Red Rebels

599 Premier League Mode

Regarding the European Professional Club League, opinions within UEFA are roughly divided into two groups. One group accepts the European Club League, which they believe can help UEFA develop European football; the other group suppresses the European Professional Club League, which they believe is likely to It will develop into a force that can compete with UEFA, which is quite dangerous.

As Xiao Yu said before, the purpose of the European Club Alliance is to win benefits for the clubs, and since the Champions League represents the largest distribution of benefits in European football, naturally it can only help those weaker football clubs. They fight for the distribution of benefits from the UEFA Cup.

The reform of the UEFA Cup has been mentioned for many years, but it has always been only a slight adjustment, and the more changes are made, the more it regresses. Especially in the years when the Champions League has become more and more powerful, the UEFA Cup has completely sunk.

How to change this situation and rekindle the enthusiasm of the club and fans for the UEFA Cup?

The European Professional Club League has done a lot of work in this regard.

"We believe that first of all, the group stage should be abolished and all changed to knockout rounds, which means returning to the previous competition system, because the group stage is completely meaningless for the UEFA Cup. All participating teams have to take into account the league and domestic cup competitions. , there is not much profit from playing in the UEFA Cup, and the schedule is intensive.”

"But the knockout rounds are not all double-round matches. My suggestion is that since the top 32 knockout rounds are held before the end of the year, and the teams that can advance to the top 32 are basically stronger teams, then it should be It will be a two-leg knockout, just like the Champions League, and before that, it will be a single-leg knockout, and after 90 minutes of a tie, the winner will be decided through overtime and penalty kicks!"

It can be said that the first half of the UEFA Cup schedule analyzed by David Dunn is the same as the current reform of the FA Cup by the Football Association, that is, a single knockout round and no replays.

Regarding the question raised by some executive committee members about how to define who will play at home in a single knockout round, David Dunn proposed a new set of algorithms for counting UEFA Cup points.

First of all, of course, we need to consider the team’s European War points, and then consider the bonus of the league in which the team is located. The stronger the league, the more UEFA Cup points their European War points will be converted into. This makes them obligated to play away games and help weaker teams.

"Obligation, yes, stronger teams should have more obligations to help weaker teams, and I believe that if a strong team goes to the visiting team's home court to participate in the game, the possibility of an upset is higher, This forces all teams to remain fully vigilant in order to prevent an upset, while the weak teams will do everything possible to get an upset. In this way, even in the first half of the schedule with a huge disparity in strength, the game will not be upset. The enjoyment and intensity can also be improved!"

"The top 32 knockout rounds must be completed before Christmas. This is to allow the teams that reach the top 16 to have more energy to compete in the second half of the league. Since it is a single-leg knockout round, the schedule is It’s definitely in time, and after the knockout round of the top 16, it will basically be in sync with the Champions League!”

Everyone present felt that the idea expounded by David Dunn was reasonable and considered very thoughtfully in all aspects. It can be said to be a good set of reform suggestions.

"In addition, I propose to decide the start time according to the different time zones of each country. This arrangement can meet the desire of fans in different countries to watch the game, increase the ratings of the UEFA Cup, and thereby enhance the fans' awareness of the game. The attention of the UEFA Cup will help increase the attention of TV broadcasters on the UEFA Cup!"

This piece of advice,

It can be said to be reasonable and reasonable. Even the executive committee members have no objections to this.

"But, Mr. Dunn, you have said so much, and it seems that you are only talking about the schedule, but have you ever thought that your schedule is too elaborate, but other clubs have no desire to participate in the game, so what?" Yes An executive committee member asked with a sneer.

They obviously feel that David Dunn's words are really a bit evasive. As for the single-round schedule, no matter how much changes are made, it will have little impact. The key lies in the team's motivation to participate, just like the Champions League. In such a big area, Under the stimulation of profit cake, no matter how rubbish the schedule is, teams will still flock to it.

David Dunn smiled, "Yes, that's right, the schedule is only part of a cup competition. As I said before, if you want to rekindle the club's passion for the UEFA Cup, the main thing is to watch Benefit."

"I propose that the two teams that reach the UEFA Cup final can give them the right to participate in the European Champions League group stage next season regardless of their status in their respective leagues. I believe this will make everyone Teams, even the top clubs in Europe, are eager to compete in this cup!"

David Dunn's words immediately caused an uproar in the venue.

The UEFA Cup has always existed as a second-tier cup competition. The third-placed team in the Champions League group stage can fly into the UEFA Cup, but there has never been a precedent for the UEFA Cup to be promoted to the Champions League group stage.

The executive committee members suddenly felt like a pot was exploding, and everyone was talking about it. It was obvious that everyone was frightened by David Dunn's proposal.

But David Dunn secretly looked at Xiao Yu, feeling very admired in his heart.

This proposal was put forward by Xiao Yu, to combine the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. In this way, all teams will start to pay attention to the UEFA Cup. After all, as long as they reach the UEFA Cup final, they can get direct results. The right to advance to the Champions League group stage is equivalent to winning the domestic league championship. Who is willing to give up?

Just like this season's UEFA Cup semi-finals Werder Bremen played against Droisden. Werder Bremen obviously lacked passion and were eliminated by Droisden with a total score of 5:1 in two rounds. But if they knew, once If they reach the final, they can participate in the Champions League group stage next season. Will they still care so little?

Xiao Yu believes not. On the contrary, they will try their best to fight with Droisden, and the blood will definitely not give up easily. The two teams will definitely fight with all their strength, and the game will be fierce by then. , the viewing value will be high.

In addition to teams from these traditional powerful leagues, such as teams from Eastern Europe, they can also regard the UEFA Cup as their step into Europe's top competitions. This will make them pay more attention to the UEFA Cup, which will greatly to increase everyone's enthusiasm and attention for this cup.

When Johansson heard David Dunn's proposal, he instinctively looked at Xiao Yu. He had a feeling that this proposal was probably advocated by Xiao Yu, just like when he previously advocated the introduction of a winter break in England.

I have to say that this proposal is indeed very bold and breaks the tradition of European competitions, but fundamentally speaking, the changes brought about by this proposal are very tempting. Once realized, there will be this difference between the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. This connection is bound to make the UEFA Cup more attractive.

The influence of the Champions League is getting bigger and bigger, and all aspects have basically remained stable. If the influence of the UEFA Cup can be greatly increased while continuing to maintain the stable development of the Champions League, then Johansson can really retire with honor. .

“My last proposal is to reform the current UEFA Cup sponsorship system!”

David Dunn's words once again aroused heated discussion among the executive committee members. Even he himself felt that today was the most glorious day in his life. He actually talked in front of so many big guys in Europe. It's so straight that even my waist has straightened up a lot.

"Currently, the sponsorship of the UEFA Cup adopts an individual operation mode. I hope that UEFA can take the lead to unify the sponsorship rights of all UEFA Cup teams, and UEFA will conduct unified investment promotion, not only for the UEFA Cup." Sponsors, as well as TV broadcasters, we can do long-term bundling with terrestrial coverage and a satellite live broadcast partner like the Champions League. I believe that in this way, the income from all aspects of the event will be higher than it is now. !”

A large part of the success of the Premier League is attributed to the successful sales of live television broadcast rights, and this bundling model similar to the Premier League is also considered to be the most successful league business model in today's football.

Many people suspect that the Premier League is highly dependent on live TV broadcasters, but they have not seen it. In recent years, under Xiao Yu’s initiative, the Premier League has vigorously developed overseas markets, and each club has also attached great importance to youth training and other business areas. operations in order to achieve financial health.

Fundamentally, the Premier League is different from the situation in 2002 when the German television agency went bankrupt, leading to the near-collapse of the Bundesliga. The Premier League’s broadcast rights are spread all over the world. Although Sky TV’s broadcast fees currently account for more than half of the Premier League’s broadcast rights revenue, this proportion is It will be reduced with the overseas development of the Premier League, and ideally it will be reduced to less than half.

It is precisely because of this method of not relying on one or two powerful live broadcast companies, but adopting a direct investment approach around the world, that the Premier League will not repeat the mistakes of the Bundesliga.

As someone who has witnessed this model of the Premier League, David Dunn believes that it can be extended to the UEFA Cup. This will greatly increase the income from broadcast rights of the UEFA Cup and thus increase the prize money of the UEFA Cup. , in terms of direct benefits, it will further strengthen the importance that European clubs attach to the UEFA Cup.

"The champion and runner-up will directly advance to the Champions League group stage next season. Through bundled sales, we can increase the live broadcast fee and sponsorship fee as much as possible, thereby increasing the prize money of the event. I believe that as long as these two things can be done, then the league will The Cup will regain the attention of all European clubs."

David Dunn's words silenced the entire venue for a long time. Even the rotten executive committee members were extremely shocked by his suggestions. However, they did not see that when David Dunn sat down, he secretly looked at Behind Xiao Yu's thumbs up gesture, there are shadows of Xiao Yu and the Red Rebels.

After a while, these executive committee members obviously digested what David Dunn said, and they immediately started a heated discussion. After all, what David Dunn mentioned was just a general idea, but it is really necessary to implement it. , but there are still many details to pay attention to, such as how to allocate quotas for each league and so on.

Xiao Yu's idea is that the quota allocation should still be based on the current allocation method. It will be trialled for one year and then adjusted according to the situation. As long as the main body of the league remains unchanged, slightly adjusting the details will not cause problems.

Although they were just minor details, the actual discussion was still quite laborious. UEFA even invited everyone who attended the meeting to stay and held a discussion for two full days.

On the third day, UEFA invited all its football federation officials to Nyon to have a more in-depth discussion on this issue, and to discuss and hear a series of possible issues, hoping to basically establish a keynote.

After a full five-day meeting, UEFA officially held a press conference and announced that starting from next season, that is, the 2007/08 season, the UEFA Cup will undergo a series of reforms. The first thing to do is to win the UEFA Cup. The runner-up will be sent to the next season, which is the Champions League group stage of the 2008/09 season.

As soon as this decision was announced, the whole of Europe was in an uproar. All the media immediately reproduced the news, obviously surprised by UEFA's sudden decision.

However, if you look back carefully, it is not difficult to find that such a decision is indeed of great benefit to the UEFA Cup. This is equivalent to telling all teams that aim at the Champions League that reaching the UEFA Cup champions and runners-up is equivalent to winning the league championship and they can directly Participate in the Champions League group stage.

Perhaps this reform decision is really too big, and it is so big that many European media are a little overwhelmed. Some of them support it, some oppose it, some question it, and some approve it. In short, there are all kinds of opinions.

It is undoubtedly impossible to persuade these people who write articles in newspapers with words. Each of them is so stubborn that three horses cannot pull them, let alone just a few words.

To really make them recognize this series of policies, the key is to achieve results in the UEFA Cup.

When facing the media interview, Johansson said with confidence that this is a gift to all those who love football in Europe during his term. He is confident that he will be able to bring the UEFA Cup back to its peak and return to its peak. In the sight of all fans, everyone's attention and enthusiasm for it has been rekindled.

While everyone is generally publicizing the promotion and relegation order between the UEFA Cup and the Champions League, few media outlets really care about the collective bundled sales plan of the UEFA Cup. But that doesn’t matter, because as long as it can really attract those broadcasters Just suppliers and sponsors.

It was during this trend that the Red Rebels were held to a 1:1 draw by Everton in an away game, but not many people paid attention. However, a few days later, the Red Rebels defeated Arsenal 2:1 at home. , also not many people care, everyone is still immersed in the turmoil of the UEFA Cup reform.

After the media had sorted out the UEFA Cup reform, looking back, they discovered that the championships of the major European leagues had been clarified, and the major European leagues had also ended. The only thing left was England's FA Cup final, and the most watched finale, the Champions League final.

The Red Rebels took advantage of this trend and quietly headed to Singapore!