Team Spirit

Chapter 277 Lu Zhe Niao Yi, Niao Ku Lu Men

BBC: "Datford have reached the EFL Cup semi-finals for the seventh consecutive year, and it is suggested that the EFL Cup be renamed the Green Gun Cup!"

Sky Sports: "Even if the EFL Cup isn't renamed the Green Gun Cup, it should at least be renamed the London Cup!"

The EFL Cup is hot!
Their four semi-finalist teams this year are Dartford, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur – all London teams.

The next two semi-finals and one final will all be London derbies.

Tell me, isn't that awesome?

These matches are of extremely high quality, even by the standards of the entire Premier League.

Tickets for the relevant events quickly became highly sought-after, sparking a buying frenzy.

Fan A: "I've said it before, the FA Cup isn't good, it's an outdated competition."

Fan B: "The EFL Cup is so exciting! I support expanding the EFL Cup!"

An African fan commented: "We thought it was a lie when people said English teams valued the EFL Cup more, but now that we see the semi-final lineups, it's more real than diamonds!"

Henan fans: "We have a lot of diamonds here, and we also watch the EFL Cup!"

The FA Cup is crying in the toilet.

December 23 to January 1, 2007: Premier League Christmas Frenzy.

Dartford have played four consecutive Premier League matches, facing Watford, Blackburn, Portsmouth, and Bolton.

Three wins and one loss.

It was all just good luck.

Watford and Blackburn are both relegation-threatened teams, and Green Gunners won easily.

Portsmouth and Bolton are both teams in the European qualification zone, with Portsmouth even having topped the Premier League for a round.

However, both teams lacked experience and struggled during the Christmas rush. Ultimately, Green Gunners defeated Portsmouth but then lost to Bolton.

With a combined nine points in nine days, Green Gunners are already the best team in this season.

They remained firmly in third place in the Premier League standings, gloriously concluding the first half of the season.

The third round of the FA Cup kicked off on January 6th.

Dartford easily defeated Norwich with a rotated squad.

The latter was also a Premier League team, but has now been relegated to the Championship.

The striker representing Norwich was former Celtics player Glen Murray.

The two sides inevitably had to reminisce.

London is becoming increasingly unsettled this winter transfer window.

Controversy has erupted again at Chelsea.

They are currently second in the Premier League, which is definitely not a bad result. Just two years ago, Chelsea fans wouldn't have dared to criticize such a result.

But since Abramovich's arrival, Chelsea have won two consecutive Premier League titles and are aiming for a third, their mentality has changed.

Chelsea's problem lies not only in having fewer points than Manchester United, but also in their poor performance on the pitch.

Not stable enough.

Its attack power has been significantly reduced.

The aesthetic appeal of the competition has been greatly reduced.

This kind of trouble is quite similar to that of Real Madrid in recent years.

In addition, Abramovich was dissatisfied with Mourinho's coaching results, and Mourinho was unhappy with Abramovich's signings and substitutions.

It just goes to show that the strongest fortress is often breached from within.

The winter transfer window became the catalyst for Chelsea's collapse.

The Liverpool Echo: "Chelsea are heartless and disrespectful to their players, abandoning Madeira while he was injured!"

The Echo spoke out righteously, pointing out a special deal.

They had planned to sell Morgan during his injury period, but were pressured by Liverpool's coaching to back down the deal. Morgan then got injured again, wasting several years of his wages at Liverpool and impacting the team's recruitment efforts.

That was Liverpool's worst deal to date.

At the time, the London media did their best to make things difficult for Liverpool.

Liverpool have finally seized their opportunity.

Chelsea fans were unaware that Madeira was leaving and were eager to confirm the news.

After all, Madeira was Chelsea's first winger during their big-money era.

Everyone is very satisfied with Madeira.

Despite the arrival and rise of players like Duff, Robben, Joe Cole, Wright Jr., and Arshavin, Madeira has fallen short in terms of technical prowess.

But Madeira's speed is always number one.

Moreover, his kicking style is simple and direct; regardless of whether it is sophisticated or not, it is effective against the opponent.

This is also the most typical style of the early Green Gun: great skill without artifice, heavy sword without edge!
Madeira's problem is that, like all Chelsea wingers, he is injury-prone.

But this is clearly a problem with Chelsea's system and Mourinho's tactics; Madeira is less injury-prone than Robben.

With players like Drogba and Arshavin forming a small group within Chelsea, their supporters have rallied together and generated considerable buzz.

Therefore, it is difficult for fans to accept his sudden departure.

In response, Chelsea had to issue a statement, saying that the team had not abandoned Madeira, but rather that Madeira himself wanted to return to Portugal to play football, and the team was simply doing him a favor.

Chelsea fans then calmed down.

If Madeira truly wants to leave, then considering his injury situation, the fans can indeed accept it.

However, another problem soon arose.

Manchester Evening News: "God-level winger Madeira transfers to Porto for a mere eight million euros?"

Manchester media outlets have also added fuel to the fire for Chelsea.

They uncovered some inside information about the deal.

From the significantly low transaction price to the people involved in the transaction, etc.

Manchester Evening News: "The 27-year-old Madeira is at the peak of his career. Although he has been plagued by injuries at Chelsea, he has never suffered a major one."

"His transfer value is as high as 25 million euros, with an additional 5 million euros."

"Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and other top clubs want it, and the price could even go up to 40 million!"

"Why can Porto bring in such a player for only eight million euros?"

"We noticed that the staff member at Porto who completed this deal was Mourinho's cousin. Is it possible that Mourinho deliberately sold the deal at a low price? Did he receive a substantial kickback in this transaction?"

Chelsea fans once again stormed the club, demanding an explanation.

This time, Chelsea remained silent.

Mourinho was also summoned to Abramovich's office to explain the matter.

Abramovich has plenty of money. Even if Mourinho does take kickbacks, how much could it be?
But what Abramovich cares about is whether Mourinho is wholeheartedly working for him.

Mourinho is very frustrated; he genuinely didn't take any kickbacks in this matter. Madeira's contract only has six months left, expiring this summer.

If we sell now, of course we can't get a good price.

Madeira's agents are Daniel and Lu Kai of "No Bullets Agency," who are very skilled at negotiating player contracts and secured the opportunity for Madeira to leave the team on a free transfer.

Of course, if Chelsea signs Madeira to a top-tier contract this summer, then none of these problems will exist.

But Mourinho didn't want to give Madeira a five-year maximum salary contract.

He felt it wasn't worth it.

Speed-type wingers like Madeira typically have shorter careers than other players. Mourinho believes Madeira only has one or two seasons left, and his career will likely decline drastically before he turns thirty.

Giving big contracts would only hinder the team.

With such a player, he will encounter obstacles when trying to bring in other good wingers he wants.

This isn't about money; it's about ecological niche.

Mourinho has gradually realized the importance of the dressing room and is trying to build a qualified player hierarchy framework at Chelsea.

During this process, some people have to be ousted.

Abramovich: "If that's the case, why not put Madeira on the market? I believe many teams would be willing to pay more than 10 million euros for him."

Mourinho: "No, if he were put on the market, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich, the two Milan clubs, and even Arsenal and Manchester United would definitely sign Madeira."

"It will be even more difficult for us to win the Premier League and the Champions League then."

"The money from selling Madeira is nothing to you. There's no need to create problems for our season for such a small gain."

Abramovich found a logical flaw: "So you admit that Madeira is a strong player, then why sell him?"

Mourinho couldn't explain it clearly: "Because his agent demanded we offer him a five-year top-salary contract, which would definitely become a bad contract. He can only play a good year or two at most..."

Abramovich: "I don't mind paying a high salary to a player like this, just to increase the depth of the squad."

Mourinho: "But his presence will affect the other players on the team..."

The two talked for a long time, but Mourinho was still unable to completely convince Abramovich.

Although the matter was eventually resolved, a thorn remained in the hearts of both of them.

Furthermore, Abramovich took the opportunity to make his own demands, hoping to focus on Shevchenko and Arshavin in the second half of the season.

In the first half of the season, Mourinho outwardly complied but inwardly defied expectations, frequently substituting these two "Russian" players early, which repeatedly led to Shevchenko and Arshavin refusing to shake hands.

Vinicius: Yeah, it's really annoying!

Mourinho has no way of explaining things regarding Madeira, so he can only accept it.

Before Mourinho left, Abramovich said, "José, I hope we can be the winners in the EFL Cup semi-final in a few days."

The EFL Cup semi-finals feature two London derbies.

Chelsea have drawn Dartford!

Mourinho was struck dumb, but after leaving Abramovich's office, he finally sorted out his thoughts.

Faria: "What's going on? Has the problem been solved?"

Mourinho's expression was grave: "It's resolved, but new troubles are likely on the horizon."

"I suspect that Lu Kai was behind the Madeira contract issue."

Faria was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Mourinho: "Everyone knows that the Madeira contract is difficult to negotiate. I have to admit that Daniel was very professional in negotiations."

"But Madeira's desire to go to Porto should be after the League Cup semi-final group stage draw is finalized."

Faria: "You mean, Lu Kai encouraged Madeira to leave so that our fighting strength would be weakened?"

Mourinho shook his head: "It's not that bad. Madeira wasn't a regular starter in the first half of the season anyway. We have a lot of wingers, so it doesn't matter who's missing."

"But Lu Kai probably wanted to use this incident to hand Abu a knife, so that Abu could interfere with my troop deployment."

"Abramovich said that Shevchenko and Arshavin need to get more playing time in the second half of the season."

Faria frowned.

He knew all too well the consequences of doing so.

Arshavin was not in good physical condition, and Mourinho's tactics required a lot of running and sprinting on the wings, so it was necessary to substitute him after more than 60 minutes.

Shevchenko's style doesn't fit the team's tactics, and forcing a compatibility would result in either offensive instability or defensive vulnerabilities, creating two random bugs.

If these two players cannot be substituted, Chelsea will be at a great disadvantage when playing against strong teams of similar caliber.

Mourinho sighed: "No wonder Madeira was also actively helping Porto lower their price. At first, I thought it was because he wanted to sign a top-salary contract with Porto, so he had a subjective bias."

"Now it seems that this was very likely Lu Kai's suggestion to him."

"I thought Abu wouldn't care about such a small amount of money and agreed, but who knew that Lu Kai's purpose was not to use money to make a fuss."

Faria was furious: "Those damned Dartford green rats! Are we still going to do our deal with them?"

"How about we just not buy Van der Sar?"

During the winter transfer window, Chelsea and Dartford are in talks regarding the departure of aging goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Mourinho quickly shook his head: "No. Taking down Van der Sar, strengthening us, and weakening them is a must."

"There is no goalkeeper on the market more suitable for Chelsea at this stage than Van der Sar."

Faria: "And the price? They're asking for way too much, they're just crazy for money!"

Mourinho glanced at Abramovich's office and sneered, "He doesn't care about money, so why should we help him save?"

"Anyway, even if I save money, I might still get scolded."

"But you're right, Lu Kai shouldn't think he can get this money too easily."

"He has to take the blame for me."

Soon after, Mourinho personally stepped forward and gave an interview to explain the uproar surrounding Madeira: "First of all, it was Madeira's own wish, and the club, considering his contributions to the team, let him go at a low price."

“I think this is a uniquely Chelsea-style humanistic concern.”

"In fact, Chelsea players have always left for far less than they were acquired for. Some people say we don't know how to do business and that Abramovich has lost a lot of money because of it, but that's precisely why Chelsea is so competitive now."

"The best players want to come here because even if things don't go well, they can leave freely."

"As for Dartford's accusations regarding Madeira's injury, it's easy to talk about it, but when it comes to actually taking responsibility, are they willing to do so?"

"For example, the deal involving Van der Sar that is currently under discussion."

"Datford is asking for an exorbitant price, wanting to sell this veteran for a staggering 15 million euros."

"You know, Van der Sar is almost thirty-seven years old. No player at thirty-seven can be worth this much money. I even doubt how much Lu Kai was worth back then!"

"If Dartford really has such a fondness for injured players, then I can make the decision: Cech plus five million euros in exchange for Van der Sar. Do you think he'll dare to agree?"

This statement quickly went viral on social media.

Because Mourinho's plan was so ingenious and vicious, Lu Kai was forced into a dead end!

(End of this chapter)