The Young Lion

Millwall has gone through a glorious decade under the leadership of Aldridge, but at the beginning of the decade and the beginning of the next cycle after ten years, they all face the same problem: they can't keep people.

In the early days, retaining players was a need for survival. They could not meet the demands of top stars, so they could only let them go. Now, it is greed sitting on the throne, hoping to hold the resources of the next generation in their hands as much as possible, and plan ahead to avoid appearances. In the future, there will be a shortage of talents in the team.

It's a pity that things backfired. The world doesn't revolve around Millwall. Aldrich has already received too many gifts, and he won't ask for too much, as if everyone in the world is serving his will.

People come and go, and you can't always see the bad side. The good side is that Millwall still has loyalists who are willing to contribute to this already distinctive team, which is enough to make Aldridge feel relieved.

Since Millwall already has enough background, Aldridge has become more open-minded about the team's plundering of football talent resources.

In the past, they were opportunistic, like a speculator buying at a low price. In the future, this team can buy the best stars, but as long as they can buy the right players, there is no need to worry too much. However, the football world The rule is: there are always so many resources, the more they are divided up in advance, the greater the benefits.

Due to the competitive nature of competitive sports, no matter how many geniuses there are in an era, there are always high and low points. The top players can always be roughly ranked. Take advantage of the competition.

To take full advantage of Millwall's scouting network, and our secrets of youth success. I think we can share resources appropriately. To serve our club.

How to say?

First of all. Times have changed, young players are getting impatient, they don't want to wait, they want to get ahead early, they need the game, they need the stage, they need the exposure, and at the same time. You said to me, the European football The competition is intensifying step by step, so the success rate of young players will be lower and lower. It is difficult for amazing talents to successfully become superstars, because the pressure on the court is too great, and the club cuts down young players for the utilitarian consideration of the record. Playing time, giving young players less opportunities to practice. This happens in big clubs and first-tier clubs, right?

Aldrich nodded in agreement, which is obvious to all. Especially ten years later, many fans will say that contemporary geniuses are nothing compared to the number of geniuses born in the 1970s.

Sometimes it's not genius that's missing. It's that the probability of being destroyed in the growth process of a genius is higher, and there will be fewer and fewer people who can finally resist the pressure and rise to the top and become famous.

But,

Among the second-tier clubs in European football, they still hope to train young players to bring considerable income to the club. The club's business philosophy is completely different from that of the rich and first-tier teams.

Carter said slowly, grabbing the turf on the training ground.

That's right, when Millwall first trained players, there was actually a desire to sell them at a good price to make up for the club's capital. But after becoming a giant, our goal of training players is no longer to cash out and make money. Even so, The sale of unretainable players has brought us huge transfer market benefits. Naturally, giants and first-tier teams train players for their own strength, not for the purpose of selling players to make money in the future, but middle and lower clubs have They can’t keep the congenital defects of the players, but they will leave some leeway to prepare early to sell outstanding players and keep the club’s capital in a safe area.”

That's right, so think from the standpoint of those second-tier clubs, what do they need? Young players with excellent potential, and train them to become stars. However, not every club's youth training efficiency is the same , The coverage of the scouting network is also different, and there are also certain limitations in terms of signing funds. Millwall has a signboard that we have never used, and that is our youth training signboard!

Aldrich shook his head slightly when he heard the words, and said: As far as I know, compared with other clubs' youth training systems, Millwall's advantage is that many clubs are discouraged even if they want to follow suit, because the board of directors or the owner is in the youth training system. More than 30 million pounds have been invested in the system to improve hardware facilities, build a huge youth training team, etc. This kind of investment involves money and interests, and many club owners are unwilling to take risks. After all, it is not a small amount. With such money With financial resources, why not just buy a first-class star and take a gamble? If you help the team get a better record, or enter the Champions League, the return will be even greater!

Carter also shook his head with a smile, and said, Look, this is a misunderstanding of your thinking. What you think is very realistic, but from the standpoint of the outside world, many people will think that Millwall is very mysterious and amazing! Take Lahm as an example, Bayern Munich’s status in Germany need not be said much, but they made a mistake on Lahm’s issue. Lahm has shown impressive strength since he came to Millwall. Is it you , the magic of Aldrich Hall, or is it caused by the unique talent cultivation method of the Millwall youth training system? The outside world does not know, and the outside world is curious. Many clubs will come to steal teachers with great interest, hoping to learn from Millwall's training. The secret of the players, this is a bargaining chip that we can use and should take the initiative to establish cooperative relations with other clubs.

Aldrich was thoughtful, and Carter's words had a certain impact on his thinking.

He actually doesn't think Millwall's youth training system is so special.

To be honest, as long as the youth training system is not messing around, is willing to invest, and sticks to a concept for a long time, and does not artificially create chaos, it will naturally produce results.

The youth training system of the major giants is not bad. The youth training of La Liga duo is one of the sources of new forces in La Liga. Ajax is famous for its long-term adherence to the unique philosophy of youth training. Bayern Munich has the largest youth training talent in Germany. Ku, the youth training in Italy is still impressive, and it is common to have more than 5 echelons under the first team.

If you don't understand these. It is difficult to understand that the youth training of many teams is actually very strong.

99% of fans can only remember those star players who are active on the top stage. Coming and going is nothing more than the fact that the leading stars of several giants are familiar with it by heart. But in fact, taking the Premier League as an example, even if the invasion of foreign players is in full swing, the proportion of local players is still more than 40%. Even if a team counts 25 players, 20 teams have 500 players, and 40% is 200 players. players.

Where did these 200 England players come from?

Of course it was cultivated by various clubs. It's just that wealthy families need geniuses, and geniuses cannot be mass-produced on the assembly line, just like a big wave washing sand, just to select that one gold.

As for Millwall's amazing success rate in the past ten years, it is attributed to Aldridge's innate advantages, not to any real secrets in youth training.

They have indeed cultivated many players who played in the lower reaches of the Premier League and the lower levels of the Premier League, but excluding those geniuses who are destined to become famous in history, ten years have passed. Aldridge just saw a once-talented but slumped Lamour back on track, without a second new face appearing in front of him.

This is not a question of the ability of the youth training system. Just two words: talent.

A player without talent has limitations no matter how hard he works.

There is a saying in football: no talent, as long as you work hard enough, you can become the next Pavel Nedved.

I don’t know who came up with this stupid idea. Nedved’s success is of course inseparable from his talent. After so many years, or even ten years later, will there be a second Nedved? ? As long as there are accomplished stars, which one is not talented?

Carter is now reminding Aldridge to use Millwall's youth training signs as a bargaining chip in exchange for benefits.

Aldrich has figured out the key to this, which is similar to bluffing. There are not many secrets and secrets in youth training, but the outside world is still curious. After all, the results of Millwall's youth training are too shining, and colleagues are salivating.

I understand what you mean. We can use the secrets of youth training to obtain cooperation opportunities for some clubs. After establishing a cooperative relationship, we can also help them select players, that is, share scouting resources conditionally, and then they get If these players are what we need in the future, then on the basis of cooperation, we can increase the probability of acquiring players and reduce the cost of introducing players, right?

Carter nodded with a smile, and added: For some clubs who are particularly optimistic about and have high potential players, we directly buy the ownership and loan them to other clubs. This must be negotiated before, so that the players have a bottom line. Wall buys the players and then rents them out, ignoring the individual opinions of the players. Although the methods are similar, it is easy to make the players feel dissatisfied in the process, because they seem to have lost their dominance and are at the mercy of the club.

Aldrich lowered his head and raised his hand to rub his face. Although the past ten years were brilliant, it was also a stage of accumulating experience. It is inevitable that some places were not well thought out.

Your idea is fine, I think it's feasible.

Not only that, if some clubs have a very good cooperative relationship with us, we can also use the other party's marketing network by paying a certain fee, which is mutually beneficial. It depends on the relationship and cooperation between the top management.

Well, that's something I hadn't thought of before.

There is one more thing we need to talk about, and that is to maximize the benefits of passing balloon stars.

Aldridge raised his head and asked puzzledly, Passing Balloon Star? What do you mean?

Carter replied: In the future with increasingly fierce competition, not every star is willing to play a role in Millwall to contribute to the construction of Millwall's new generation. They will hope to use their fame to make Personal income remains at top levels.

Aldrich frowned, this question is very real again.

But he still agrees with Carter's point of view.

Not every star will work hard like Nedved and Larson, or be reasonable.

To put it bluntly, Nedved is sacrificing his personal interests to contribute to the team, and so is Larson.

When there are some career stars at Millwall who don't get their personal satisfaction, the club's choice is to let them go, right?

Aldrich nodded.

Treating heroes well is what he wants to do, but in order to maintain the team's record, sometimes there will be conflicts between the two.

Just like Larson is no longer able to play the main force, it is not his ability problem, but the energy problem, a player who cannot last the whole season represents instability, then he cannot be qualified for the main position.

Fortunately, Larson understood the righteousness and accepted the substitute role. If he didn't accept it, Aldridge had no choice but to send him away.

In the future, there will definitely be such people. However, I think the club cannot let the stars leave. This is a loss of popularity and interests for the team. We should provide these stars with a choice in advance, even if it is one of their many choices. One is better than nothing.

Aldridge asked curiously: Send them to a club that has cooperation with us?

Carter said: Yes, it is not true. The clubs we establish cooperation must be based on the European territory. I hope that the team will target an emerging market in the cooperative clubs.

Aldridge reacted quickly and blurted out: America.

Carter chuckled, and said: It seems that you should have thought of it. The American Football League has only been established for ten years, and the initial embryonic period has passed. Especially two years ago, the US national team reached the top 8 of the World Cup. The stimulation of the market is very important. The overseas promotion of the Premier League brand is ahead of other leagues of the same level. At the same time, Millwall has also carried out continuous development in the US market, but this is not enough. The consumption power of the US market is beyond doubt. It is very attractive to sponsors. We can establish cooperative relations with professional clubs in the United States early. Even in the future, when the professional football league in the United States develops steadily, we will let our balloon stars land in the United States, which will stimulate the football market there. , The benefits given to us will be immeasurable.”

Aldrich smiled, feeling a little excited.

Carter's vision in this regard has been very comprehensive.

From the possession of resources by young players to the utilization of resources by the team's past balloon stars, it is very effective for Millwall's long-term and stable construction.

Carter has not yet taken office, but has made Aldridge feel extremely excited.

Perhaps Abramovich and Mourinho are now a match made in heaven.

But Aldridge now also has his real right-hand man.

For the development of the US market, beyond Aldridge's expectations, after Carter took office, Millwall announced a series of business development plans. In the US, Barnett-Hall directly bought the former New York Cosmos team. New York Mets Club! (To be continued..)

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