After winning the away match against Woking on the 28th, New Manchester United would host bottom-ranked Sutton on the 30th. This team had performed terribly this season, even worse than the newly promoted Forest Green. At least the latter had secured a victory shortly after losing to New Manchester United.
However, Sutton had lost all seven of their matches, and everyone was confident that New Manchester United could easily defeat such a fragile opponent.
But Bruce and the coaching staff clearly did not take it lightly. Outside of training hours, they spent almost all their time studying the opponent's data and arranging the team's tactics based on the opponent's weaknesses.
Meanwhile, Ethan met with Malin at a coffee shop near the City of Manchester Stadium.
Sitting in the coffee shop, they could see the outer walls of the City of Manchester Stadium in the distance. This stadium had seen better days, and the outer walls were heavily weathered. After New Manchester United bought the stadium, they would need to renovate it. As for a full refurbishment, that would not be necessary, because it would be better to simply rebuild the stadium rather than spend time and money on major renovations.
This stadium was originally used for athletics meetings. New Manchester United needed to make many changes to convert it into a football stadium. In order to have it ready for New Manchester United's matches in the second half of the season, Ethan's plan to build the North Stand had been temporarily shelved. Once this stadium was put into use, it would only be able to accommodate just over 8,000 fans for the time being.
Based on New Manchester United's attendance this year, which had basically remained stable at over 4,000, a stadium of this size was already enough for New Manchester United. After the season ended, the North Stand would be built, and the stadium's capacity would expand to between 12,000 and 13,000.
"After seeing the Newton Heath Training Base, and now seeing this stadium, I have to admit that you truly have the determination to run a football club for the long term!" Malin said with a smile, sitting opposite Ethan.
Ethan smiled. "I was a football fan to begin with, so no matter how rich I become in the future, I will only ever be a fan. Didn't some philosopher say that it's always better for a person to have something to pursue? My pursuit is to turn New Manchester United into one of the best elite clubs in the world!"
"That seems even harder than becoming the richest person in the world!"
"Of course, but I feel that I have no chance of becoming the richest person, not even the richest person in England!"
"Why?" Malin asked with interest.
Ethan thought for a moment. "Because all my pursuits are in football, while those who want to become the richest people put their pursuits into their careers and profits. That is why I cannot become the richest person."
Malin nodded in agreement after hearing this. "But I think that, at least at your current stage, among your peers, you must be the richest person in England, or even the world."
Ethan immediately laughed. This guy Malin seemed able to dig out a compliment from any angle. Chatting with him was quite fun. He was a talent!
"Is the report I wanted ready?" After laughing, Ethan asked.
Malin nodded and took a thick document out of his briefcase. It had photos, but even more statistical data.
"Juninho is a player with excellent technique, there is no denying that. Look at his ball control. If Ronaldo could get a perfect score of 100, he could get at least 85." Malin pointed to a photo and showed it to Ethan.
A Brazilian player's technique would certainly stand out in England. After all, English football at this time had not yet developed the later trend toward technical play. Even Arsenal, managed by Wenger, were only moving in that direction now.
"According to our statistics, during the time Juninho has been on the pitch, his distance covered is second only to Poulsen, Karl Marginson, Evra, and Olić. So he is not the kind of lazy Brazilian player people might imagine, but his passing error rate is too high, and his physical condition is not strong. Our statisticians noticed one point: he seems to be consciously or unconsciously avoiding physical contact."
Upon hearing this, Ethan's eyes lit up, and he looked at Malin.
The latter immediately knew he was talking about something Ethan cared about, so he flipped through the document to a page with several photos. Almost all of them were taken at the moment Juninho made contact with an opposing player. From the shots, Juninho did indeed seem to fear physical contact.
"You mean his physical qualities are too weak, causing him to fear the opponent's physical challenges?"
Malin laughed. "He is a player from your club. You should know more about his physical condition than I do. I can only provide you with data from the pitch, but for more specific details, that is still up to your club."
Having said this, Malin started flipping through the document again. He turned to the last few pages and pointed to some photos for Ethan to see.
"However, I did notice another aspect, which is that Juninho looks very slow on the pitch."
"Slow?" Ethan was surprised, because he had watched Juninho in training. Although he was not a speed-based player, he should not be very slow.
"The 'slow' I am talking about here refers to his rhythm. Look at these photos. His passing is always much slower than his teammates' movement, and his own movement always seems a bit slow as well. Because of that, passes from his teammates are often intercepted. Coupled with the fact that the movement and rhythm of the teammates around him are very quick, his slowness has become a restraint on the team's rhythm."
"If he were a wide player, such as a winger, this slowness would not have much of an impact. But he happens to be a central midfielder, and also the core that your club is carefully building around, as well as the biggest name in the National League. That has led to his performances getting worse and worse, and his chemistry with the team getting worse and worse. He himself is probably becoming less and less confident too."
What Malin said immediately made Ethan think of one person: Riquelme.
This Argentine midfield genius was known for his slow rhythm. He needed the whole team to revolve around him, so he was not successful everywhere. He could only perform well at Villarreal and with Argentina.
Juninho might not be as talented as Riquelme, but he was not as stubborn as Riquelme when it came to insisting on his own style of play.
According to Ethan's memories from his previous life, Riquelme was more talented and had a better style of play. Juninho's style of play was simpler, more practical, and at the same time, his physical qualities were better, making him more able to adapt to the evolution and development of European football.
However, in Ethan's memory, both of these players were football geniuses underestimated by countless fans.
Maybe I should talk to Professor Fryer. Perhaps I can learn more from him! Ethan thought to himself.
"Okay, Malin, I have already transferred the money for this investigation to your account. I am very satisfied with this report, and I am also very interested in your company's business. But I don't know, have you considered moving your company's office to Manchester?"
"Come here to work?" Malin was a bit surprised.
"Of course. My people and my career are here, so I naturally hope your company can develop here as well. And you have to know, Manchester is a big city. The transport here is convenient, which is simply incomparable to where you are now."
"But... the expenses in Manchester will definitely be higher!" Malin said with a worried smile.
"Don't worry, Malin. I never fight battles I am not sure of. Since I have proposed this idea, there must be a way to solve it. I plan to acquire your company, but all your staff must be retained. As for the future direction of development, I think the first priority is to improve your software as much as possible."
"But that will require a huge sum of money!" Malin smiled bitterly again.
"Hey, buddy, I said I will take care of the money. While improving the software, the data you collect must also be improved accordingly. I propose building a complete and rigorous database that includes all collected data and information on teams and players."
Malin was shocked after hearing this, but he was also a smart man and immediately understood Ethan's intention.
"Mr. Yu, I have to admire your mind. In this way, we seem to have become New Manchester United's number one scout for investigating opponent intelligence!" Malin said with a laugh.
"Of course, but New Manchester United will also pay your company a fee, right? And I don't object to you selling New Manchester United's data to competitors, as long as you hold back certain things at the right time!"
"And then?"
"Then, I think we can first consider working with some media outlets, such as the Manchester Evening News, The Sun, The Times, Sky TV, and so on. Through newspapers, television, websites, and other media, we can promote the authority of this data. In the early stage, we can provide it to them for free. Then, after the trial period is over, once readers and viewers are familiar with this kind of data, that will be the time for us to sit at home and count the money!"
Malin was dumbfounded after hearing Ethan's words.
He had always been struggling because he could not find an opportunity to get ahead, but once this matter reached Ethan's hands, he immediately found so many ways to spread it. It was not hard to imagine that if things went according to Ethan's plan, although the initial investment would be a significant amount of money, the future revenue would definitely come rolling in.
And data was a very subjective thing. Once people were convinced, it would be difficult for other competitors to fight for the market. Then it would turn into something close to a monopoly, and how astonishing would the revenue be?
But from Ethan's words, while admiring him, Malin also had to sigh that his own intelligence was inferior. He even thought that perhaps he was more suited to being an employee rather than starting a business and becoming a boss, because he did not have Ethan's business sense.
What he did not know was that Ethan's so-called business sense all came from having more than ten years of experience compared to others.
After talking with Malin for a while longer and setting a time for formal negotiations and signing, Ethan returned to the Newton Heath Training Base with that thick data file.
But unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the office, he immediately received the piece of news he least wanted to hear!
(To be continued.)