After completing the victory against Sunderland, York City went to the away game against Hull City.
Since the Europa League group match against Atalanta is about to begin next week, Scaloni made certain adjustments to the lineup in this game.
Scamaca serves as the center of the team, with Huang Zichang as the left winger, Kulusevski as the right winger, Karlström, Varela and Rice as the three midfielders, and Dima as the defense line from left to right. Coe, Bastoni, Westerman and Fiyasu Jianyang, the goalkeeper is still Onana.
A lot of people have been rotated, mainly because the game against Atlanta is still relatively important. They have 9 points and York City with 10 points are competing for the first place in the group.
If they fall to second place in the group, there is a high probability that they will encounter a team eliminated from the Champions League in the top 32 draw after qualifying. This is something both teams want to avoid.
But such a big rotation did not affect York City's performance too much.
The attacking combination in the frontcourt completely defeated Hull City's defense. The three of them scored 5 goals in the entire game. Among them, Scamacca scored a hat trick, while Huang Zichang and Kulusevski each scored. Score a goal.
Of course, the superb performance of the frontcourt trio also relies on the control of the midfield. Karlström led the two young players and basically did not allow Hull City's midfielder to take any advantage.
A 5-0 sweep of Hull City also allowed York City to lead the way in the English Championship.
After 18 rounds, York City only lost one game, drew one game, but won 16 games!
The second-ranked Wolves have already tied 2 games and lost 3 games.
This performance gap has also allowed York City to be 8 points away from Wolves in the standings.
And if compared with Cardiff City, which is ranked third, it has an advantage of 12 points!
The competition system for promotion from the Championship to the Premier League is the same as that from League One to the Championship, that is, the top two are promoted directly, and the third to sixth place play the play-offs. So for York City, they only need to keep an eye on the point difference between third place and themselves. Can.
However, there is a huge advantage of 12 points in only 18 rounds, and it seems to be in better and better condition. This makes more and more people believe that York City has already locked an upgrade spot early this year.
Some football experts even pointed out that the football played by York City now is not at all the football that can be played at the level of the English Championship.
"442" magazine dedicated a column to analyze York City's current success.
They point out that a football match is made up of confrontations in numerous small areas. When York City attacks, they usually use clever movement without the ball, coupled with the players' personal abilities, to defeat their opponents in small-area confrontations, and then overwhelm the opponent in the overall situation.
This kind of play was not so obvious at the beginning of the season, but now the strength of this team has improved by leaps and bounds compared to before, especially the individual improvement of the players is very obvious.
Take a look at York City’s midfield and frontfield players, whether they are the original Baker, Amon, Lin Liangming, and Kulusevski, or the new additions of Leo and Scamaca this year, including the midfielders Tonali and Barca. Leila, De Jong, etc., each of them is a player with strong personal abilities.
Not to mention in the English Championship, even in the Premier League, there are not many players who can defeat them in a one-on-one confrontation.
The column particularly pointed out that before coming to York City, many of these young players could not even play in the professional league. However, after the boss Pan Yi personally brought them to the team, they have improved both physically and technically. There has been rapid progress.
Many of their players have been selected for their respective national teams, especially the world's top teams like Italy, Portugal, England, and the Netherlands, which choose to recruit players from a British Championship team, which shows that their current abilities are How strong.
"442" magazine also mentioned the construction of York City's entire youth training camp system under the leadership of Pan Yi.
They believe that York City's youth team is one of the teams that pays the most attention to technical details among all English teams, and also pays great attention to the passing and cutting cooperation of players in a small area.
This makes York City's techniques and tactics from the first team to the youth team consistent. Therefore, when Kvaratskhelia, Huang Zichang, and Saliba performed well in the youth team, they were immediately promoted to the first team, and they could immediately Have a good performance.
On the contrary, unlike the offense that encourages technology and passing and cutting cooperation, when defending, York City advocates limiting space.
Starting from the forwards, they actively counterattacked and formed multiple lines of defense to limit the opponent's offensive space. Especially in the defensive area at the front of York City's penalty area, the opponent almost never found an opportunity.
This kind of defensive system makes it always difficult for York City's opponents to play high-quality football in the final pass, thus losing the opportunity to score.
Finally, "442" magazine believes that at the beginning of the season, many people in the York City team may have thought that they were too young and had too many players under the age of 20, but no one will think so now.
This team as a whole is more than one step ahead of other teams in the English Championship. The players' individual abilities are outstanding, coupled with the team's stable technical and tactical level, such a team is difficult to beat.
This can be seen from the bookmaker's odds.
York City is currently the biggest favorite among all the English Championship teams to win and be promoted. The odds are even as low as history. If you bet 100 yuan on York City to win the English Championship, you would only get back less than 120 yuan. bucks.
In addition to "442" magazine, some media even boasted more fiercely.
"World Football" magazine believes that York City is not actually a quasi-Premier League team, but a quasi-UEFA Champions League team!
They feel that if this team maintains its current status, as long as the players do not undergo major changes, it may become the hottest dark horse after entering the Premier League and begin to impact the BIG6 position.
Although everyone knows that the Premier League and the English Championship are two levels of leagues, with a huge gap in strength between them.
Over the years, there have been many teams that performed brilliantly in the English Championship, but in the Premier League they could only fight desperately to avoid relegation, and many of them were eventually relegated;
But they think York City is different. This team is surprisingly stable and really strong.
It is indeed common for English Championship teams to have international players, but when have you ever seen so many international players, and many of them are ranked among the top teams in the world?
When being interviewed by outside media, as the head coach of York City, Scaloni refused to comment on the team's goal after promotion to the Premier League.
He believes that first of all, the team has not been upgraded yet, and the relegation goal stated at the beginning of the season has not changed. The current results only give the team more hope of avoiding relegation!
Secondly, the team is about to face a third-line battle. All he has to consider is how to play every game well. For a newly promoted team, this is the key.
Finally, the crucial Europa League battle with Atlanta is about to begin, so I hope the media will not praise it too much to prevent the young players in the team from being affected!
——
Atalanta's performance in Serie A has been getting better and better recently.
This small team, which used to be very poor, suddenly emerged in the Serie A last season and actually won the fourth place. This was also their best ranking in Serie A in history.
If it weren't for the poor performance of Serie A teams in European competitions in the past few seasons, resulting in Serie A having only three places to participate in the Champions League, they would have historically participated in the Champions League this season.
The main reason for such results is that they invited Italian coach Gasperini last season.
Under his coaching, Atalanta boldly used young players and played beautiful offensive football, making it a strong force in Serie A.
In the team, Slovenian Josip Ilicic, who usually plays as a shadow forward or midfielder, is Atlanta's core player and can be said to be the brains of the team.
Regarding the trip to Yorkshire, Ilicic also said in an interview with the media that although York City has been in good form recently, Atlanta will definitely strive to win.
Because only defeating York City can ensure that Atlanta can enter the top 32 and take the lead in the competition for first place in the group.
York City, who were at home, also did not dare to underestimate Ilicic. In this game, Scaloni even asked Rice, who started the game, to stare at Ilicic and not give him any chance.
At the same time, Scaloni also asked De Ligt on the back line to press forward, not leaving much room for Ilicic to move.
Among the midfield generals, it can be said that all of them are hexagonal fighters with comprehensive abilities, but Rice's defensive ability is still more outstanding.
Especially his physical running in the game and his excellent technical and tactical execution made Scaloni believe that when he asked Rice to mark Ilicic, Rice would definitely complete it without compromise. own tasks.
In fact, including the previous away game against Atlanta, Rice did not give Ilicic many opportunities to cause trouble.
He knows that Ilicic's skills are very good, he has strong ability to protect and hold the ball, and he also has strong breakthrough ability.
Therefore, Rice will not blindly rush to grab the ball, but will firmly block his position and let him move around when dribbling the ball. Rice will not be fooled by his fake moves.
But once Ilicic wants to pass Rice's area, Rice will still attack decisively and prevent him from passing comfortably.
Considering that Ilicic also has excellent direct free kick skills, Rice will try to avoid his own fouls and resolve the battle in a cleaner way.
Rice is getting smarter in playing football now.
In this game, he no longer used physical fouls as often as he did in the early days;
He cleverly used some small moves that would not be called a foul. This made Ilicic very intolerable and protested to the referee frequently, but failed to get the result he wanted every time.
When Atlanta's core starts to feel uncomfortable, then their entire team won't feel comfortable.
York City, on the other hand, played very smoothly. In the 37th minute of the first half, De Jong made a high-speed dribbling breakthrough in the middle and then hit a long shot from the front of the penalty area to help the team take the home lead. .
Then, at the beginning of the second half, Leo assisted Baker for another victory!
After conceding two goals in a row, Atlanta played more and more impatiently.
Ilicic, who had always been guarded and lost his temper, was even more anxious. During a confrontation with Rice, he kicked Rice in the calf in front of the referee, causing the latter to fall to the ground and was shown a card by the referee. yellow card.
But he relentlessly complained to the referee, thinking that he was going for the ball and couldn't hold back before kicking Rice.
The referee did not accept his explanation. He waved his hand angrily and when he turned around to leave, he complained about something. The referee heard it and immediately chased him, gave him an additional yellow card and gave him a red card. Get off the field.
Ilicic's dismissal immediately made the game completely meaningless.
Especially when York City took control of the situation, the biggest threat on the field was eliminated, the team's pressure was relieved, and the offensive momentum became stronger.
Before the end of the second half, Kulusevski made a pass from the right, assisting Baker who was outflanking the goal with a header, 3:0!
York City won a complete home victory, which also made the last away game a week later meaningless, because they had already secured first place in the group one round in advance and entered the top 32 of the Europa League! ——
In addition to paying attention to York City's games, Pan Yi is of course also concerned about the construction of the new stadium.
After more than half a year of construction, the new stadium has begun to take shape.
In particular, the underground parking lot and the stadium framework already have a rough outline, and the unique design style is becoming more and more prominent, especially the design of the internal space of the stadium.
This is a professional football stadium, so of course there will be no track. Fans can watch the players perform at a very close distance and have a better viewing experience.
The design of the underground parking lot is also very unique. In order to consider the parking situation on game days, the designers specially opened up four channels leading to the highway, which can ensure that everyone can park in the shortest time when the parking lot is full. Leave within 1 minute without causing traffic jam.
Of course, such new stadiums built by domestic companies will also have a lot of high-tech content.
For example, the intelligent management system of the parking lot, the surveillance system covering the entire stadium, the all-pervasive camera positions, the Chinese restaurant operated purely on the Internet model, the luxurious and advanced VIP boxes... and so on.
It can be said that York City's new stadium may not be the largest in the world, and the hardware may not be the best, but in terms of software, York City Stadium can definitely compete for the world's number one.
It is precisely because of the various advanced concepts of York City Stadium that their construction has attracted the attention of countless people.
No, AC Milan, a club that has always wanted to build its own new stadium in Milan, came to visit.
The person who came was none other than Li Yonghong, a businessman from the Dragon Kingdom!
Regarding this energetic middle-aged man, Pan Yi could only have an average impression of him.
Just before this season, Chinese investors represented by Li Yonghong took over the Rossoneri. Many fans felt that Milan was saved, "We have money!"
And Milan fans like to call Li Yonghong "Brother Li", which shows that everyone recognized him at first.
In fact, he did invest a lot of money in the transfer market, but he spent one to two hundred million to build a whole lineup, but few of them were useful.
And in order to recruit people, they also came up with a bunch of high-priced contracts, recruiting a group of people with high salaries and low abilities without looking at people.
The most important thing is that Li Yonghong himself doesn't actually have much money...
His business of acquiring AC Milan seems to be more of a simple financial investment and capital operation routine: buying during asset troughs + investment to strengthen management (buying people will produce results) + performance improvement (increased income after entering the Champions League) Even profitable) + put it into the capital market for cash out.
But the problem is that Milan's results did not improve in the end, and they failed to reach the Champions League.
I couldn’t get good results, so I spent a lot of money. The FFP restricted consumption, and Brother Li borrowed the money from Elliot, and it happened to be domestic restrictions on capital outflow. Brother Li could only sell it if he couldn’t pay it when it expired. Milan.
So in the end, after much tossing and turning, Milan's vitality was severely damaged.
However, judging from the interview with Brother Li that Pan Yi saw, it seems that his acquisition of Milan was a business deal, but he should also have love for Milan.
Therefore, Pan Yi's impression of Brother Li is neither good nor bad, nothing special at all.
"I think York City's business philosophy is very similar to ours. We are both eager to achieve a balance between business and competition. At this point, I think York City is doing a good job."
Li Yonghong obviously came here to learn from the experience. After visiting the old and new facilities in York City, he sighed with emotion.
Although it sounds a bit incredible that the owner of a traditional wealthy team comes to the owner of the English Championship team to learn from him, Li Yonghong is still a rookie after all, which is understandable.
Besides, both of them are from the Dragon Kingdom, which is not seen very often in the European professional arena, so they should help each other.
"As a team, competition always comes first." Pan Yi said.
There is nothing wrong with this statement.
If a team's performance has been mediocre, it won't matter if it is successful in business, because its popularity is low and its fan coverage is poor.
In this world today, among the teams that do well in business development, which one is not the best among the best?
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern...etc.
So Pan Yi wants to mention Brother Li from this perspective. After all, in the near future, Milan will not be able to perform competitively first, and then commercially.
"You did buy a lot of people this season, but it still feels like you are in a hurry and seeking medical treatment. If you can find one or two more professional senior staff, I believe the effect will be better. Sharpening the knife will not make any mistakes in chopping firewood. Well!"
Hearing what Pan Yi said, Li Yonghong frowned slightly: "You specifically mean..."
As a layman, Brother Li is certainly not personally involved in buying people.
In the transfer market, he mainly relies on two executives, Mirabelli and Fassone.
But to be honest, the abilities of these two guys are really limited, and their buying vision and policies are also a bit confusing.
Players like Musacchio, Biglia, Andre Silva, Ricardo Rodriguez, Andre Conte, Kalinic...we can't say that these players are not good, but they are Not suitable.
Moreover, after buying so many people and spending so much money, there is not even one star who can hold the place.
This is not a good choice from the perspective of improving the team's competitive level or business development.
As for Milan's purchase of people, Pan Yi can't make any changes. He only hopes that Li Yonghong can start from the root and solve the club's biggest problem.
"Replace both Mirabelli and Fassone." Pan Yi said simply, "There are some famous players in Milan who are more suitable for such a job."
"What are you talking about...?" Li Yonghong couldn't figure out who it was.
"Martini." Pan Yi simply said it directly.
Maldini is of course an absolute legend in the history of AC Milan.
Maldini has been playing for AC Milan Football Club throughout his career. He was the double captain of the Italian national team and AC Milan. In his career, he won 26 trophies including 5 UEFA Champions League championships and 7 Serie A championships. .
If you include his father and his son...all three generations of the family have dedicated themselves to Milan.
In 2009, after Maldini announced his retirement, he did not go to coach. Instead, he and his national team teammate Vieri set up a fashion clothing brand, and later came to Dragon Country for promotion.
So Li Yonghong didn't expect it to be him.
But Pan Yi knew that Maldini had the talent to be a football director.
In his previous life, which is another timeline, Maldini later returned to Milan and served as the club's sports strategic development director, and then became technical director.
Later, he presided over the introduction of goalkeeper Maignan, center Giroud, midfielder Tonali, midfielder Dias, center defender Tomori and other famous players, helping the team win the Serie A championship again after 11 years.
Maldini also won the Best Manager of the Year Award in 2021, and was later named the European Football Manager of the Year by Tuttosport, and was elected the Best Sports Director of the Global Football Awards in 2022, etc.
One of the most interesting signings was when Maldini approached Lyon chairman Aulas and asked to buy a young player from their U19 named Kalulu, saying "this kid may not be able to play", and then spent only a few hundred thousand. He abducted people.
and after? Kalulu became the main player of Milan and was also selected for the French national team.
This kind of vision is not much better than that of Mirabelli and Fassone? After all, he is the best defender in history!
Even this kind of operation is a bit like Pan Yi... Doesn't Pan Yi often buy awesome potential stocks at low prices?
But considering that Maldini is not like Pan Yi, it is even more rare.
Therefore, Pan Yi also mentioned Maldini to Li Yonghong in advance.
He understood that he might not be able to influence Li Yonghong's thoughts, but he could only help Milan so far.
"I'll think about it." Sure enough, Li Yonghong did not listen directly to Pan Yi's words, but used a more polite way of speaking.
Then, he talked about the topic he was more concerned about, which was the new stadium.
He wanted his team to have its own stadium, so he came here to take a look at the highly acclaimed new York City stadium.
This can be said to be a permanent pain for many Serie A teams!
For example, Milan and Inter Milan share a stadium and rent it from the Milan municipal government. This is not a unique case in Serie A.
Private stadiums are not allowed in Italy. Clubs without land ownership can only rent stadiums from the government. In addition, building the stadium itself is expensive, so they can only choose to share it. This makes it impossible for many Serie A clubs to compete with the Premier League and La Liga. If the stadium is developed commercially in this way, there will be no way to obtain a lot of commercial income from the stadium.
Juventus was the first to build a professional stadium belonging to the club in Serie A. In 2003, Juventus reached an agreement with the Turin government and purchased the 99-year right to use the Alpi Stadium for 24 million euros. Juventus became the first Serie A club to own a professional stadium. The club has independent rights to use the stadium.
Since then, Juventus has spent huge sums of money to build a new stadium. The new stadium was put into use in 2011 and was named by Allianz Insurance in 2017.
The new modern stadium provides more modern catering, fitness and entertainment facilities. Not only fans’ consumption here has increased, but ordinary citizens can also spend here.
Juventus has often made big moves in the transfer market in recent years, and its results have been outstanding. It can be said that this relationship is very important.
But unfortunately, the Milan city government is not so easy to talk to.
In Pan Yi's previous life, the city of Milan finally approved the Milan duo to build a new stadium, but there were still many obstacles.
For example, at the Milan Council, there are 16 additional conditions for the construction of a new stadium, and the most restrictive of these conditions is that the original stadium cannot be demolished and must be preserved in some way.
This means that the potential development of the stadium site will be limited, the entertainment area expected by the Milan duo will also be scrapped, and if a new stadium is built, it cannot exceed the capacity of the original stadium.
How to do this?
Compared with the current planning of York City, it is like a sky and an earth!
Considering that Brother Li is actually unable to protect himself and will hand over Milan to others in a year, it is better not to consider such difficult things as a new stadium.
In this regard, Pan Yi couldn't give him any more advice, so he could only change the topic:
"The Dragon Country Restaurant in our new stadium is almost ready. Why don't we go take a look and have a taste of our hometown?"
(End of chapter)
