69novels Chapter 68 The First Round of Momentum Building
Chapter 68 The First Round of Momentum Building
Before the official start of the Premier League, various English media outlets published their assessments of the teams' strength and ranking predictions for the new season.
When it comes to predicting the champion, it's basically either Arsenal or Manchester United.
These two teams are the strongest overall, and the championships in recent years have been rotating between them, with no "third party" ever interfering.
Liverpool, a traditional powerhouse that edged out Manchester United to finish as runners-up last season, is also considered to have a chance of winning the title.
If there's anything else, it would be to add Newcastle United.
Newcastle United, with England's top scorer Alan Shearer, has been a title contender in the Premier League for years, but they always seem to falter at the last minute.
The most famous example is from the 1995-1996 season, when Newcastle led Manchester United by a whopping 12 points, only to be overtaken and lose the title...
As for predictions of relegated teams, Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion, and Birmingham City, all newly promoted from League One last season, are naturally the top contenders.
However, many people believe that Manchester City, the League One champions, have a complete squad and have made many strong signings since their promotion, so they are very likely to avoid relegation.
In that case, which unlucky team will be relegated to League One along with West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City?
the answer is--
Everton!
The Daily Mail believes that Everton barely avoided relegation last season.
Although they made a large-scale signing during the summer transfer window, most of them were relatively unknown players.
Among them are many young players who have never played in a professional league.
Compared to departing stars like Blomqvist, Everton's strength seems to have increased rather than decreased in the new season.
Their performance in the warm-up matches seems to prove this point.
Everton struggle to win against strong teams from the top five leagues or the Belgian First Division.
So, for a team that has been fighting to avoid relegation and whose strength has declined, their position in the new season is obvious.
The Times also stated that Everton may not fall directly into the relegation zone, but there is a high probability that they will struggle to stay in the league and eventually be relegated due to insufficient resilience.
The Everton local newspaper, the Liverpool Echo, was relatively mild, but also believed that the first round match against Tottenham Hotspur would be the most severe test for Ye Xian.
If Everton lose at home, the pent-up frustration and discontent that has been building up among fans over the past month or two will finally erupt.
Even though the club has been trying to appease the Chinese sponsors, it will have to make changes under immense pressure.
Then, Moyes might be promoted again, and Ye Xian, the so-called famous Chinese coach, will become a laughing stock after being eliminated in the first round!
The newspaper concluded by saying:
"Perhaps Yip Hin has his own unique tactical command skills, but the complexity of managing a Premier League club is certainly beyond his imagination."
"Summer's actions show that he really had no experience and was acting entirely on his intuition, which is obviously not going to work."
"His most suitable position should be the same as when he was with the Chinese national team, sitting on the coaching bench as Moyes' assistant coach."
……
The pre-match press conference.
The venue was packed, with all the sports media from England present, their cameras and flashes all aimed at the podium.
Compared to the first round of matches themselves, the media is more focused on the biggest topic of this round – Ye Xian, the first Chinese manager in Premier League history and also the youngest manager, is about to make his Premier League managerial debut!
However, Ye Xian did not appear.
The person present was Everton's "real" manager, Moyes!
That's not interesting.
So the reporters turned their attention to Ye Xian’s first opponent.
It was none other than Glenn Hoddle, the Tottenham manager who was always arrogant and proud and advocated for the local football system!
Hoddle was also an England international in his youth.
He also left behind some classic moments in the history of world football.
That was the goal of the century in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, where Maradona dribbled past five players against England!
Oh, you're asking where Hoddle is?
Hoddle was the first person to be faked out...
After becoming a coach, Hoddle also made many bizarre decisions.
For example, when he was coaching England in the 98 World Cup, he used a wizard to buff the team. Later, he caused a public uproar by publicly claiming that the suffering of the disabled was due to sins in their past lives, and his contract was eventually terminated.
So he had no choice but to leave the England national team and go to Tottenham Hotspur, his former club during his playing days, to become a manager.
Now, dressed in a neat dark suit, he sits upright, calmly facing the dense array of cameras below the stage.
During the Q&A session, the topic quickly shifted to the key match of this round.
"Mr. Hoddle, Tottenham will face Everton in this round of league matches. Everton's new manager, Ye Xian, led the Chinese team to third place in the World Cup, making history for Asian football. How do you evaluate this young Chinese coach and his prospects for this match?"
When Ye Xian's name was mentioned, a dismissive smile appeared on Hoder's lips. His tone was direct and undisguised, without the slightest hint of politeness or tact.
"First of all, I must admit that I have never understood or agreed with Everton's appointment."
He leaned forward slightly: "The Premier League is the world's most intense, fastest-paced, and most competitive top league. Its tactical system, match rhythm, player management, and dressing room culture have a unique heritage and rules that belong to English football."
"This kind of stage needs coaches who are familiar with local football, deeply understand the English system, and are well-versed in the survival rules of the Premier League."
"I have always maintained my view: the future of the Premier League should always be entrusted to English coaches."
"We have decades of league experience, something no foreign coach, especially an Asian coach who has never been exposed to the Premier League system, can achieve in a short period of time!"
These words immediately caught the attention of the reporters present, who all took notes.
Hoddle did not pause, continuing to express his doubts frankly:
"I acknowledge that Coach Ye Xian led the Chinese team to good results in the World Cup, and he deserves respect."
"But the success of the national team in short-term cup competitions and the long, high-intensity, and highly competitive Premier League are two completely different things."
"Cup competitions rely on on-the-spot tactics and short bursts of energy, while the Premier League relies on long-term system building, physical reserves, and league experience."
His tone grew increasingly certain:
"Ye Xian has no English league coaching experience, no Premier League first team management experience, and is not even familiar with the dressing room atmosphere, refereeing standards and league rules of English football."
"To parachute into a Premier League team and take charge of tactics and player recruitment based solely on the hype of a single World Cup, even surpassing a coach like Moyes who has Premier League experience, is, in my opinion, an extremely impulsive and risky gamble by Everton."
"Everton's problem is obvious: they're betting that an Asian coach's cup tactics will work in the Premier League, which I think is unrealistic."
"Of course, I've also heard that this is related to cooperation with China. I've even heard that they used some of their connections in China to obtain work permits for some foreign aid workers."
"But doesn't this also show that Ye Xian's coaching is actually a complete commercial hype, and has nothing to do with his actual ability?"
Finally, when discussing tomorrow's first-round match, Hoddle's lips curled into a confident smile, his tone assertive and uncompromising:
"I feel no pressure. Tottenham has a complete squad, is well-coordinated, and has plenty of experience. We are fully adapted to the high-intensity pace of the Premier League."
"On the other hand, Everton, with a new manager, a bunch of new signings, and too many young players, were completely unprepared."
"I can say with absolute certainty that we can easily win this match!"
In fact, everyone knows that Hoddle is an extremely self-centered, arrogant, and socially inept coach.
In other words, their emotional intelligence is extremely low.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the first manager of the England national team to be sacked in so many years...
But now he's saying things that the media likes to hear.
Throughout the press conference, Hoddle maintained an arrogant demeanor, openly denying Ye Xian's coaching abilities and spouting the idea of prioritizing local coaches, which ignited the media frenzy surrounding the first round of the Premier League.
The media already had doubts about Yip Hin's coaching prospects in the Premier League, and now with Hoddle's assistance, they were naturally happy to add fuel to the fire.
In addition, there were no major clashes or derby matches in the first round.
This turned what was originally an ordinary Premier League opener match between Everton and Tottenham into a national spectacle!