Team Spirit

Chapter 145: The Premier League champion produces a green-gunned player, the Europa League champion follows me to the mainland.

Sky Sports: "Greens wear two hat-tricks, 5-1 thrashing of the Blues to complete revenge!"

BBC: "Manchester United suffer a humiliating defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup, leaving only the Premier League as their title hopes this season! Dartford advance, and the Gunners derby will produce a true king of London!"

The Times: "The Lucky Circus style of play has swept England, shedding the rough image of English football and injecting a gene of joy!"

"The Voice of Green Guns": "Green Guns' fastest winger, a promising Portuguese international, this issue's special star recommendation - Madeira, the green speedster, scores a hat-trick to break through Stamford Bridge!"

The Sun: "Hot! Madeira attends local charity event in Dartford, where thousands of fans chant 'Shitch!'"

Manchester Evening News: "Unexpected! A roundup of English football's top wingers: Third-tier Madeira takes the lead!"

Ashley Young's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he watched the news on television.

Duff, Joe Cole, Sean Wright—these former geniuses have all been trampled underfoot by Madeira.

It's not that Madeira is really better than these Premier League seeds, but rather that there's just too much news about Madeira.

That's unusually high.

After all, Madeira is not a high-profile person and shouldn't have so many hot topics surrounding her.

So there's only one answer... someone is buying articles to promote Madeira and create momentum for him!

Ten Hagh, standing to the side, sneered, "Datford is trying to turn Madeira into the next Lu Kai, one man, one city, binding him tightly to Green Gun."

"If I'm not mistaken, they will take the initiative to talk to Madeira about salary, raise it to the top level, and offer a series of locker room privileges."

How should a small team handle it when its players become famous?

Actually, it's just those two or three moves.

One approach is to bind the team to the team, offer core player benefits, and engage in moral blackmail.

This tactic used to be particularly effective, but it has become less effective in recent years as star players have begun to aspire to larger platforms.

Catchford has an advantage with this tactic because they are very good at winning championships, so players have no reason to leave the Green Guns on the grounds of "I have the ambition to win a championship".

Everything else was provided as well.

Madeira will inevitably have to stay for another two or three years.

Furthermore, Dartford will still qualify for European competitions next season.

If he wants to leave, it's estimated that he'll only be able to join a top football club after Dartford achieves promotion and completes his mission.

After Ten Hach finished speaking, he started paying attention to Ashley Young, guessing that Ashley Young was going to be angry.

After all, Madeira is just the second senior brother of the Green Gun.

Ashley Young was the first player to join Dartford.

Ashley Young's career was hampered by his broken leg.

Now that the "Heavenly Gang has been overthrown," Madeira has become the number one person after Green Gun Lu Kai. How could Ashley Young be so angry?

As it turned out, Ashley Young wasn't angry at all, and happily played serious poker with Amorim and Vardy next to him.

"Yang, what do you think about this? I think as a team veteran, you should at least be the third or fourth captain," Ten Hag said. "We can't have Madera wearing the captain's armband!"

Ashley Young smiled without saying a word.

If Madeira really gets a maximum salary, Ashley Young only needs to ask, and I, Lu, will naturally match him with a maximum salary; the difference won't be too significant.

Why should Ashley Young be jealous of Madeira?
Moreover, based on Ashley Young's understanding of Lu Kai, this style is not much different from when he sent Morgan away.

It's simply that the team is now richer and has greater influence, so their publicity campaigns are overwhelming.

Previously, they could only produce one "forward prospect that Liverpool had their eye on," but now they can produce "green speed" players whose fame rivals that of Joe Cole and Duff.

“I, Lu Zhuxi, never force players to stay,” Ashley Young said. “Allowing young players in the team to fly higher is something that Lu Zhuxi has repeatedly emphasized in his speeches.”

"You didn't even bother to watch 'Study Strong Team' properly."

Ten Hach dismissed it: "What's so interesting about that? It's all just empty rhetoric."

Ashley Young said sternly, "Assistant Professor Teng, don't try to understand my thoughts, Lu Hongyuan! What's that saying again? How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan!"

"Datford is known for its amicable departures and is considered the conscience of English football. We've had no exceptions in the three transfer windows combined. We need evidence to back up our claims!"

"If I hadn't been injured last year, I would definitely be wearing a Manchester United shirt now."

"Of course, even if I hadn't been injured, I wouldn't have left Green Gun. I was just giving an example! Loyalty, you understand?"

Amorim almost burst out laughing.

Ah, yes, yes!

Your inbox is practically overflowing with resumes you've sent out, and you still call yourself loyal?

He stayed with Green Gunners simply because of potential injuries, no hope of joining a top team, and a disdain for ordinary teams.

After all, lower-tier Premier League teams are not as good as our team now.

Ten Hagh was surprised to find Ashley Young so loyal and quickly apologized, saying that he didn't mean it that way: "I mean, if we really wanted to send Madeira away, why bother with all this publicity? It's pointless."

Premier League and League One teams have been scouting Dartford for a long time, and Madeira's value is self-evident.

The green gun is widely recognized as the best.

This season, he has scored goals on par with Beckford, the main striker, second only to Lu Kai.

Its role in tactical demolition is irreplaceable.

Several top clubs wanted to poach him in the summer.

But the price... can't be too high.

Even if Madeira is truly a prodigy, comparable to super geniuses like Simão, Quaresma, Robben, and Joe Cole.

But if you come from a humble background, that's just how things are.

Five to seven million pounds, no more than that!

In fact, only Dartford has that price tag. Any semi-professional team, even if you were Ronaldo, could easily acquire you for a few hundred thousand.

Even if you're Ronaldinho, in the third or fourth tier of leagues, a million pounds is the absolute maximum.

In contrast, Dartford's transfer window has been phenomenal.

But with this current move, it seems Lu Kai is trying to make an exorbitant demand, asking for ten million pounds.

This is absolutely impossible!

The Portuguese giants, the Dutch clubs known for their shady practices, and the top teams in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga have all managed to sell so many young talents.

But Dartford could not achieve the same quality.

Therefore, this move was ineffective in Ten Hag's view.

Madeira's value is already at its peak, with no room for further increases.

Ashley Young himself couldn't understand this either. Unless there was a sudden and huge change in the transfer market, and a super-rich man came along who had money but couldn't buy players, he couldn't beat the established clubs. He could only try to beat up Dartford, a club that was on par with the elite, by spending a fortune to buy talent and break the deadlock with money.

But... the Premier League has been stable for so many years, where would such a change suddenly occur?

There are rumors that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is trying to acquire Chelsea, but is he really willing to invest money in football?

I'm afraid not necessarily.

In any case, most of the people who bought the team before were looking to make money off the opportunity.

real Madrid?
Ashley Young shook his head. Dartford's business was not going to Real Madrid. Besides, Real Madrid only wanted established superstars, and Madeira, no matter how strong, did not meet their requirements.

……

April 30th, League Two, Round 45.

Dartford will host Colchester at Anfield.

Six thousand fans gathered at the riverside stadium.

Ninety minutes later, the team won 3-1.

The entire venue erupted in celebration.

"Congratulations to Dartford! After being eliminated from the UEFA Cup, they turned their misfortune into a blessing, stopping their decline in time and sweeping through the league."

"Second League Two title secured two rounds early! Promotion to League One!"

"Next season will be the last season before the reform of the professional football system in England, which is also the last season of League One. The season after that, it will be renamed the Championship!"

"Hopefully Dartford can establish themselves in League One, build up their strength, and one day truly achieve what they initially said: play in the Premier League!"

"Wigan Athletic, who had been fiercely competing with them for the title, suffered a wave of injuries at the end of the season and suddenly fell behind. Although they are currently in second place, their position is not secure, and they may very well have to play in the promotion playoffs."

Promotion from League Two is fraught with uncertainty.

Wigan Athletic, who dominated the league for most of the season, couldn't even hold onto second place.

On the contrary, Dartford, who were competing on multiple fronts, focused their energy and won seven consecutive games to take the league title.

The rapid growth of the Green Gunners' players is truly astonishing.

At the beginning of the season, this group of players really struggled in League Two.

But towards the end of the season, they were already making easy wins in League Two, winning three of their last four games, scoring twelve goals and conceding only two!

There was constant applause at the scene.

Fireworks burst into the sky outside the stadium.

Fans spontaneously celebrated the team's promotion to the second division.

Moreover, it was the last English First Division season, which was quite memorable.

Of course, if Dartford proves to be "strong" and successfully avoids relegation from League One, they will be able to continue competing in their "first Championship season".

If all goes well, we'll avoid relegation for the first two years, start our promotion campaign in the third year, and succeed in promotion in the fifth year!
Don't think that this is slow; it's already going quite smoothly.

The gap between League One and the Premier League is insurmountable, a formidable barrier. Once you cross it, everything changes dramatically, making it even more difficult.

The main difficulty in advancing from level nine to level two is the time commitment; it takes many years to advance, as it's a one-year process.

Catchford was lucky, skipping grades multiple times and saving half the time.

But the difficulty is actually not high.

If you really have the money, within a mature framework, spending a few million pounds every year to bring in and loan out excellent youth academy players from top clubs, it wouldn't be difficult to break into the English First Division for under ten million pounds.

However, even spending 30 to 50 million pounds to move from League One to the Premier League is not a guarantee of success, and the difficulty is even greater than the previous Dartford combined.

The gap in strength between the Premier League and League One is too huge, and League One is the easiest place for Premier League players to be poached. If you want to get promoted, you have to spend a lot of money.

Many League One teams have fallen because they made rash signings and spent money recklessly, but failed to get promoted and were overwhelmed by their finances.

Such teams are often relegated quickly.

Another group consists of players relegated from the Premier League, but with their strong foundation, they will make a comeback within one to three years.

This type of elevator is the most powerful.

In short, there are no weak teams in League One. After three years of accumulation, if you can get promoted, you will rise to the top; if you can't, you will fall to the bottom. There is no middle ground.

Dartford's promotion is certainly cause for celebration, but it may not be a blessing in disguise. At least everyone knows that they are about to face a major ordeal this summer.

Dartford cannot withstand the takeover by Premier League giants.

How can they possibly avoid relegation in League One after losing so much blood?
Even if they manage to withstand the pressure, it will severely inflate their internal salary structure, potentially causing them to face a financial crisis before they even reach three years, leading to their collapse.

So while the fans were celebrating, the team's management was actually quite busy.

On May 4th, in a rescheduled match of the 33rd round of League Two, Dartford drew 2-2 with Nottingham County.

A purely substitute lineup.

On May 9th, in the final round of League Two, Dartford lost 0-2 to Barnsley away from home.

Although the team fielded its starting lineup, the intensity was very low, and they substituted Madeira, Ashley Young, and Beckford early in the second half.

This is clearly preparation for the FA Cup final a week later.

This year's top five European leagues ended about ten days earlier than in previous years, and with the conclusion of the English League Two season, the various awards have been announced.

Lu Kai kept a low profile in the league. Although he played almost every game, he tried his best to give up his stats to a few special players.

Therefore, he only achieved a mediocre record of twelve goals and nineteen assists, winning the League Two assist title and League Two Player of the Season awards.

Besides him, Beckford, Madeira, Ashley Young, Murray, Ribery and others also scored in double digits.

This is also related to Dartford's rotation.

All the forwards received ample playing time.

Beckford is the team's top scorer in the league, with over twenty goals.

Unfortunately, it still couldn't surpass the brushes that came before.

This season, the English League Two Golden Boot winner has scored 31 goals, the Silver Boot winner 27 goals, and the Bronze Boot winner 25 goals. There are as many as eight players who have scored more than 20 goals, but all of them are unknown.

The gold content is shockingly low.

The media unanimously agree that Beckford is the strongest among these strikers because, in addition to his twenty league goals, he has also scored in European competitions, the EFL Cup, and the FA Cup, which truly proves his ability.

Excluding the FA Cup final which has yet to be played, Beckford made more than fifty appearances throughout the season, scoring nearly thirty goals and providing over ten assists.

He is an all-around center forward who can score goals and provide assists.

Highly anticipated!

His market value on Transfermarkt has reached four million pounds, double that of Holt last year.

But in fact, players like Ashley Young could tell that Beckford and Holt weren't that different.

Even Ashley Young could understand some of Lu Kai's actions of passing the ball to Lu Kai when he was giving up opportunities.

If we disregard cup competitions and focus entirely on the league, winning the League Two Golden Boot should be no problem.

Unfortunately, Lu Kai rarely fed him; he mainly fed the mid and right lanes.

Ashley Young inquired, and Lu Kai stated:

"You are a player who can create your own opportunities. You should take the ball more and challenge for opportunities. Becoming a poacher is like being castrated."

"Bakerford's functionality outweighs his strength; he lacks the ability to become a core player. This is the nature of warfare."

"Madeira has good speed, passing and shooting, but he doesn't have your football intelligence to play as a key player on the wing. You are a true leader."

"Only you, Ashley Young, though not handsome, are truly handsome!"

Ashley Young was very satisfied. Whenever Lu Kai passed the ball to him, he would even reflect on whether he was no longer handsome in Lu Kai's eyes.

With Lu Kai feeding the ball and Ashley Young making feints on the left wing, Madeira's stats became even more impressive.

With over 30 goals across all competitions and over 20 assists, he is both a passer and a shooter, the fastest in England, and it's now a certainty that he will be called up to the Portuguese national team this summer.

In addition, he has made key performances in major competitions such as European competitions, the FA Cup, and the EFL Cup, proving that he is no ordinary player!
If Simão and Quaresma are the two devilish wings of Portugal's new generation, taking off perfectly from the left and right.

Then he and Cristiano Ronaldo, the rising superstar of Sporting Lisbon, would be the perfect duo for the second half of the generation.

Once Simão and Quaresma fail to take off, the two of them can quickly take over.

The abundance of talent on the wings has made powerhouses like Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain extremely envious.

They weren't lacking in genius wings, but two pairs of four wings was still a bit too extravagant!
Ashley Young was sidelined for two or three months due to injury, so his stats naturally couldn't compare to the other two, making him the worst player in the trident.

However, his form fluctuates greatly. When he's on fire, his passing and shooting are excellent, and when he's off fire, although he wastes many opportunities, he still manages to create most of them himself.

The lower level of the English League Two did not cause significant harm to the team.

Achieving double-fifteen stats across various competitions is actually quite good if we disregard any inflated figures.

However, since you're already playing in League Two, people can't help but consider the possibility of inflated numbers.

Even the data from League One is not often referenced by Premier League teams.

Because historically, when English First Division Golden Boot winners move to the Premier League, their stats are often reduced by half, and very few actually achieve that level of success.

Just days after the end of League Two, the Premier League also came to a close.

This season's Premier League has been full of ups and downs.

Last season, Arsenal emerged as a dark horse, seizing the sensitive moment of Ferguson's retirement to end Manchester United's three-peat.

Arsenal were aiming for a back-to-back title this season, but Manchester United came out strong, firing on all four fronts, and Arsenal had little chance of winning the Premier League.

Who knew that right after the winter transfer window closed, the "flying boot incident" would "inexplicably" erupt, causing Manchester United's morale to plummet.

Not only did they lose to Green Gunners in the EFL Cup, but a large-scale brawl also broke out.

Keane was severely punished with a suspension, and Beckham refused to back down and return home, almost causing Manchester United to collapse.

They were even eliminated from the FA Cup by Arsenal themselves, suffering a double defeat at the hands of the Red and Green Gunners!

They were also eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid, a humiliating defeat.

Red Gunners fans are praising Green Gunners because without Green Gunners, where would they have had a chance to win the championship this season?

They really are one of us!

However, the consecutive eliminations from all three competitions forced Ferguson and Beckham to temporarily set aside their differences and reunite.

With Keane's return and Eastwood's meteoric rise, Manchester United have returned to their peak form and are on a relentless pursuit.

They cleverly kept the suspense until the very last round.

Their final opponent was horribly bad; it was Sunderland, the "Black Cats," who had already secured a relegation spot.

And it was last place!

Arsenal have a sure win.

Manchester United will be playing against seventh-placed Everton, who will need to thwart United's hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

This is the final round of matches where a win for Arsenal would guarantee the title, while Manchester United could still lose.

As a result, with the score tied 1-1, Eastwood, who had come on as a substitute in several games without contributing, suddenly exploded and scored a stunning long-range goal to win the game and keep the team's title hopes alive.

As for Arsenal, with the championship in hand, "Elvis" Marko dribbled past three players to score a last-minute equalizer, salvaging some pride for the Black Cats in this incredibly disappointing season!
This goal directly changed the mind of Sunderland's management. Although Markofo was excellent, he was strong in attack but weak in defense, and he played too selfishly. Sunderland was originally prepared to sell him.

But now he has become Sunderland's savior. Although the team has been relegated back to League One, it is not difficult for them to return to the Premier League after two years of preparation.

Since Markov is tough, resilient, and capable of great things, let's build the team around him.

And so, Elvis Presley Markov became part of Sunderland's ten-year plan!

Manchester United staged a comeback to win the title and reclaim the throne, achieving four Premier League titles in five years – their dominance remains undiminished!
Arsenal's failure to win the FA Cup leaves them with only the insignificant honor of the FA Cup as a small consolation.

For a moment, Manchester United fans lamented that the Green Gunners were still the best.

Arsenal fans, on the other hand, hate Green Gunners to the core.

It's not that their FA Cup final opponent was Green Gunners, but rather that who would have thought that the two Green Gunners' sons would ultimately decide the Premier League title this season?
Eastwood, who scored the winning goal for Manchester United, and Markover, who scored the equalizer for Sunderland, were both key players for Manchester United last season!
Moreover, Liverpool soon sent a letter of thanks.

During the winter transfer window this season, Dartford eliminated Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-final.

Liverpool was met with a barrage of criticism.

But Lu Kai's heroic rescue of Liverpool manager Houllier has made people exclaim that there is still true kindness in the world.

Liverpool showed goodwill, and Lu Kai also said in an interview at the time: "Liverpool is extremely strong and is qualified to win any championship."

"However, due to injuries, the lineup appears thin, making it difficult to achieve excellent results in multiple competitions."

"Getting out of the EFL Cup now is a blessing in disguise; we will definitely win European competitions within three years!"

At the time, many people said that Lu Kai was a sycophant, and that he immediately fawned over Liverpool when the club extended an olive branch.

He can even spout nonsense about Liverpool winning European competition.

There's no other reason than that Owen is past his prime, and Liverpool's league performance is only at the level of competing for the top four, so how could they possibly win European competitions?
As a result... Dartford were eliminated by Porto in the Europa League, but this dealt a fatal blow to Porto.

Porto, short-handed and depleted, lost to an aging Lazio.

The UEFA Cup final between Liverpool and Lazio is a high-stakes match, with both teams under immense pressure.

Because in the Champions League, Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan, the three Italian powerhouses, are ganging up on Real Madrid.

With Juventus and AC Milan meeting in the final, Serie A has already secured the Champions League trophy.

If Lazio wins the UEFA Cup, then the Premier League and La Liga's claim to be "successors to the world's number one league" will undoubtedly become a joke.

La Liga has become a joke this season, at least.

As for the Premier League... Real Madrid eliminated Manchester United in the Champions League, while Valencia eliminated Arsenal; both are La Liga teams.

It's even more of a joke than La Liga.

In the end, Liverpool easily defeated an aging Lazio and won the UEFA Cup title that should have belonged to Porto in history.

A nostalgic return to the days of the five-time champions!
In their excitement, fans even dug up Lu Kai's "prediction" from four months ago.

Houllier, offering a professional perspective, stated: "In this season's UEFA Cup, we are only worried about facing two teams."

"One is Dartford, they have experience beating us. Although European competitions are a different arena, we would rather not face them if we could."

"The other one is Porto. This team is very strong, and like Dartford, they are underestimated by many people."

"Fortunately, they were stopped by Dartford and then lost to Lazio. We always thought Lazio was easier to play than Porto, and that proved to be true."

Houllier gave Dartford a hand, creating a favor out of thin air.

But Mourinho was almost driven mad with anger.

How come my Portuguese league champions and UEFA Cup semi-finalists are treated the same as Dartford, a third-tier league champion and UEFA Cup round of 16 player?

Besides, we are a championship-caliber team, and we can even reach the Champions League semi-finals without any problem. Dartford won't even make it out of the group stage in the Champions League, so they have no right to compare themselves to us.
But nobody believed Mourinho when he said that.

Because you ultimately failed to do it!
Houllier won, so whatever he says goes.

For a time, the FA Cup clash between Dartford, a "championship-caliber team no less than Porto," and Arsenal, the "Premier League runner-up," became the final feast of European football this season!
The key point is that both teams are in the round of 16 of European competitions.

Arsenal: We're in the Champions League Round of 16! Don't even bother with second-tier competitions like the UEFA Cup!

(End of this chapter)