long live football

A good night CALL came to the Ferguson mansion at 22 o'clock.

Ferguson moved his butt and brought the book in his hand closer to the bedside lamp. He never took his eyes off the book, but said in a commanding tone, "You answer the phone."

"What a slacker." Katie muttered, and connected to Ferguson's cell phone, but her tone immediately changed to pleasant surprise: "Oh, it's Carl!"

Ferguson glanced at his wife's position with his head wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a little curiosity in his eyes.

But Katie ignored him, and she chatted happily with Carl on the other end of the phone: "I read from the newspaper that you did a good job in Munich. Alex and I are very happy, and we know that you will succeed." Yes, the newspapers here in England have always had your news...I don't know, probably because of your face, the paper always sells a few more copies? Haha, the neighbor's Mrs Gaynor is now I also like to buy Bild, and I remember she used to know almost nothing about football... Will 1860 Munich give you a better contract after this season? You did such a good job and deserve better... ...And Laurie? He is happy, he can often go on holidays, but I stay in Manchester all year round, and I am almost moldy... No, no, no, when the holidays come, he will say, 'we are so old , don’t you know that there will be a lot of trouble when you go on a long-distance trip? Besides, it’s so comfortable at home, so just stay at home’ This is really annoying..."

Ferguson moved his butt on the bed uncomfortably. He was thinking: his wife is just a chatterbox.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Katie graciously handed him the phone: "Karl wants to talk to you."

Ferguson cleared his throat, answered the phone: "Hello."

Carl's voice was gentle and cheerful: "Uncle Alex, how are you doing recently?"

"The beating of the heart is quite strong." Ferguson smiled coldly, and asked directly: "You called at this time, what's the matter?"

"It's like this..." Karl briefly described some problems in the team's management.

After listening to everything, Ferguson nodded and said: "You did a good job. 1860 Munich was in a critical situation at the time. It was a good way to save the team by letting the players compete for the starting lineup. You really couldn't afford to lose at that time, but this method cannot be used for a long time. , it will make the players think that making a fuss can influence your decision. If there is a first time, there will be a second time. It is not good to make them too complacent. The locker room must be firmly in the hands of the head coach of."

Carl asked humbly, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

"If according to the plan you mentioned, more youth players will enter the first team next season to alleviate the club's financial situation, 1860 Munich will have to sell more players this summer, and put those disobedient players , Sell the players who can’t even play in the rotation. Your current team is already a bit bloated. It’s good to maintain the first team with about 25 players. If you are hard-hearted, you can’t be a good coach if you are too soft-hearted.”

Although Karl was a little hesitant to clean the locker room in such a cold-blooded way, he still said that he would seriously consider Ferguson's proposal. They then discussed other issues between Manchester United and Munich 1860 until Karl proposed: "What plans does Manchester United have this summer?" Is it?"

"you mean?"

Carl said with a smile: "The Allianz Stadium will be completed and put into use in May this year. Are you interested in visiting the most modern stadium in the world and playing a friendly match with my team?"

Carl actually had another purpose in saying this, but it was not his intention to invite Manchester United to play a friendly match, because this is also what the Munich 1860 Club is considering-the Allianz Arena, which will become the world's highest stadium after completion. One of the most luxurious and modern five-star stadiums, it is jointly owned by two Munich teams, Bayern Munich and Munich 1860. It has been known for its design and high-tech content since the start of construction, and it will become the venue for the World Cup in Germany next year. One of the most popular in Europe.

Of course, Germany also attaches great importance to such a stadium. After the completion of the Allianz Arena, the German Football Association intends to arrange an official opening match for it. The two teams in the game are not the two city clubs of Munich 1860 and Bayern Munich. team, but Bayern Munich and the German national team!

Of course, in terms of competitive content alone, the match between Bayern Munich and the German national team is indeed more attractive and more popular, but the decision of the German Football Association is undoubtedly another possession of the Allianz Arena. Put it in your eyes!

The top management of the club made a collective decision almost immediately: 1860 Munich also declared their sovereignty over the Allianz Arena, and they also wanted to find a world-class team to play friendly matches!

It is not acceptable to invite national teams from other countries, because this is a clear protest against the German national team. Therefore, the club decided to invite a rich team with sufficient historical background, but who?Whether the other party is willing to come or not is really a problem... until Chairman Orr suddenly thought of the relationship between Carl and Ferguson, so he asked him to be a lobbyist, and promised to give him various powers to promise Manchester United benefits.

"Go to the Allianz Stadium for a friendly match?" Ferguson pondered.

Manchester United has a training plan this summer. Go to Doha, the capital of Qatar. The country’s national team has invited Manchester United, and then they will go to Hong Kong, China to play a friendly match with Hong Kong Jiezhi. The preparations for the new season will be affected.And playing a game against a small team like Munich 1860 will not improve Manchester United's competitive level. If it is replaced by their city rivals Bayern Munich, it will be about the same.

However, Carl's proposal cannot be said to be irresistible to Ferguson's heart. As a head coach, a high-tech stadium like Allianz is very attractive to Ferguson. Moreover, the Allianz Arena will be Bayern Munich in the future. At home, Bayern almost must enter the Champions League knockout rounds every year. If Manchester United is drawn to play against Bayern in the future...it seems good to experience their stadium in advance?

Ferguson thought about it for so long, Carl thought that the other party didn't want to agree, he slowly threw out the cards in his hand: "The second game after the completion of the Allianz Stadium will definitely attract many fans. If Manchester United is willing to come, the tickets will be sold." It is estimated that there is no problem with a full house, and we can discuss the share of ticket revenue when the time comes..."

The price of tickets for each stadium is different according to the location and perspective. Although the ticket price of German professional football is lower than that of other leagues (for the sake of attendance), the ticket price of an ordinary Bundesliga game is also 5- The price ranges from 50 euros. Some important games have been hyped by scalpers, and the ticket price may increase by more than ten times, such as the German national derby and the like.

The Allianz Arena can accommodate 66000 fans. If the ticket is priced at 30 euros per ticket, the revenue from tickets alone for a game will reach 198 million euros. If we can talk about sponsorship and live broadcast of the game, the benefits will be even greater. high.

No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. What's more, even if the income of the two teams is divided equally, wouldn't there be millions of euros?

After careful consideration, Ferguson agreed: "Okay, let's play a friendly match this summer! For the specific details, your club can send someone to discuss the details, and then we will set a specific time."

After finishing this matter, Carl was very happy. He smiled and asked: "You will go to San Siro next week to play the second round of the Champions League against AC. How is Manchester United's preparations?"

Ferguson smiled and said, "Not bad."

"Then I wish you can eliminate AC Milan and enter the quarter-finals!" Carl smiled and said, "Uncle Alex, can you tell Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo and other players my best wishes? I can’t say this in front of them now, so I can only ask you for your help. There is also the matter of the summer friendly match, it is best to inform them in advance, so that the group of guys will forget about it and enjoy their vacation too much , I can’t get back to the state during the game.”

Ferguson laughed loudly and said, "Okay, I promise you."

Carl hung up the phone with satisfaction.

……

At the end of the second day of training, in the Manchester United locker room.

Ferguson did not wait for the team to leave after training as usual, but waited for all the players in the locker room. When everyone arrived, he announced to everyone: "I will tell you in advance that this summer at the Allianz Arena Inauguration, where we will play a friendly match against 1860 Munich!"

Surprised expressions appeared on the faces of the players.Van Nistelrooy and other old people instantly thought, "This matter must have something to do with Karl!", while those new players who have just transferred are still pondering, "Munich 1860? Isn't that a Bundesliga team? Are they playing friendly matches?"

Ferdinand raised his hand: "Is it really Allianz? The five-star stadium that claims to be the most luxurious in Europe?"

Someone asked again: "Hey, didn't the newspaper say that the Allianz Arena is the home ground of Bayern Munich?"

"It's Allianz, that's right. The stadium will be completed in April, and 4 Munich is also one of the owners. Although we are still in the stage of discussing the specific date of the friendly match, this matter is basically settled. He asked me to put this Let me tell you in advance that it will conflict with everyone's vacation plans." Ferguson said with a smile: "By the way, he also wished us good luck for our trip to San Siro."

After telling the players something else, Ferguson left the locker room.As soon as he left, there was a noisy discussion in the locker room: "Isn't the opening game at the Allianz Arena Bayern and the German team? The second game at this stadium belongs to us? How cool~"

"I haven't been to Munich yet!"

"I don't know if BOSS will let us go there a few days earlier. I want to watch the match between the German team and Bayern."

Liam Miller had a bad feeling in his heart since Ferguson just said the first sentence. He lightly touched Wayne Rooney on his right and asked: "Is it okay to play against the Bundesliga team?" Should we think about it carefully? Why did the BOSS agree so readily and still look happy?" He smiled amiably in public, this is definitely one of the rare scenes in the Manchester United dressing room.

Before Rooney could reply, Roy Keane next to him smiled and said, "If Carl proposed it, BOSS would definitely not refuse. The Allianz Arena will be Carl's home ground from next season, that would be awesome. !"

"Karl..." Miller swallowed: "The Karl you are talking about refers to our former assistant coach, the coach of Munich 1860, Karl Oston?"

"Is there another Karl Oston in the world?" After a pause, Keane suddenly realized: "Ah, I forgot, you have not been in the team for a long time, and you don't know the relationship between BOSS and Karl."

Miller clenched his fists, feeling a thin layer of sweat on his palms: "Aren't they just the relationship between the head coach and the former assistant coach?"

"Ha, no one must have told you that!" Giggs interjected: "When Carl came to Manchester United, he was directly appointed by the BOSS to parachute. We went to the BOSS's house at Christmas in the first year and saw Ferguson. Mrs. Ferguson talked to him very affectionately, and he called Mrs. Ferguson 'Aunt Katie'! At that time, we were all stunned. Although in the team, BOSS still treats him business-like, but anyone can see that , Boss had a lot of smiles on his face when he saw Carl, so at that time Boss was hospitalized and waiting for surgery, and everyone in the team gave him the task of visiting him.”

"Do you know that last summer when Ruud van Nistelrooy got married, the BOSS and the Beckhams attended together?" Keane squeezed his head in: "If Carl hadn't been a lobbyist for it, you'd have seen it on the news. Not until David is at Fonny's wedding."

Giggs patted Miller on the shoulder with a smile: "That's why you had an argument with Ronaldo that day, and we held you like that. If Ronaldo hit you first, he would of course be punished, but when the boss knows everything that happened When Carl was still working as an assistant coach, no one in the whole club dared to say no to him in front of the boss."

Now it was Liam Miller who was stunned.

……

"Today, Liam Miller apologized to me." Carl just connected the phone, Ronaldo said.

"Who?"

Ronaldo said word by word: "Liam Miller, he said sorry to me today, saying that he was too impulsive in the locker room, and he will manage his temper well in the future."

Carl frowned and said, "Why should he apologize to you?"

"Because he—" Ronaldo raised his eyebrows and said sharply, "You don't know?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's impossible for you not to know! That guy Miller won't find out for no reason!"

Carl felt a toothache: "Can you say something I can understand! Liam Miller, what happened to you? Also, what happened to you yesterday? Hang up my phone in a hurry, and still Talking about informants or something made me think about it over and over all night, and I couldn't fall asleep."

Ronaldo asked suspiciously: "Boss announced something in the locker room today..."

"It's about playing a friendly match." Carl said with a smile: "This is a task entrusted to me by the chairman of the club. I happened to be chatting with Ferguson yesterday, so I suggested it to him. I didn't expect him to agree very readily."

"... What else did you talk about?"

"Grandpa doesn't talk much in private, and you don't know. I talked a lot with Aunt Katie. She was still teaching me how to cook on the phone. Do you remember the dish of looking up at the stars? And the dessert Chocolate eggplant?"

Ronaldo said dryly: "I want to forget."

"By the way, are you calling to tell me something?"

Ronaldo thought about what Miller scolded him, but he couldn't say anything to Carl, and from Carl's tone, it seemed that he didn't know anything... In this way, his temper was a little bit yesterday It was so hot, I accidentally thought too much and angered the other party...

With a little guilt, Ronaldo said: "I was in a bad mood yesterday, and I was probably a little grumpy when I spoke to you. I'm sorry."

"Na Liam Miller..."

"Well, it's not a big deal." Ronaldo laughed and said, "It's just a few arguments, but he has already apologized to me today."

Carl smiled, "That's fine."

After finding a reason to hang up the phone, Ronaldo couldn't help but want to laugh: He ran to apologize after hearing a few words about Karl's close relationship with BOSS, Miller is really a coward...