against Manchester United, he almost played with a substitute lineup, but Ye Qiu himself refused to admit this.

In the middle of the week, Tottenham Hotspur attacked Braga at home with a full main lineup. The Portuguese Super League team lost 0:2 at White Hart Lane Stadium. In the end, they were eliminated from the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur with a total score of 1:4, while Tottenham Hotspur successfully advanced to the next round.

And this time, Tottenham Hotspur's opponent was Osasuna from La Liga.

After the League Cup, Tottenham Hotspur returned to the Premier League and welcomed the 30th round. They continued their previous excellent performance and development, winning 5:1 at home against the visiting Watford team, continuing to beat the team in Hertfordshire, north of London, into a sieve and continuing to step on it in the 19th place in the league.

While all Tottenham Hotspur fans at White Hart Lane were still immersed in the atmosphere created by the home offensive, Liverpool and Birmingham far away had received excellent good news.

"All Tottenham Hotspur fans, we just received news from Birmingham and Liverpool. Everton beat Arsenal 1:0 at home, and Aston Villa tied Liverpool 0:0 at home!!!"

In the loud shouting of the commentator on the scene, all Tottenham Hotspur fans who were still celebrating the team's victory over the opponent obviously did not realize what this meant. The stadium was still full of people, but soon, some people began to wake up.

Liverpool lost to Manchester United at home in the last round, causing their ranking to drop to fourth place, one point less than Arsenal. In this game, Arsenal lost to Everton and Liverpool drew again, resulting in the same points for both teams, but only five points more than Tottenham Hotspur, which is currently ranked fifth in the league.

Everyone in the entire White Hart Lane cheered. Five points, they finally succeeded in quickly narrowing the gap between themselves and the top four in the league to only five points.

Now, everyone knows that it is almost impossible to catch up with the two leaders of the league, Manchester United and Chelsea, but the team still has great hope of entering the top four of the league, so when they received such good news, tens of thousands of Tottenham Hotspur fans cheered in unison.

After this round, the league will enter a two-week suspension period, but during the suspension period, the team must play an FA Cup playoff with Manchester United, away from home, and then Liverpool and Arsenal will have a fight to the death, the venue of the game is Anfield Stadium, that is to say, no matter who wins or loses this game, Tottenham Hotspur can narrow the gap with them as long as they beat their opponents and catch up with the gap between themselves and the fourth place in the league.

This is great news for everyone in Tottenham Hotspur. Even Ye Qiu was very happy to say at the press conference after the game that Tottenham Hotspur will maintain the current momentum and state and enter the top four of the league.

"All along, no matter how the team performs, I have never wavered in my confidence in the players and the team. I firmly believe that my players can perform well, and I also believe that we can eventually become one of the top teams in the Premier League because we have such strength."

As for the expectations for the next round of games, Ye Qiu said with a smile, "It would be best if the two teams could draw, which I think would be the best outcome!"

All the reporters present were immediately happy. If the two teams were tied, Tottenham Hotspur would have caught up with the two teams in one go, and no matter who fell behind, Tottenham Hotspur would be able to replace them, and even have the hope of surpassing two teams in one go.

When the reporter asked Ye Qiu who had a better chance of winning the Premier League championship this season, he smiled and said that he preferred Manchester United.

"Ferguson's team is obviously more changeable and has stronger offensive power. I think Manchester United is the team with the most hope of winning the championship because they are currently the most offensive team in the Premier League!"

But soon, a reporter smiled and reminded Ye Qiu that Tottenham Hotspur currently has only 2 fewer goals than Manchester United in the Premier League, but it has conceded more goals and lost more games, which has led to Tottenham Hotspur lagging far behind in the standings.

Ye Qiu said he didn't care much about this.

"I have always believed that the standings don't mean much. Any team must throw away the constraints of the standings, play one game at a time, and strive to win every game, so that they can have a better ranking."

Interestingly, a reporter immediately reacted, because Tottenham Hotspur's 38th league game this season is an away challenge to Chelsea. Ye Qiu responded to this by saying, "Mourinho said that I can't win anything with a group of children, but in fact, I won the League Cup from him."

"I also said that if Chelsea's biggest goal this season is to win the championship, then my biggest goal is to snipe them and prevent them from winning the championship, so I hope Manchester United can work hard, hold on to the points, and drag it to the last round. My players and I will help them get three points and help them win the championship!"

For a moment, all the reporters in the press conference hall of White Hart Lane Stadium suddenly burst into an uproar. Ye Qiu's words were too majestic and domineering!