Super Marshal

The three people sitting in the general manager's office at the Calderon Stadium all looked solemn, as if they had encountered something important.

Since Atletico Madrid defeated Manchester United 2-0 in an away game last night and won two consecutive victories in the second stage of the group stage, it suddenly emerged and became the biggest favorite to break out of the group stage, and the entire European football world was shocked.

The media sang praises, the fans rejoiced, and everyone in the club was also full of fighting spirit.

There is no doubt that this is the pinnacle that Atletico Madrid has rarely seen in decades.

But behind this group of people who were overwhelmed by the team's performance, there were still people who kept calm all the time.

That's Enrique Cerezo!

The vice-chairman, who usually looks a little dull, depressingly taciturn and thoughtful, came to the Calderon Stadium early this morning, and immediately handed over Hill and Paul Futre Call for a meeting.

The first sentence is: "We have encountered a big trouble like never before!"

Little Hill and Paul Futre obviously haven't gotten over the excitement and excitement of last night. The first reaction was that this guy was joking, but soon, Cerezo's next sentence made them realize that the seriousness of the problem.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to retain players!"

The two people on the opposite side were completely stunned, and the laughter on their faces turned into a worried solemnity.

Yes, Atlético Madrid are in big trouble!

The better the team's performance and the better the players perform, the harder it will be for Atletico Madrid to keep the players.

Today's Sheets Corps is no longer the third giant in La Liga before the relegation. Once relegated, everything was overthrown and restarted, and without the financial support of the Hill family, Atletico Madrid must be self-reliant.

Not to mention spending a lot of money to poach top stars such as Vieri and Hasselbaink as before, even if the existing players in the team are retained, it will be a very heavy burden for Atletico Madrid.

"In the past two years, the salary of the team has been rising again and again, and the maximum salary has been broken again and again. Many players have renewed their contracts every year and their salaries have been raised every year. Up to now, the entire salary expenditure of our team is in La Liga. It has climbed to the upper reaches in the league."

Cerezo's words made Xiao Hill and Paul Futre realize the seriousness of the problem.

Money, this is a difficult problem that all professional teams must face.

To run a team like Atletico Madrid, if you want to be self-reliant, you must control the financial revenue and expenditure.

On the one hand, we need to open source and increase the team’s financial income as much as possible. This needs to rely on sponsors, match day income, and broadcast rights. However, in La Liga, the bulk of broadcast rights only belongs to Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Atlético Madrid wants to compete, yes, it can only have a bargaining chip with long-term and stable performance.

In terms of match day income, it is limited by the Calderon Stadium, and Atletico Madrid has no advantage in this regard.

As for the sponsors, with the team performing well, it's progressing well, but it's far from being on par with the giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

In addition to open source, the team has to pay attention to throttling.

The biggest expense of a club is undoubtedly the salaries of the players, which needs to be controlled.

Why are the rich teams always able to easily poach players from other teams?

In addition to the broader platform, a very important reason is that the rich teams can give higher salaries.

There is a saying that is true, don't wear such a big hat if you don't have such a big head.

Without sufficient financial revenue, it is impossible to retain stars.

The more potential and strength you have, the less you can keep it!

"As the past period of time, our team's performance in the European arena has become better and better, and the poaching offensive of the rich teams has also become more and more fierce, especially AC Milan. They are eager to get Kaka."

"Peter Kenyon from Manchester United also contacted me to inquire about the quotations of Harvey Alonso and Carvalho. I heard that Ferguson is very interested in these two players."

"Also interested in Xabi Alonso is Barcelona, ​​Van Gaal thinks he has the strength to replace Pep Guardiola."

Cerezo's words undoubtedly sounded the alarm in the hearts of the two people opposite.

The UEFA Champions League is indeed very beautiful, but for Atletico Madrid at this stage, it is undoubtedly a hot potato.

Originally, the management meant to focus on participation, enter the second stage of the group stage, earn some appearance fees, game bonuses, and broadcasting fees, and just make a fortune.

But the situation is different now. The team is getting better and better and more effective, which puts the team in a dilemma.

The team's performance has improved, and the better the players perform, the easier it is to attract the poaching of rich teams.

Today's Atletico Madrid is a bit like Valencia back then, even more dire than Valencia's situation.

At that time, many wealthy families looted Mendieta, but now...

Villa, Torres, Kaka, Xavi Alonso, Deco, Marcos Senna, Carvalho, Petr Cech...

That group of wolf-like giants is simply going to tear Atletico Madrid apart!

Now, there are only two roads before Atletico Madrid.

Either fight to the end and forcibly retain the players, but this will require a renewal of the contract and a salary increase, which will greatly increase the financial burden of the team. If it is not handled carefully, the team is likely to go bankrupt, or even repeat the mistakes of relegation that year.

Or it is to abandon the army and keep the coach, sell a few players in exchange for a large amount of cash, and retain a group of backbones.

I believe that all rational operators know how to choose.

But the problem is that abandoning the army to protect the handsome also has considerable risks.

The rich teams focus on the best performers in the team, that is the soul core of a team, sold away, although a large transfer fee was exchanged, but the team's technical and tactical style of play is also sure. Changes will follow.

By that time, whether the team can still maintain its competitiveness, it may be difficult to say.

Isn't the strategy of digging if you can't beat it the best for a giant team like Real Madrid?

Farther away are Tenerife's coach Valdano and midfielder Redondo, Valencia's Mijatovic, and nearer there are Vigo Celta's Makelele, Deportivo's Fraser Vio...

When these giant teams are at a low ebb, they always rely on their strong financial advantages, wave their checks, suck blood from other teams, poach high-level players, supplement their own strength, and in the shortest time revival in a short period of time.

As for those teams that have been poached and sucked blood, if they handle it well, they can tide over the difficulties. If they don't handle it well, they are likely to collapse and it will be difficult to compete with the rich teams.

The biggest difference between ordinary fans and team managers is that they look at problems from different angles.

The former often only pay attention to the team's high light period, and always want to improve the team's performance as quickly as possible, but the latter pays more attention to the team's low point, pays more attention to improving the team's ability to resist risks, and avoids as much as possible, Or help the team out of the trough as soon as possible.

What is often talked about by fans, isn't the so-called rich background only manifested in the trough?

Atletico Madrid's relegation has exhausted everything in the team, and the current sheet army is rebuilt after being torn down.

It is not easy, but it is also precarious, unable to withstand the slightest risk and impact.

Cerezo was the first to see this clearly, as did Hill and Paul Futre.

With the current situation of the team, it is necessary to sell a few players and retain a group of players to seek a more long-term and stable development.

But selling the head star, I'm afraid...

"Gao Han should be able to understand." Paul Futre was not very sure.

The technical director of Atletico Madrid, the most prominent contribution is to bet on Gao Han's position, so he has always supported Gao Han unconditionally.

But Cerezo sighed, "I'm afraid even Gao Han..."

The three of them looked at each other, but none of them could speak.

To say that the most attractive player in the Atletico Madrid team is Gao Han.

The most aggressive poaching by the rich teams is also Alpine.

It was reported by the media before that Bayern Munich intends to invite Gao Han to coach, and it was strongly recommended by the head coach Hitzfeld.

Later, it was revealed that Barcelona will re-elect the chairman this summer, and at least three candidates who are interested in running for the election have played the sign of Gao Han, promising that once elected, they will spend a lot of money to hire Gao Han to coach.

After playing against AC Milan in the first stage, the Italian media also broke the news that Inter Milan has lost patience with Cooper and intends to invite Gao Han to coach and take over Meazza.

Just this morning, the British media was still hyping that Gao Han would leave Atletico Madrid and coach the Premier League in the new season, and many teams including Liverpool were included.

It is not difficult to see from this that Gao Han's popularity is not inferior to the top superstars in European football.

In this case, can Atletico Madrid keep him?

"You have to work hard." Xiao Xier suddenly broke the silence.

"Without Gao Han, the team would not be where it is today, so no matter what we do, even any player can leave, but only Gao Han, we must do our best to stay!"

After hearing this, Cerezo and Paulo Futre also nodded repeatedly.

"I have confidence in Gao Han, as long as he is there, the team will not collapse!" Paul Futre shouted loudly.

Obviously, the Big Three have reached a consensus.

…………

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After defeating Manchester United 2-0 away, the Champions League was temporarily suspended, but La Liga continued.

After Atletico Madrid returned to Spain, they immediately went to the away game to challenge Alaves.

Although the team has been rotated, the Sheets Legion with a strong bench lineup still defeated Alaves 2-0 in the away game with the goals of Kiko and Baptista.

But in this round, Valencia, Deportivo and Real Madrid also defeated their opponents successively, especially Real Madrid, who defeated Huelva 4-2 at the Bernabéu Stadium.

Only Barcelona, ​​Van Gaal's team lost 0-3 to Sevilla at the Nou Camp, which caused angry fans to boo again at the Nou Camp.

A week later, on December 21st, the fifteenth round of La Liga was also the last round before Christmas.

Atlético de Madrid defeated Racing Santander 3-0 at the Calderón Stadium.

After a week of rest, the Sheets Legion was strong and strong, completely controlling the game and winning without any surprises.

Real Madrid narrowly beat Malaga 3-2 away.

Barcelona, ​​which suffered a disastrous home defeat in the last round, exploded in this round of away games, beating Real Mallorca 4-0 away, and the hard-fated Van Gaal once again saved the team's decline.

In the focus of this round, Deportivo beat Valencia 1-0 in an away game. In this strong dialogue, they scored a valuable three points.