This is indeed an interesting question.

If I ask you: for a team, which is the most profitable single game in the world? Note that it is a single game.

So, what's your answer?

NFL Super Bowl in football?

Basketball's NBA Finals?

MLB World Series Baseball?

Or the Champions League final, the European Cup final, the World Cup final in football?

No, not at all.

The answer to this question is the promotion play-off final of the Championship!

Not one of them.

I can't think of it!

So how much is this game really worth?

If a team wins this final and thus are promoted to the Premier League, the ensuing financial income could reach a staggering £170 million!

What is this concept?

That's more than three times the total prize money for winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Why is it so profitable?

Why is such a matchup between two teams that is not the top team worth more than any other team sport in the world?

That's because it's a ticket to the Premier League, and the Premier League's success over the years has made it more and more precious.

As mentioned earlier, any Premier League team can earn a lot of money every season due to the TV broadcast fee share.

How much? At least £79.4 million in revenue.

The more broadcasts a team's games are, the higher the revenue, and the higher the team positions in the league standings, the more prize money it receives.

So 79.4 million pounds is just a base, and in the end this number will only be more, and hundreds of millions are very normal.

In addition, if a team is relegated, the Premier League will pay the relegated club a relegation compensation known as "parachute compensation" in instalments to help them withstand the financial blow of relegation.

And the total amount of this "parachute compensation" also reached 75 million pounds!

So all the above, even if a team finishes at the bottom of the Premier League, he can end up with an estimated income of 170 million pounds!

For comparison, winning the Premier League is around £38 million, the FA Cup is only £3.6 million, and the Champions League is only £16.7 million......

One can imagine how much of a temptation to play in the Premier League is for every Championship team, it's like heaven.

And the Championship promotion play-off final is the final kick to this paradise.

Because, winning in this mid-final will bring huge benefits to the team, and at the same time, it may also make the team enter a virtuous circle from now on: buy new players to strengthen the squad, increase wages and stabilize the morale of the army, and then strengthen the strength, relegation success, continue to strengthen the strength......

But if they lose, they may have to find ways to cut costs and sell players.

After all, the Championship promotion play-off final is also a winner-takes-all game, with the loser not only getting nothing, but also having to watch the door to the Premier League suddenly close in front of them.

That means £170 million is suddenly in vain, all the initial investment is in vain, and some clubs are about to fall into financial crisis, and then enter an endless vicious circle.

And relegation from the Premier League, although it does have the help of "parachute compensation", if it cannot return to the Premier League quickly, its economic losses are not immeasurable.

You can get £75 million in three years in the Championship, but you have at least £100 million a year in the Premier League.

So an arms race in the Premier League is inevitable.

That's why even the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League are so generous.

For these, Pan Yi actually knew about them when he was a fan in his previous life.

When he gave Parrish the correct answer, the Englishman smiled meaningfully.

"So, we at Crystal Palace just played one of the most profitable games in the world this summer, haha......"

'But we don't want to go back to the Championship and we don't want to play the so-called most valuable game again.'

"Can you help us make this happen?"

Fan Zhiyi also smiled and came over and patted Pan Yi on the shoulder.

Whether it is Parrish or Fan Zhiyi, they can actually see that Pan Yi is a little tempted, so he will continue to output with confidence.

And so it is.

Pan Yi himself has thought about this issue in private, and he does have an expectation for the Premier League.

One reason is the economic problem that Parrish said.

Premier League teams have a lot more money than Bundesliga teams, which allows them to largely keep their stars as much as possible.

It's not just the prize money and the share of the money, but the owner of the team is also more willing to spend money.

Compared with Hamburg, President Jakhoff is actually very generous, but it is only 40 or 50 million euros a year at most, which is still based on the premise that his income has risen sharply after entering the Champions League.

The Premier League is the bottom team with an income of hundreds of millions of euros, if you can get a higher ranking, or even enter the Champions League, win various championships, etc., there is no problem with two or three hundred million.

Coupled with the investment of the boss, it is not a fantasy to really spend three or four billion euros a year.

Or in terms of the investment in the 2022 summer window, Chelsea has spent almost 300 million euros on buying players! Manchester United also has more than 200 million.

And that's not even counting the high salaries that come with buying these players at a high price.

Pan Yi doesn't expect to spend so much money to buy players at that time, but it's always okay to buy players to be able to support them.

Don't ask for more, a salary expenditure of more than 100 million a year can stabilize a team of all-star players.

Another reason is that the Premier League is very competitive, and he likes it very much.

Pan Yi has always been eager for a challenge!

And the challenge in the Bundesliga is clearly limited.

Once you take down Bayern, you're immediately bored.

Whether it is Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen, they will still be subject to the Bundesliga's 50+1 policy, resulting in economic embarrassment.

They end up being reduced to a star processing plant, having to sell their stars frequently – often to Premier League teams.

But it's not the same in the Premier League.

You upset Manchester United, and Arsenal.

Arsenal are withering and you have to think about Tottenham.

Knocked down Manchester City, and Liverpool popped up.

Even if the BIG6 were all killed, there might be another strange Leicester City who would come out to make a splash this season – of course, Pan Yi didn't know if they would be able to replicate the miracle of their previous life without N'Golo Kante and Vardy.

In addition, the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League have more or less stars because they are rich, and the strength of the team is not too bad.

And the team in the relegation zone is even more red for the 100 million pounds, and if they are not careful, they will pull the strong team down.

In short, in the Bundesliga, you basically only need to fight one boss, while in the Premier League, you will face many bosses and mobs, and the difficulty is obviously not of an order of magnitude.

And this is also the confidence of the group of Sky Sports who feel that Pan Yi will not be able to play in the Premier League.

The last reason is that Pan Yi thinks that Crystal Palace is indeed quite good.

The chairman of Parrish has been continuously investing in Crystal Palace until 2022, which also ensures that Crystal Palace has not been relegated after being promoted to the Premier League, and has been able to play around 10 in many seasons.

In addition to the introduction of players, Parrish is also actively promoting the construction of new stadiums and the establishment of the youth training system, which shows that he really loves this club and wants to make it bigger and stronger.

And in addition to the boss's ambition and willingness to invest, it is also because of ...... Crystal Palace are not that strong.

If a team like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal with a glorious past and a strong team comes to him, then he won't seem to be so easy to pretend to be when he wins the title, and his position in the hearts of fans will not be very high.

Let's just say you're strong at Manchester United to win the treble, right? Ferguson did it more than ten years ago.

With Liverpool, how many years will it take to surpass Bill Shankly.

Do you go to Arsenal to play unbeaten for a season? Wenger smiled and did not speak.

Even if it is to Manchester City, that family has won the Premier League title in recent years.

If you help Manchester City win the Champions League, you can indeed make history, but the odds of winning the Champions League are the first every year, and there seems to be no surprise to outsiders after winning it.

Many people will most likely still think that their team is so strong that it has little to do with the coach.

Going to Crystal Palace is different.

The most awesome trophy in the team's history is the second division champion, and if you count the top one, it is just a full cup runner-up.

The results in the Premier League are even less noteworthy, and before this season's promotion, Crystal Palace finished 18th in the Premier League in the 04-05 season and were relegated.

Therefore, if Pan Yi can make contributions in Crystal Palace, whether it is difficulty, challenge, or satisfaction after success, it will far surpass those strong teams.

"This ...... Give me some time and let me think about it. Also, I can't go right now. ”

Although Pan Yi still yearns for it in his heart, he still said so.

First of all, he still needs to have a deeper understanding of the current situation of Crystal Palace, because even the Premier League teams are different, and if they still can't retain people, it is not much different from Hamburg.

After all, according to the experience of his previous life, he still has to be BIG6 to really have the capital to retain people.

For Crystal Palace to grow into one of the BIG7s, this requires more detailed planning and assurance.

In addition, he still has to stick to his principle, which is to lead a team through a season.

Hamburg is now playing this job, and it is about to usher in a decisive battle with Bayern, and it is really a bit of an escape feeling to throw his arms and leave.

Not to mention that Pan Yi hasn't led Hamburg to the championship yet!

League wins, German Cup, Champions League!

If you want to go, you have to retire after success!

"But ......" After listening to Pan Yi's explanation, Parrish glanced at Fan Zhiyi, and then turned to Pan Yi, "If we are relegated, will you be willing to coach a Championship team?" ”

After all, Crystal Palace is now the second-to-last.

And Parish dares to ask because even the Championship has a certain attraction to many coaches.

Benefiting from the local tyrants of the Premier League, in order to compete for tickets to the Premier League, the competition in the Championship is also extremely fierce.

There are some famous stars and internationals from various countries, and they will even give up the opportunity to go to the five major league teams such as Ligue 1 and Serie A, and choose to work in the Championship - such as Mitrovic in the current Hamburg team, as a Serbian striker, he has been mixed in the Championship for a long time.

- Of course, he's a real killer in the Championship, the kind that can score 40 goals in a season!

If you talk about which league is the strongest league in the world, everyone may still argue;

But if there is one best second division in the world, it is undoubtedly the Championship.

Money, stars, atmosphere is no weaker than any country's first-tier league, plus they have that most lucrative single game in the world......

At this time, Pan Yi said: "You will not be demoted. I can recommend a coach who can lead you to relegation. When you succeed in relegation, if you still want to be my coach, let's talk about it. ”

“……”

“……”

Parrish and Fan Zhiyi, you look at me, I look at you, they are a little speechless.

They didn't expect Pan Yi to say that.

And that's for sure!

What kind of fairy coach does this have to be?

Can they be guaranteed to pull second-to-last Crystal Palace out of the relegation quagmire and ensure relegation?

Such a great coach won't be at the level of Pep Guardiola and Mourinho, right?

That's a joke!

Will Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho come to coach a relegation team like Crystal Palace??

At this time, Pan Yi slowly said a name: "Tony Pulis".

“……？？？”

Fan Zhiyi is still a mush. He hadn't heard of that name!

“…… Former Stoke City manager? But Parrish reacted.

"Yes. He shouldn't have gone to a new team yet, you can go and invite him, and he can definitely be relegated. Pan Yi said firmly.

Pan Yi knows this name, of course, not because Tony Pulis is a famous coach.

But this guy went on to win the Premier League Manager of the Year in 2013-2014!!

And the reason why Tony Pulis won this award is that after taking over in the middle of this season, he led Crystal Palace, which was on the verge of relegation, to play a strong rebound, and finally ranked 11th in the Premier League, which also created the best record in the history of Crystal Palace!

This is actually a very rare thing, because the award of the best manager in the Premier League is often given to the manager who can win the Premier League.

Let's put it this way, since the inception of the Premier League, that is, from 1993 to 2022, there have only been five manager of the year who have been non-champions.

And among the five non-championship best managers, excluding Pulis, the worst is also fifth in the league!

In other words, Pulis led Crystal Palace to an 11th-place finish in the league for manager of the year, the lowest ranking in history and a ridiculously low one.

It also shows how incredible it is that Pulis has led Crystal Palace to relegation this year.

Therefore, Pan Yi in his previous life was also very impressed after hearing it in sports news, and naturally knew his deeds.

In the original timeline, Crystal Palace at this time happened to have just found Pulis to lead the team and slowly walked out of the relegation zone.

But now due to Pan Yi's existence, Crystal Palace's first target has become him, so he has not changed the coach yet.

However, Pan Yi recommended Pulis to the boss of Crystal Palace, which can be regarded as helping them to reverse this "wrong timeline".

"Pulis is a really good coach." "He is known for leading limited teams to great results, and he has never led a team to relegation in his coaching career. To be honest, I've been recommended to me before, but I still think you're a good fit......"

"Really?" Pan Yi said proudly, "Hurry up, otherwise it will be too late." ”

"But how do you know he's going to help the team survive relegation?" Fan Zhiyi still doesn't understand.

"People say I'm a talented coach and I look at other coaches first-class. Have you noticed that my current coaching team is also very strong? Pan Yi smiled, "If you believe me, go and give it a try." ”

Parrish gritted his teeth: "I'll think about it." But ......"

"If you are really relegated, then come to me, I will definitely go to Crystal Palace to coach, and it will be a punishment for my random recommendation." Pan Yi smiled and made a promise, "And if the relegation is successful...... As I said earlier, you can choose to continue using Place or you can come back to me and talk about that later. ”

"That's fine." Parrish finally let go of a stone in his heart, "We are determined!" ”

……

After sending Parrish and Fan Zhiyi away, Pan Yi immediately devoted his energy to this key battle in the Bundesliga with Bayern.

Of course, when it comes to the preparation for this game, the coaching staff at Hamburg actually started very early.

When Bayern played Manchester City at home in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Pan Yi sent two data analysts to the Allianz Arena to collect intelligence on the game.

Now it seems that this is a double win.

Whether it's Bayern or Manchester City, they will be Hamburg's fierce rivals!

And the process and result of this game will also be very helpful for the Hamburg coaching staff to formulate the strategy against Bayern.

Because Manchester City beat Bayern 3-2!

And it's at Bayern's home turf.

You know, since the 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the 13th round of the Bundesliga on November 20, 2011, Bayern have not lost at home to any Bundesliga team for two years.

Therefore, Manchester City's victory is not only a reference for Pan Yi to study the tactics of the match, but also a lot of confidence for the whole team to strive to win Bayern away from home.

With the risk of losing the top spot in the group, Guardiola naturally fielded the main squad in this game.

However, due to Peter Pan's habitual injury, Gua Shuai also made some changes in the formation, forming a somewhat weird 41221.

There is no suspense in the starting goalkeeper is Manuel Neuer.

The four defenders were also considered decent, sending out a combination of Alaba, Dante, Boateng Jr., and Lahm.

But the midfield started to be a little bit lively.

Thiago plays as a lone midfielder.

The two central midfielders in front of him are Gotze and Toni Kroos.

In front, there are two forward midfielders, or shadow strikers, Thomas Muller and Franck Franck Ribery.

Then there's center Mandzukic.

One of the characteristics of this lineup is that there is no winger in the traditional sense, and Bayern's attack is mainly initiated by the middle.

The other is that Thiago plays as a single midfielder, and the two central midfielders in front of him are not known for their defensive ability.

In general, it is stronger than defensive.

And this arrangement seems to have paid off in the opening stages.

Thomas Muller opened the scoring for Bayern Munich in the fifth minute, and just seven minutes later Gotze extended the score to 2-0.

And just when everyone thought that Bayern would take it for granted to win the game at home, Manchester City launched a counterattack.

David Silva pulled a goal back in the 28th minute, and in the 59th and 62nd minutes of the second half, Manchester City scored two goals in a row through Kolarov and Milner to finally overtake the score.

If it weren't for the fact that Guardiola replaced Götze with Xavi Martinez and Mandzukic with Shaqiri to strengthen the defense, he might have really ceded the top spot in the group to Manchester City.

The formation on Manchester City's side is a regular 4231.

Striker: Dzeko.

Frontcourt: Milner, David Silva, Keylor Navas.

Defenders: Fernandinho, Xavi Garcia.

Defenders: Kolarov, Lescott, Demichelis, Zabaleta.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart.

Their squad is obviously a bit more balanced.

It is precisely because of this that after being attacked and uncomfortable in the opening stage, the double back of Fernandinho and Xavi Garcia gradually regained control of the midfield, and began to give Manchester City more attacking opportunities, and finally achieved a comeback.

'Pep Guardiola is still too confident in his team. At the coaching meeting, Inzaghi first analyzed the mentality of Guardiola using this tactic, "He is even a little arrogant, always thinking about using more attacking players to break the enemy in one fell swoop, but he still paid the price. ”

Nagelsmann also said: "Yes, Xavi Martinez has played a lot less minutes in Bayern's games so far this season, which also shows this tactical tendency of Guardiola. In the Bundesliga, they may still be able to hold back most of their opponents, so it's not a big problem. But when it comes to the Champions League, when you meet a strong team like Manchester City, you will be caught with the hole. ”

Pan Yi said with a smile: "When we played the Super Cup with Bayern, Guardiola used the double back combination of Kroos + Thiago. After losing to us, I thought he would improve, but I didn't expect it to get even worse, so that Thiago's single back can be done, which is really admirable. ”

Nagelsmann looked up at Pan Yi: "Boss, do you think they will play like this when they kick us?" ”

"It's really hard to say...... Pan Yi touched his chin, "If there is any coach in this world who is the most unclear about what tactics to use, it must be Pep Guardiola." ”

Isn't it?

Most coaches can be regarded as having traces, even if they change formations on the spot, that is, they are tossing in one or two formations that they are familiar with.

But Pep Guardiola is different.

He is addicted to life, he has no striker formation for a while, no waist formation for a while, and this kick Manchester City has made a technical single back and wingless formation, which really makes Pan Yi unable to guess it.

Should this mean that there are enough weapons in Gua Shuai's arsenal, or does he often do XJB?

After all, his whole work is sometimes quite effective, and sometimes it is ......

"But in this game, Pep Guardiola also seems to be experimenting with a style of play that allows the full-backs to adduct." Nagelsmann pointed to the game on the screen, "You see this time it was left wing-back Alaba who was pressing, and right-back Lahm was next to Thiago to help defend. ”

"Well, maybe that's why he dared to let Thiago play at the back alone." Pan Yi shook his head, "It's a pity that he still overestimates the role of this fullback in adduction." This is at most half a back waist, and it has to be matched with an iron waist like Casemiro to have the best effect. ”

"Pep Guardiola is a really good learner." Inzaghi laughed, "He may play a few more games and he will realize how to use this style of play correctly." Having said that, Guardiola is really not the only one who learns Coach Pan Yi's tactics in football now......"

Nagelsmann also said: "Who said that our tactics are so advanced and easy to use...... If you want me to say, the leader is now the world's No. 1 coach! ”

Pan Yi waved his hand: "Okay, let's continue to study this game." Well...... Wait, what did you just say, say it again? ”

Nagelsmann: "Your tactics are advanced and easy to use?" ”

Pan Yi: "No, the latter sentence. ”

Nagelsmann: "You're the number one coach in the world! ”

Pan Yi: "That's right, comfortable...... Listening to others say that you are a Shiyi religion is comfortable. ”

Nagelsmann, Inzaghi: "......"

(End of chapter)