Super Marshal

In the prime location of Eaton Square in central London, Abramovich owns a street-facing townhouse purchased in 1999.

But he only owns two of them, which makes him very dissatisfied with his residence in London. Recently, he is intensively contacting the owners of the other seven houses, hoping to buy all the townhouses and renovate them.

As for how much to spend, that's not what he cares about.

At this moment, he was sitting in the living room on the second floor of the mansion, pointing to a newspaper on the table, glaring at the assistant Marina Granovskia sitting opposite him, and the club chairman Bruce Barker.

"I need an explanation, what the hell is going on here?"

The newspaper was from The Times, and the front page cover featured a group photo of Chelsea having dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The scene seemed to be happy and harmonious, whether they were the main players or the substitutes, they all got along very harmoniously.

What really angered the Russians was what was reported in the second edition.

"Why didn't we have a Christmas dinner?" Abramovich snapped.

Since he landed in London, he has always been known for being extravagant and spending money generously, but now the media is saying that not only did he not hold the Christmas carnival, but he even canceled the regular dinner party, so the head coach Gao Han had to pay for all of them out of his own pocket. People eat, which makes Abramovich feel ashamed.

The authority of The Times is affirmed by the whole world, and judging by the momentum, not only the Times, but also all British media have published it, and now the whole world may know it.

"Roman, we have been busy dealing with the internal affairs of the management before. Many employees left, and many positions were still being recruited. There was some internal chaos, so we ignored the routine Christmas carnival." Bruce Barker quickly explained.

"We were only reminded when it was almost time, but the time was too late, and we were going to play the league on the 26th, so we decided through a meeting with the management that since it was too late, we would postpone it. But January is also very tight, we have the league, League Cup and FA Cup to play, so we are going to delay until March."

Chelsea has achieved very good results on all fronts. There are three competitions to be played in January, and another UEFA Cup in February, so the schedule in January and February is really tight.

Abramovich now has some experience in running a team and understands the difficulties of the management.

"Have you discussed this matter with Gao Han?"

After hearing this, Bruce Barker and Marina Granovskia couldn't help but looked at each other, and they were both silent.

Indeed, they excluded Gao Han and the coaching staff from the time they made the decision to the final plan.

"It's like this, boss." Granovskia explained, "Gao Han has been very busy since he coached the team. He is responsible for all the big and small things of the team. We think, The management can decide this matter on their own, so they didn’t bother him any more.”

What a smart man Abramovich is. Hearing this reason, he immediately looked deeply at his trusted assistant.

In just ten seconds, the air in the huge living room seemed to condense, not to mention Bruce Buck and Granovskia, who were the first to bear the brunt, even if they were sitting on the sidelines, it was none of their business. Pini Zahavi was terrified.

After all, it is an oligarch who was killed out of the cruel competitive environment in Russia, so don't be angry and prestige!

"This matter ends here, you go to apologize to Gao Han, the coaching staff and all members, and give each a replacement Christmas gift." Abramovich explained lightly, which cannot be discussed, but in the end it got worse tone.

"But... I don't want a next time."

Both Bruce Barker and Granovskia jumped in their hearts and nodded immediately.

"clear."

"Understood, boss."

Only then did Abramovi withdrew his sharp eyes, raised his head, and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing him close his eyes, the three people sitting opposite him were so nervous that they didn't dare to breathe. It wasn't until he let out a heavy breath that everyone was relieved.

They knew that he had lost his temper.

Pini Zahavi looked at Abramovich, who still had his eyes closed, and then at Bruce Barker and Granovskia. Both of them also looked at him in unison, as if they were waiting He breaks the silence.

"Hey, actually, Roman, they are quite wronged about this matter."

"Wronged?" Abramovich lazily replied without opening his eyes.

"As far as I know, this Chinese restaurant is invested by Gao Han, and it is also a major shareholder. It is newly opened and the business is so-so. In my opinion, Gao Han invited the players to eat at the Chinese restaurant. I am afraid that he also hopes to use the team's reputation to serve the restaurant. Advertisement, this kind of thing is quite common in European professional football."

When Pini Zahavi said this, he pointed to the newspaper on the table and said with a smile: "Look, there are a lot of introductions to this restaurant in the report. It looks like a soft article written by a reporter who took advantage of it. Gao Han also No loss."

Abramovich listened, his eyes opened suddenly, and he stared at Pini Zahavi.

Although not directly pointed out in every sentence of the Israeli agent, it all added up to give him an impression.

The management team was intentionally or unintentionally placed by Gao Han!

Judging from the whole matter, the management did make mistakes, but according to what Pini Zahavi said, Gao Han invited a meal, but he got multiple things in one fell swoop, fame and fortune, but all the scapegoats were given by the management back.

Just imagine, when the whole thing spreads, the media and fans will only exaggerate Gao Han and scold the management.

Is this intentional? Or unintentional?

Is Gao Han so dark-bellied?

Just when Abramovich was thinking secretly, Granovskia also spoke.

"Boss, I tentatively asked Gao Han if he could add another top center forward to the team lineup. The choice is up to him, whether it's Shevchenko, Henry, Crespo, or even Ruud van Nistel. We can both consider Rui and Ronaldo, and we will do our best to introduce them."

Abramovich nodded again and again, "Well, what did he say?"

"He refused without even thinking about it."

"Oh?" Abramovich frowned.

"He said that Eto'o and Ibrahimovic did not lose to any of the superstars above, and he has confidence in them."

Hearing this, Abramovich opened the Premier League page of the Times in front of him, glanced at the scorer list, and found that Eto'o had already caught up with Henry and Van Nistelrooy. The number of goals is not inferior to a striker like Irving.

It is not difficult to see from this that Gao Han's vision for judging players is still very accurate.

Pini Zahavi saw that Abramovich's brows were relaxed, and he already had an answer in his heart.

"Both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eto'o were introduced by Alpine. The former is a center forward cultivated by Ajax, and the latter is a striker cultivated by Aragones for many years. After Chelsea, they all became players under Mendes successively, and it is normal for Gao Han to use him smoothly."

Abramovich frowned slightly when he heard that, but he didn't say a word.

"Actually, in terms of the opportunities created by Chelsea's midfielders, it is not difficult to average three goals per game. The reason why many games have been played so hard is that the striker is not strong enough. Even Good Johnson's scoring efficiency is better than before. The substantial improvement in several seasons is enough to confirm a rumor in the media circle."

"What rumor?" Abramovich asked concerned.

Pini Zahavi laughed, "It's just a joke."

"Let's hear it." The Russian was even more curious.

"What the media reporters said, the previous sentence is that with Chelsea's luxurious midfielder, even a dog on the front line can score goals." Pini Zahavi said with a smile.

Abramovich smiled when he heard it, and praised Chelsea as if he was complimenting him, "What about the next sentence?"

"The next sentence..." Pini Zahavi hesitated a bit.

"What? Say it." Abramovich urged.

"The next sentence is that with Chelsea's huge lineup, even if a dog sits on the coach's bench, they can still win."

As soon as Pini Zahavi's words fell, everyone in the living room immediately looked at Abramovich.

The Russian looked thoughtful at first, but then burst out laughing.

"That's what you say, what a fart!"

The three of them also immediately laughed along with Haha.

After laughing, Abramovich stood up from the sofa, "Come on, let's go to Gao Han's Chinese restaurant for lunch today."

…………

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December 26, Boxing Day.

The Premier League finally ushered in the traditional Christmas devil's schedule.

In just two days, the 18th and 19th league rounds ushered in, and after entering January, the Premier League teams will also officially participate in the FA Cup, starting from the third knockout round.

With such a tight schedule, no team dared to be careless.

In the 18th round, Gao Han arranged a rotation in the away game against Charlton, but the opening effect was not very satisfactory. He took the lead in conceding a goal at the Valley Stadium, but soon, Chelsea scored four goals in a row, and finally scored four goals. One beat Charlton.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice, Eto'o and Ronaldinho added a goal each.

Also in the eighteenth round, Manchester United defeated Everton 3-2 at home, and Arsenal defeated Wolves 3-0 at home.

Henry finally broke the scoring drought and scored twice, raising his tally to fourteen.

Two days later, Chelsea played at home against Portsmouth.

The Pompeii Army performed very tenaciously in the first half, defending Chelsea's trident very tightly, did not give the Blues offensive players the slightest chance, and received a zero-to-zero intermission.

But after changing sides to fight again in the second half, Chelsea adjusted the team's tactics. Bridge, Joe Cole and Ferreira scored successively, and finally defeated Portsmouth 3-0 at home.

Manchester United and Arsenal also have small wins in away games against Middlesbrough and Southampton.

So far, the top three in the Premier League have won two consecutive victories and successfully survived the Christmas schedule.

After nineteen rounds of the league, half of the Premier League schedule is over. Chelsea continues to lead the standings, followed by Manchester United and Arsenal. These three teams are far ahead of the other 17 teams in the Premier League with a gap of 13 points. Everyone is convinced that the team that eventually wins the championship is born from it.

The most promising is undoubtedly Chelsea.

They won all nineteen rounds and scored an impressive record of 57 points, fully 11 points ahead of Manchester United. Chelsea won the Premier League half-time championship.

And whether it is in terms of the number of goals scored, the average ball possession rate and pass success rate, or even the average steals per game, Chelsea is well-deserved No. 1 in the Premier League, leading other opponents by a considerable distance.

In the exaggerated words of media reporters, this made all competitors desperate.

But both Ferguson and Wenger also expressed that they would not give up, because just last season, Manchester United finally reversed the situation and won the championship after falling behind Arsenal by a large margin during the winter break.

It succeeded last season, and naturally it will not give up this season.

In the scorer list, Shearer still leads with 15 goals, Henry ranks second with 14 goals, followed by Ruud van Nistelrooy with 13 goals, Eto'o and Sao Paulo with 12 goals. Ha, Zlatan Ibrahimovic who scored ten goals.

After that, there are players such as Ronaldinho, Anelka and Owen.

Among the top ten scorers, Chelsea scored three in one breath, which shocked the entire British media.

For a time, the calls for Chelsea to win the championship are also rising.