Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs

   Chapter 234 Ibrahimovic who continues to erupt

   "Louis, tell me, what did your father decide about my proposal?"

  Although he didn't play football, it was very tiring to direct the game. Chen Ran also wanted to go back to rest after finishing things early.

   Hearing Chen Ran's question, Little Fatty Louis couldn't help recalling the conversation between him and his father.

   When Louis told Chen Ran's plan to his father, there was a long silence on the phone.

   "Louis, you are an incredible friend. It's your luck that you can be his friend, you must cherish it. Understand?"

   "Understood. Chen, is indeed a very powerful person. I saw with my own eyes how he brought the unknown Crystal Palace to where it is today."

   "Well, you're good to know. Chen Ran's plan for the Galaxy Football Group is too grand, and the time and money it will take is difficult to estimate."

   "I can't tell whether this thing can be done or not. So, my view is that you can participate, but you can't invest too much."

   "Our family is your father and I, who accumulated commissions from a small agent, little by little. Chen Ran's plan is too big. He can afford it, but our family can't afford it. Understand?"

   "Understood. Dad, how much do you think we should invest? Chen Ran gave us a 49% share."

   "It's just 20%. One is to support his plan on behalf of our family, and the other doesn't require too much investment, so it's the best of both worlds."

   "20%? Could it be too little?"

   "Louis, I intend to give you this share. Any more, your elder brother will have an opinion."

   "Got it. Dad, how have you checked the Recife Sports situation? Is it worth taking a shot?"

   "Yes. This club has a clean foundation. The main problem is that the owner's business has failed and he wants to sell the team to save his business."

   "That's good. Dad, you have to talk to my elder brother about this matter. After all, if Recife Sports is acquired, his company will still need help in introducing players."

   "Hehe, I don't need to say it, he's been listening by the phone."

   "I'll go, Dad, you're too insidious!"

   "My dad's opinion is that we can cooperate, but he doesn't plan to ask for so many shares. He said that he only needs to leave 20% of the shares for him."

   After sorting out his thoughts, the little fat man told Chen Ran of his father's decision.

   "Oh? So little? Louis, you heard right?"

   Hearing that Little Fatty's father, Juan Feige, the big man in the football brokerage world, only needed such a small amount of shares, but Chen Ran felt a little uneasy in his heart.

   "That's right, it's 20%. My dad said that only if you have enough shares in your hand will you run this club more carefully."

"I see."

   Chen Ran nodded, the boss is really a boss, and his perspective on problems is different from that of ordinary people. Focus on the long-term, do not covet the petty profits in front of you.

   "One more thing, my dad intends to give me this 20% stake as compensation. So if there are too many shares, my eldest brother may not be happy."

   I'm afraid this is the most important reason?

  Chen Ran shook his head secretly in his heart, it is difficult for an honest official to interrupt housework, and it is not easy for an outsider to intervene in this kind of thing.

   "Luis, it's better for you. When the time comes, our brothers will explore the South American market together. By the way, how is the situation of Recife Sports checked? Can you buy it?"

  Chen Ran patted the little fat man on the shoulder to divert the topic.

   "My dad sent someone to check, and the foundation is fairly clean. The main problem is that the current boss's business has failed and he wants to cash out to save his main business."

   "Well, that's fine, then I'm relieved."

  Chen Ran knew in his heart that some things could not be found out by hiring a Big Four accounting firm. On the contrary, it is the local snakes like the Ferger family, who have more comprehensive information.

   "My eldest brother and I have talked about it. If his company finds any talented young players in the future, he will give us priority to provide them."

   "Okay, that's a good thing."

   This unexpected gain made Chen Ran overjoyed.

  As a major player in the South American football brokerage industry, the Ferger family's brokerage company does not know how many brokers and scouts in South American football powerhouses such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

   Being able to get the priority of their company is equivalent to harvesting a steady stream of talent pools.

  With the support of the Ferger family, a local snake, Chen Ran is now more confident about the acquisition of Recife Sports.

   "Luis, I'll notify Stephen later and ask him to send someone to contact Recife Sports to officially launch the acquisition plan. You need your father's assistance at that time."

   "No problem, my father has agreed to this matter, and he will naturally help if there is something."

   Two days later, in the fifth round of the Premier League, Crystal Palace played away to Sheffield United.

  Because he just finished the Champions League in midweek, Chen Ran made a large rotation to Crystal Palace's lineup this time.

   The substitutes led by Southgate and Simeone were also very promising. With goals from Jan Kohler and Alves, Crystal Palace beat Sheffield United 2:1 away.

   There are two more compelling conversations in the fifth round of the Premier League.

   Manchester United, which had won four consecutive victories and was tied for the top of the standings with Crystal Palace, lost 0-1 at Old Trafford to Arsenal, who were in the relegation zone.

   Chelsea beat Liverpool 1-0 at home.

   After the five rounds, Crystal Palace topped the standings with a record of 15 points in five games.

  The second place was Portsmouth with thirteen points, which also surprised everyone.

   Manchester United and Chelsea are third and fourth with twelve points, Liverpool are ninth with seven points, and Arsenal are eleventh with five points.

  Without the Champions League next week, Crystal Palace can take it a little easier. But a week later in the sixth round of the Premier League, they will face old rivals Manchester United at home.

   Manchester United got off to a good start this season, and the four-game winning streak has given Manchester United fans the hope of competing for the Premier League championship.

   But I didn't expect that in the last round of the game, they met their old enemy, Arsenal, who had fallen to the relegation zone, but they were beaten in the head by the opponent.

   In addition, the match against Crystal Palace, the defending champion of the league, immediately made Manchester United calm down a lot.

   "Alex, how are you going to play the next game against Crystal Palace?"

  In the Manchester United club, Ferguson's office, assistant coach Queiroz asked worriedly.

  Although Manchester United added much-needed midfielder Carrick and goalkeeper Kuzzak in the summer, they also sold their main striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

  Compared with Ruud van Nistelrooy, Saha, who was used to replace him, is still a lot worse.

   "Play on the defensive back. Crystal Palace is at its peak now. Kaka and Ibrahimovic have been added this summer. There are not many teams in Europe that can play against them."

  Although he is reluctant to admit it, preparing for the game is not a game, and Ferguson chose the most pragmatic approach.

   "Yeah, I didn't expect that in just four years, the Crystal Palace was brought to this point by the Chinese. It's a bit like starting a Crystal Palace dynasty."

  Crystal Palace, in the face of such a strong enemy as Manchester United, Chen Ran still gave priority to stability and adopted a configuration of four backs.

   striker Tony, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic

  Left midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, right midfielder Ribery

   Vieira, midfielder, Yaya Toure

  Left-back Chiellini, center-back Thiago Silva, center-back Vidic, right-back Maicon

   Goalkeeper Cech

   On the Manchester United side, Ferguson uncharacteristically did not use the usual 442 formation, but a 451 defensive counter formation.

   Striker Wayne Rooney

  Left midfielder Ryan Giggs, midfielder Scholes, right midfielder Fletcher

   Park Ji-sung in the back, Carrick in the back

   Left-back Heinze, centre-back Sylvester, centre-back Ferdinand, right-back Gary Neville

   Goalkeeper Kuzzak

  Because both sides of the war were already very familiar with each other, when the referee blew the whistle to start the game, Crystal Palace immediately launched wave after wave of offensive.

   "Huh? Boss, Manchester United didn't use their usual 442 formation today."

   Within minutes of the game, Guardiola noticed that Manchester United was different from the past.

   "Well, that's true, it seems that Ferguson has changed."

   "Boss, it seems that Ferguson is afraid of our Crystal Palace's offensive strength."

  Seeing that Manchester United was forced to give up the usual style of play, Guardiola was also a little proud.

   "It's possible. But don't worry, let's kick and see. If we haven't scored in the second half of the game, it's not too late to start the overall attack at that time."

   "Got it, boss."

  Sometimes, although the head coach has made arrangements in advance, if there are bug-type players in the opposing team, then the detailed arrangements are useless.

   And Crystal Palace, but there are players of this type, and there are more than one.

In the 27th minute, Ibrahimovic received a long pass from Vieira in the backcourt. Facing the situation of Park Ji-sung in front and Carrick in the back, he stopped the ball with a chest, and then did not wait for the ball to land. With a light pick, the ball just passed over the head of Park Ji-sung, who was pounced.

After    picked Park Ji-sung, he saw Manchester United central defender Sylvester pounce to block it. Ibrahimovic didn't wait for the ball to land, and directly volleyed with his right foot.

   At this time, he was more than 35 meters away from the Manchester United goal. The ball drew a wonderful arc. When it was approaching the Manchester United goal, it fell rapidly and shot a wonderful leaf ball.

   According to the flight path of the ball, Manchester United goalkeeper Kuzzak, who was judged to be high on the crossbar, was already a step slower to make a save at this time.

  The ball will escape Kuzzak's fingers and fly into the Manchester United net.

   "GOAL!"

   With Ibrahimovic's drop ball, Crystal Palace led Manchester United 1-0.

   "Boss, are we going to change to defensive counterattack now?"

  According to Chen Ran's previous habit, after facing a strong team to take the lead, he usually shrinks his formation to play defensive counterattacks.

   "Don't worry. Josep, we at Crystal Palace are different now. We are stronger than most of our opponents now, so there is no need to rush the defense and wait until we score two goals."

"Understood."

After    took the lead, the Crystal Palace players were more confident to deal with Manchester United slowly, and the offense played more smoothly, and they were no longer as anxious as they were at the beginning.

   In the 41st minute, this time it was Ribery on the right, after receiving a pass from Vieira, he advanced all the way along the right line.

   After passing Ryan Giggs and Heinze successively, he passed the ball into Manchester United's penalty area before Park Ji-sung, who came to make up the defense.

   In the penalty area, Ibrahimovic was in charge of the front point, Tony was in charge of the middle, and Ronaldo on the left was also rushing towards the Manchester United penalty area at high speed. Chen Ran gave him the task of outflanking the back point.

   Ribery's passing power is a bit strong, neither Ibrahimovic who grabbed the front point nor Tony in the middle did not touch the ball.

   Seeing that the ball was about to fly out of the baseline, Ronaldo arrived in time to get the ball back before it went out of bounds.

   Since Cristiano Ronaldo managed to save the ball, he could no longer control the ball's landing, so the ball flew behind Toni and Ibrahimovic again.

   At this moment, Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again showed his flexibility that is completely unlike his height of 195CM.

  I saw him turn around immediately, and after leaning on Ferdinand, aiming at the ball's landing spot, a beautiful upside-down golden hook hooked the ball to the upper right corner of the Manchester United goal.

  Kuzzak flew to the side, but unfortunately still failed to block the ball into the net.

   "GOAL!"

  With Ibrahimovic's brace, Crystal Palace led Manchester United 2-0.

  While there was a big celebration at Crystal Palace, the Manchester United bench was dead silent.

   Seeing that the situation of the game was wrong, assistant coach Queiroz also quickly walked to Ferguson who was standing on the sidelines.

   "Alex, I think with Crystal Palace's state today, it's hard to defend even if we want to. It's not the way to go on like this, why don't we change?"

   "Evolution? How?"

  Because he conceded two goals in a row before the first half was over, Ferguson, who was already furious, turned red and turned to look at his old partner.

   "I think, since it's been proven that we can't defend, it's better to go out. Even if we want to lose, at least we will do our best, and we won't be said to be suffocated by Crystal Palace after the game."

  Queiroz's remarks reminded Ferguson.

   In the face of last season's treble winners, Crystal Palace, it's not that Manchester United can't lose.

  Because it is now generally accepted that Crystal Palace is the strongest team in the UK, fans who lost to Crystal Palace Manchester United will not have much reaction.

   However, there is also a difference between losing and losing.

  Manchester United is a champion team anyway. If they still lose the game while keeping their defenses as they are now, the fans will definitely be very dissatisfied after the game.

   And if Manchester United lost against Crystal Palace, the reaction of the fans should not be so intense.

   At this moment, Ferguson, the old Jianghu, has begun to think about how to minimize the adverse effects of losing.

   (end of this chapter)