The Young Lion

More than seven years ago, Beckham came to Millwall on loan, but at that time Millwall was poor and empty, and the club's infrastructure was barren at a glance. In the years since Leo's training base was completed and perfected, Beckham was only in the last year. He has been here as a member of the national team to prepare for the battle. He has not stayed here for a long time, and he has only used the medical equipment here once, just a simple physical examination. He has never touched the core of the Millwall Medical Department.

Today, under the leadership of Aldridge and Dr. James, Beckham, who was on crutches, really saw the essence of Millwall Medical Department.

In the first building of the medical department, Aldrich introduced their medical center to Xiaobei. Xiaobei saw that the vast space of the entire floor was neatly filled with different sports equipment. Next to the sports equipment, there were medical equipment.

In the process of exercising and fitness here, the players' physical data will be recorded in the medical equipment at the same time. We will have a team of sports medical experts to sort out this information to analyze the players' physical conditions. After four or five years of improvement, we design It’s a precise software, it’s an early warning system, it’s going to remind our players to rest, or when there’s a risk of injury, it’s going to send out an alert.”

Beckham was amazed. He always believed that Manchester United's infrastructure was already the top in Europe, but it was only when he came to Millwall that he realized that it was nothing.

In this way, there is no need for a team doctor. As long as the players have regular checkups, the risk of injury can be reasonably controlled through computer software.

As soon as Xiaobei finished speaking, Aldrich shook his head and denied: No, the machine is dead. The software is also designed by humans. There must be loopholes. So we will not rely on the equipment. This information can only be used as a reference. The final decision is still in the hands of a team of medical experts. They will exchange opinions to reduce the probability of equipment errors. This is also a process of continuous improvement, so we do not intend to reduce investment in this area and maintain a stable framework of 20 team doctors. And in these years, we have established a cooperative relationship with famous medical experts from all over the world. When we encounter difficult problems, we will seek help from our partners through this platform. At the same time, the difficult injuries we find on athletes will also be used as cases For partners, those doctors do analysis and research, they like this kind of cooperation model very much, of course, a certain salary still needs to be paid.”

In Xiaobei's view. This floor should be the core of Millwall's powerful medical center, but it's a ten-story building. He asked curiously: Then what are the other floors?

Most of them are workplaces. In addition to the players being checked here, there is also a floor used by the team of psychologists. David, you should have a deep understanding. In addition to the troubles in life, the injury itself will Let the players feel depressed, and a series of negative emotions will affect the mental state of the players, so some players will suffer from serious injuries, drink alcohol, gamble, or escape and vent through crazy sex life. health and mental health.”

Xiao Bei was dumbfounded,

After a long time, he asked, How much money does this need to invest?

Not to mention the traditional medical investment, the psychiatrists themselves charge a lot. Millwall has a fixed team of psychiatrists. This part of the budget may be much higher than the entire medical investment of other teams.

After thinking for a while, Aldrich said: From the beginning of construction to today, a total investment of more than 40 million pounds has been invested. If we do not consider the technical expenses such as expanding the scale and upgrading the system in the future, the annual operating expenditure is about 3.5 million pounds. .”

Beckham was visibly shocked. He had only recently heard in Italy that Milan had built a club medical system last month called the Milan Laboratory.

According to Italian media reports, it is described as mysterious and full of sophisticated colors, but Milan only invested 5 million euros, which shocked and surprised Italy.

In contrast, Millwall's medical center started earlier, no matter in terms of scale, experience accumulation, and actual operation effects, there is no doubt that Millwall is far more impressive than the Milan laboratory in Milan. Convinced, not to mention the cumulative investment of more than 40 million pounds!

David, Dr. James will tell you about the future schedule. You will settle down in London today, and I won't bother you. I will lead the team to the game tomorrow in London. I will come back early in the evening. We will have dinner together then. Let's have dinner.

Well, okay, coach, thank you.

Aldrich waved goodbye to Beckham and Victoria and left first.

Beckham is very interested in this medical center, even though it is difficult to move with a crutch, he still asks Dr. James to show him around.

James is happy to be the guide. When visiting other floors, James said with a smile: We have established cooperative relations with some medical laboratories in Northern Europe and many teams in the American NBA. Sports medicine in the United States is very developed, and NBA players often They play 2 or 3 games a week, and some of their experience is very helpful, and now we are still looking for technical supplementary cooperation methods to serve the players more comprehensively.

Beckham sighed: Millwall's attention to players' health and sense of responsibility is shocking.

Of course, because the players are our most valuable asset.

Dr. James is proud of this. He is a sports medicine professional and has a professional license. However, in the first few years of this line of work, it was difficult to get a job in England. It was very difficult to find a job. What is the most popular sport in the UK? Of course it is football, but football clubs tend to be conservative in recruiting team doctors. Compared with professional team doctors in other clubs, they may have to do some chores. Here in Millwall, doctors are very respected by internal colleagues, because the team owner is very Valuing them, from top to bottom, has formed such an ethos.

If you think about it, you must know that Millwall is the team with the most heavy workload in the Premier League, but Millwall has the lowest number of injuries to players in the Premier League. Especially in the last two seasons, the team's health is very good. , In addition to the foundation brought by our further improvement of the medical center, it is also the positive effect brought about by the long-term reasonable and healthy care of the players.

Dr. James is quite proud that only healthy soldiers can display their maximum combat effectiveness on the battlefield. The success of Millwall is inseparable from the credit of the medical center.

Beckham and Victoria glanced at each other, and Victoria sighed: Aldrich is a man with great foresight.

I didn't think so before, but as time went by, the more I got to know about Aldrich and his family, the more I am amazed at Aldrich.

Only those with strong foresight can make the most cost-effective investment earlier.

Beckham agrees with this very much. In terms of professional skills, Aldridge led the team to play a style that leads the development of football. In terms of running the club, whether it is the initial investment in a new stadium, or the huge investment in the medical center, it all reflects Audrey. Oddly sees the long-term side.

Ten years ago, how much was a first-class star worth? The local price in England is about 3 million pounds. If you build a 40 million pound medical center, people all over the world will think you are a fool and crazy!

But now, the value of the players, the most important wealth of the club, has increased by 10 times or even 20 times compared with that of the past. I don’t know if it will be higher in the future, but looking at the investment of 40 million pounds now, it may be too much, but the material worth it.

At the level of the Millwall club, even if a player of 20 million pounds is introduced, the total price of a contract may be more than 10 million pounds. Then just for this player alone, the club will have to spend more than 30 million pounds. Woolen cloth? A £40 million medical center is considered standard.

But even now, among the top giants, it is estimated that no club will invest so much in building a medical system.

Without him, other club owners, the board of directors, would definitely not agree to such a seemingly luxury but actually economical investment.

The next day, Aldridge led his team to challenge the farmer Fulham as a guest.

Tigana's team is temporarily far away from the relegation zone, so the players are relatively relaxed. Millwall's main players are rested and come to the bench to fight. They are very hungry for games. Incomparably strong.

After nearly a season of running-in, the central axis of Millwall's substitute lineup has an obvious tacit understanding. Metzelder, Alonso, Kaka, Klose, relying on this central axis with tacit understanding and certain strength , The team's third line is tight, the team's strength has achieved a certain effect, coupled with the improvement of the individual strength of the players, the overall strength of the substitute lineup has faintly reached the peak of the second-rate!

After all, this group of players almost all have the potential of first-class players. As long as they form a team tacit understanding, play as a whole, and perform well, even if they encounter the bottom of the first-class team, they will have the strength to fight.

In the London derby, only booing was left. No matter the players on the field or the fans in the stands, there was no smoky atmosphere of the derby.

At the end of the 90-minute game, Millwall achieved a reversal on Fulham with Miroslav Klose's hat-trick. 1:3, the defending champion Millwall took all three points in the away game!

Tigana and Aldridge shook hands after the game with unnatural expressions. The famous French coach came to England. In the top Premier League, even though Fulham seems to have a bit of technical skills, it is obviously not It's a good thing, not to mention challenging Aldridge, he can't even participate in the competition of the second group of the Premier League. The boss didn't invest money to see this situation, which made him feel embarrassed.

After the war with the farmer, when Aldrich returned home, Ivan had already prepared a table of sumptuous delicacies at home. In the evening, Beckham's family came to visit their home. It was the first time they came to Aldrich's home. The celebrity couple felt incredible.

With Aldridge's net worth, he can live in a top mansion, and the decoration of his home is not extravagant and high-end, with a simple style, more like the home of a senior white-collar.

But the couple didn't ask, their children had known each other for a long time, and they could play together. The children played together, and the adults talked about the topics between adults.

From this day on, Beckham began a rehabilitation program at Millwall Medical Centre. (to be continued...) ()