The Young Lion

In two years, Ajax, who reached the top of Europe in 1995, was beyond recognition.

Most of the main lineup of the team that swept Europe back then is gone. This summer, Kluivert is determined not to renew his contract. The fate of Peter Pan Overmars is doubtful. What's more, the meritorious coach Van Gaal is also in love, and it's no secret that he flirts with Barcelona.

In the past two decades, Ajax has sent nearly 50 players to the five major European leagues, most of whom are well-known stars. In the eyes of European first-tier clubs, Ajax is not only a Dutch giant, but also a football player. Talent boutique store.

In the past ten years of transfer transactions, Ajax has earned more than 100 million US dollars. This figure is unimaginable for other teams.

Ajax, Feyenoord, Eindhoven, these three Dutch giants support Dutch football, and the youth training is so powerful that it is indescribable.

Just like the contribution of Real Madrid and Barcelona to La Liga, perhaps in the general public consciousness, Barcelona's La Masia is a youth training sign, and Real Madrid is not famous for its youth training. In addition to drawing first-team talents in the system, Real Madrid's youth training has made a great contribution to the entire Spanish football, because the players who did not make their debut in Real Madrid all went to other teams. Counting the second division, Real Madrid's average Every season, about 10 professional players will be sent to two levels of clubs. Over the years, they have accumulated little over time. Among the local players in La Liga, players from Real Madrid's youth training are not a minority.

The youth training models of these three companies all have their own characteristics. Ajax can’t keep talents, coupled with the business philosophy of Jewish background, selling people to make money is their purpose. After all, the influence of the Dutch league and the status of football have limitations. , If you don't sell it, you can't keep it!

Even though Barcelona began to enter the construction of the Dutch team this summer, in the long run, even if Van Gaal took office, he would still promote core players like Harvey from the youth training. The youth team and the first team have the same tactics. Concept that seamlessly connects the youth team to the first team. Let the first team can continuously get talents from the youth team.

Real Madrid pursues the survival of the fittest, coupled with the club's noble background, the first team has too little patience for young players, and there are not many opportunities, unless it is Raul, Iker Casillas who made a big splash and quickly gained a foothold in the first team Genius, otherwise, no matter how good the young players are, the club will not have the patience to wait for you to mature and take charge on your own. However, by sending talents to other clubs in the entire La Liga, the club's influence and status are detached. This is also a big plus.

Aldridge's team building philosophy. Millwall to be strong. It is necessary to integrate the characteristics of the youth training of these three clubs, learn from each other's strengths, copy the same tactical training mode of the Barcelona first-team youth team, and learn from Ajax's policy of cultivating rookies around the network. At the same time, let the youth team have a competitive environment like Real Madrid.

A genius trains with a hundred mediocrities,

Most likely in the end, this genius will be assimilated by mediocrity.

But if fifty geniuses and fifty mediocrities train together, the effect will be completely different. The competition between geniuses will stimulate the mediocrity's aggressiveness, which will accelerate the growth of players and stimulate their potential.

Aldridge will not only strengthen the first team this summer. And let the youth team have more potential new stars, so as to stimulate them to grow faster.

Because he discovered a very bad phenomenon.

Joe Cole, Ronaldinho, Ashley Cole and Villa were the brightest stars of hope in the Millwall youth team last season. The year before last, when they were all 14 and 15 years old, their performance in the youth team seemed outstanding, but in the youth team last season, as they grew older, the gap between them and players of the same age became wider and wider. Bigger and bigger, forming a polarization.

This makes them break away from the 11-man group and become a small group. This does not mean that they form gangs in the youth team, but the quality that is most intuitively displayed on the pitch, because other teammates cannot keep up with their speed. , kicking thinking, reaction ability.

And it is impossible for them to slow down their kicking speed to wait for teammates who are obviously a few shots slower, so they have only two choices, Ronaldinho and Joe Cole, and Villa has three players in the frontcourt Coordination, when there is no room for cooperation, they become very selfish and will not pass the ball to other teammates, because they think that the choice of passing the ball is not as good as trying to break through or shoot. Anyway, the effect is definitely better than handing the ball to those abilities. Teammates with gaps are much stronger.

Because of this, Najib approached Aldridge and gave him a suggestion: Either, rent out these four players to exercise, or transfer to the first team, train with the first team, and usually play reserve team games.

In short, they can no longer stay in the youth team, otherwise, it will only delay their growth.

The solution that Aldridge thought of was: find some matching teammates for them.

But when he came to the Netherlands today, he didn't intend to dig Ajax's players under the age of 16, even though there are many future high-profile stars in the Ajax youth academy, such as van der Vaart.

He came for Ajax's next winger: Andy van der Meyde.

It's not that Aldridge can't afford the famous Dutch Peter Pan Overmars, but after buying Overmars, Aldridge can go on vacation, and then wait until the end of July to return to the team for next season. prepare for.

Under the arrangement of Andrew, Aldrich met Andy van der Meyde, who was about to turn 18, in an ordinary hotel in Amsterdam.

There is no language communication problem between the two, and almost everyone in the Netherlands can speak English.

Andy Van der Meyde was neatly dressed and even had his hair done. The young and handsome guy was a little nervous when he saw Aldridge. Aldridge could see that he was a little excited, which made Aldridge feel fresh.

Because when he introduced players in the past, no matter how old or young the player was or how famous he was, when he met him for the first time, he would either look skeptical or expressionless, as if he didn't want to see this young coach from London.

In the past three years, he has led Millwall to soar, and Aldridge also has the halo of a famous coach, which makes him even more sincere when he personally recruits players.

Hi Andy, may I call you that? Okay, let's sit down and talk.

Aldrich graciously invited Van der Meyde to sit down on the sofa. Then straight to the point, he described the blueprint he had drawn for him.

Come to Millwall, you will be a member of the first team in the new season. Start from the bench and integrate into the team first. The shortest time is one season, and the longest time is two years. issue a challenge.

As for how to train him, Aldridge did not go into detail. If the other party asks. He is willing to spend some more time to explain to him.

Van der Meyde suppressed the excitement in his heart. Enthusiasm has also cooled down a lot.

When he heard that Aldrich, the young coach, wanted to see him, he thought he was valued by the opponent, so he went directly to Millwall to play the main force.

Now that I understand it, that's not the case at all.

But at least. His potential was confirmed, which made him a little happier after he calmed down.

Thinking of how he was treated at the Ajax club, Van der Meyde asked: Can you talk about my contract?

Aldrich smiled, knowing that the other party agreed, so he said to Andrew, You can talk to him.

As an agent, Andrew has done a few deals in the Netherlands. He handled the transfers of Stam, Larsson, Ruud van Nistelrooy and other players. In the Dutch football circle, he is also well-known, because he played the role of matchmaking in these transfers, and at the same time won a good contract for the players, plus he is Aldridge's brother. Young players who want to play for Aldridge and dream of becoming famous naturally have a certain understanding of him.

Van der Meyde originally signed a professional contract with Ajax this summer, but Ajax is now suffering from internal and external troubles. The 95 golden generation is poached every year. His resignation will be announced in a few days. The club is trying its best to retain the main players of the first team, and it will not take care of youth team players like Van der Meyde for a while.

Although it is difficult for English clubs to sign non-European hopeful stars because of labor certificates, it also benefits English clubs in disguise because they can sign professional contracts with 16-year-old players. According to the Football Association regulations of mainstream leagues such as Spain and Germany, signing professional The contract must be after the player is 18 years old. This is such a loophole, which makes it easier for English clubs to poach corners. However, too many clubs in this era have not realized that poaching must be done as early as possible, not only as early as possible, but also the whole family!

Van der Meyde didn't have an agent at this time, and it wasn't a big problem for Andrew to win him, because Andrew promised to help him get a contract with a weekly salary of 3,000.

This simply made Van der Meyde feel incredible.

Why can't the Dutch league keep talent?

In addition to the influence of the league, the most important reason is the cost of the club. The wages paid to the players are not to mention compared with the top giants, even the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League. Selling people and fighting in Europe, relying solely on the Dutch league's own earning power, the three giants of the Netherlands have long since gone bankrupt, so they have a limit on the wages they give players. How much weekly salary can a player from a youth team like Van der Meyde get? A hundred pounds is considered high, and even ten years later, it will basically be only a few thousand pounds.

The weekly salary of 3,000 pounds is definitely the lowest in the salary level of Millwall's first team. Even the contract signed by Ronaldinho of the youth team at the age of 16 is 5,000 pounds a week, but he After all, it is Aldridge who regards the team as the absolute main player in the future, so there is nothing wrong with giving him a higher score.

After reaching an agreement with Van der Meyde, Aldridge said goodbye to him first, and Andrew also called back to the company to ask his assistant to send someone to Amsterdam to accompany Van der Meyer to leave Ajax.

He has an apprentice contract with Ajax, which expires in the summer. Ajax originally planned to sign a professional contract with him, but as long as Van der Meyde refuses, he can leave as a free agent.

Before the new FIFA transfer rules are introduced this autumn, Millwall could get a player of van der Meyde's caliber for free.

After negotiating the joining of Van der Meyde, Aldridge and Andrew had a rest in the hotel that night. The next morning, they walked out of the hotel with travel bags and sunglasses.

Next stop, where are you going?

Andrew looked up at the sky to see today's weather, and asked casually.

Aldrich opened the back door of the taxi, turned around and said, Eindhoven.