Stavanger, Norway's fourth largest city, is a seaport city located on the Bokenfjord on the west coast of Norway.
At the entrance of the most luxurious hotel in the city, all the Leeds United players who came for training just got off the bus and saw their three former team coaches who had been away for a long time.
Jordi Cruyff, Peter Schmeichel and Alf Haaland were already waiting for them at the door of the hotel.
This time Leeds United chose Stavanger, Norway, as the location for their pre-match training, where the Stavanger Football Club coached by Haaland is located.
The reason why Li George chose this place is because before this season, Leeds United, as the league champion last season, did not need to play in the Champions League qualifiers, so Li George chose a relatively high-dimensional place to escape the summer heat.
At the same time, it is also to test the results of the club’s MCO management model. Leeds United came to Norway and invited Linby, coached by Schmeichel, to come to Norway for training and warm-up.
After deciding on three teams, Li George discussed with others and decided to simply invite another team for a warm-up cup match.
Since it was all a meeting of old friends, Cruyff Jr.'s Waller-Vickers Club was chosen as the fourth team. After receiving the invitation, Cruyff Jr. decided to leave after discussing with the club. After all, the wealthy Leeds United reimbursed all round trip and accommodation expenses. With the idea of "playing against local tycoons" and the idea of being able to compete with high-level teams, Cruyff also led the team to Norway.
Big names are often the last to appear, and Leeds United were the last to arrive in Norway. Because the team had to hold a press conference for new players before that, it arrived two days later than scheduled.
Leeds United's summer signings also made their debut at Elland Road a few days ago. Robben, Sneijder, Bale, and Barry, as newcomers to the team, not only accepted media interviews, but also held fan meetings at Elland Road Stadium. . Robben, in particular, appeared alone and not with anyone else.
The Leeds United No. 10 jersey that the media has focused on has finally been shown off in front of everyone.
Robben, whose hair has begun to grow thinner, smiled brightly and showed all the media what he looked like wearing the white jersey of Leeds United for the 2007/08 season.
Only one person, the young midfielder Fabrice Muamba of Congolese descent whom Leeds United reportedly spent £2 million to introduce from Arsenal, did not appear in front of the media. According to the club, the player was found to have a heart problem during a medical examination, so he is currently undergoing treatment and is expected to return at the end of the season.
In this regard, Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger also expressed his gratitude to Leeds United and praised George Lee in front of the media. He said: "Thanks to the Leeds United medical team for discovering this problem of Fabrice. If a player's heart abnormality occurs on the court, it will be very fatal. At the same time, I also express my gratitude to Coach Li for continuing to accept Fabrice." Thank you and I hope Fabrice Muamba can recover soon and perform well under Coach Lee."
Logically speaking, Leeds United could completely return the deal, but George Lee still accepted the deal. Not only is he optimistic about Muamba's future development, but he also hopes that the tragedy can be avoided.
In the previous two consecutive Europa League finals, George Lee took the initiative to find the opponent's players after the game and told them to take care of themselves. The two are Sevilla's Puerta and Espanyol's Dani Jarque.
At the entrance of the hotel, some Leeds United players hugged their former team coaches after getting off the bus, and some even stopped to communicate with Cruyff and the others after getting their luggage.
Especially Smith, who kept playing against Cruyff Jr., had already won several championships, and made Cruyff jealous. I can only blame myself for leaving too early. If I could have stayed for one or two more years, my reputation might have spread. When I returned to the Netherlands, I could find a good team as the head coach, not someone like Waller-Vickers. A little-known club.
"Okay, okay, you guys go and reminisce about old times. Leave this to me, the old man."
Brian Kidd took the initiative to stand up. He wanted the rest of his team's coaching staff to quickly catch up with the head coaches of these three other teams, so he stepped forward and made arrangements for the team to move in for them. The matter was taken over.
"sorry to bother you."
"You're such a good guy, Brian."
"I'll bring you some canned herring." The last words were spoken by Chris Casper, who almost got a kick from Kidd.
^^^
After the six members of the Leeds United coaching staff left their luggage at the front desk of the hotel, they went to the coffee shop in front of the hotel with three other head coaches. Gary Kelly, who has already joined the coaching staff, chose to stay and help Kidd.
Nine people occupied a long table in the store and started chatting after ordering their own coffee and tea.
The first thing is to have fun with Casper.
Harland hooked Casper's neck and asked: "Why are you bringing a computer? Do you think it is a coaching staff meeting? Don't forget that there are three coaches here who are not Leeds United, especially Jordi and We are not from the same place.”
Several other people also laughed, because the three teams coming to Stavanger this time, plus the host FK Stavanger, will compete in a single round-robin competition to compete for the friendly championship trophy. Although everyone knows that Leeds United won this result, the other three coaches will definitely not let go of this opportunity to train. Even Lee George will not let this opportunity go. He wants to test the newly introduced players and practice some new ones. tactics.
Generally, Lee George pays special attention to Leeds United's pre-match training and foreign friendly matches, and will personally direct the game, because abroad he is not too worried that his tactics for the new season will be exposed. Instead, when he returned to domestic friendly matches, he usually let other coaches of the team take charge, while he looked for inspiration and discovered problems by watching the games and post-match videos.
After the coffee was served, these people started chatting in twos and threes. Since they were all acquaintances, they were not afraid to let go. And it doesn’t have to be like a tactical meeting, where one person speaks and others listen.
Cruyff Jr. first approached Lee George and asked about Leeds United's signings this summer.
"You finally bought Sneijder. I remember I recommended him to you three years ago. Why didn't you do it until now?"
George Li picked up the coffee and took a sip. Then he replied: "Three years ago, what I needed was immediate combat ability and I didn't have time to train him. It's different now. He has grown and our team's performance has also improved. That's not just right."
"Why not Van der Vaart?" Cruyff Jr. continued to ask, because the other one he recommended to George Lee was Van der Vaart. The two future stars of Ajax's midfield, Van der Vaart went to Hamburg in the Bundesliga first, while Sneijder stayed at Ajax until this summer when he was brought to Elland Road by George Lee. .
"Compared to Sneijder, I think Van der Vaart is more delicate, and he is closer to a shadow striker. I need to match him with a high center and two wingers. He also needs two midfielders behind him, one to defend and one to sort out passes. ball."
"Leeds United doesn't have anything right now. Isn't it a good fit for him?"
"Huh, if I have some free time, I can just go to Alan Smith, and I also need Van der Vaart."
"Is Sneijder different? He has not experienced the confrontation in the Premier League, but Van der Vaart has at least trained in the Bundesliga." Cruyff is still insisting on his own opinion. He now still regards himself as a coach of Leeds United. , worrying about the team's recruitment. In his opinion, Van der Vaart is more suitable for Leeds United than Sneijder, so he is now trying to convince Lee George.
After all, Leeds United is rich and famous, so it doesn't matter if they buy another Van der Vaart.
"Jordi, you know I don't like to use attacking midfielders or shadow strikers. They stick to the ball, slow down the rhythm, and don't defend."
"So Sneijder's position..."
"You will know when I compete with you in two days." George Li smiled slightly.
Several other people just happened to hear their last conversation, and they all looked at Cruyff with evil intentions.
Especially Haaland and Schmeichel, they both knew that Cruyff Jr.'s Waller-Vickers team was in dire straits and that George Lee would be used as a guinea pig to test the team's tactics.
Fortunately, the first game was Cruyff Jr. vs. George Lee, so they could observe from the sidelines first.
