Chapter 37

This time, everyone in England believed Joe Da Pao's remarks.

Sure enough, on September 9th, in the second round of the European qualifiers for the World Cup, England won 2-1 away against Poland, securing three points. In this match, the Chelsea players like Lampard, Terry, Owen, and Joe Cole started, earning the approval of the England fans present.

Of course, what they admired even more was Chelsea's manager, Joe Wanxian, because it was he who had provoked Eriksson in the interview and secretly imparted the winning strategy. For a moment, everyone realized that Joe Da Pao had such a broad mind.

However, Joe Wanxian's days were not easy. He wished he could beat the top brass of the FA! What kind of garbage schedule is this? After the national team match on September 9th, I have to play away against Aston Villa on September 11th? Most importantly, on September 14th, Chelsea will face Paris Saint-Germain in the first match of the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League away!

Everyone talks about the FIFA virus, but is it FIFA's fault? Clearly, it's your scheduling mistake!

Speaking of the Champions League, it's worth mentioning. In this season's Champions League group stage, Chelsea is in Group H with the defending champions Porto from Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain from France, and CSKA Moscow from Russia.

Compared to other groups, Group H is relatively weak. Even though Porto is the defending champion, after the departure of Mourinho and a large number of key players, their strength has significantly declined, posing no real threat to Chelsea.

This is also why Joe Wanxian didn't argue much with the FA. After all, UEFA has been quite considerate of him as a newcomer. It would be ungrateful to complain after receiving such benefits. Even with Joe Wanxian's thick skin, he wouldn't do such a thing.

With less than two days between the two matches, Joe Wanxian mainly focused on physical training. Physical training seems simple but is a deep and complex science, involving aspects like aerobic, anaerobic, strength, endurance, and more. Otherwise, it's easy to cause injuries to the players.

However, Joe Wanxian didn't bother with these details and didn't know how to handle them. Instead, he focused all his energy on Wayne Rooney, whose injuries were gradually improving! Now, he can train with his teammates and is in good form! For safety, it's not advisable for him to play in the match against Aston Villa on the 11th, but he might make his Chelsea debut in the Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain!

The 2004 Premier League transfer record, Chelsea's No. 9 Wayne Rooney, is finally returning to the pitch!

On September 10th, Joe Wanxian's column in The Times announced the starting lineup for the next match: "Cech, Bridge, Terry, Gallas, Ramos, Makelele, Scott Parker, Kaka, Gudjohnsen, Duff, Owen."

The lineup was significantly rotated, with most of the players who played long minutes in the national team matches resting. Only Kaka and Owen were leading the team, but they were likely to be substituted soon.

Before the match, Aston Villa's manager O'Leary publicly expressed his envy of Chelsea's squad, even saying that if Aston Villa had as many talented players, he would do better than Joe Da Pao!

O'Leary, 46 years old, is a young and ambitious manager, determined to prove himself as one of the best managers in the new era of the Premier League. So even facing Joe Wanxian, known as "Da Pao," he dared to speak out.

Who is O'Leary? Joe Wanxian had never heard of him: "You want to step on me to rise, just like you stepped on Ferguson? No way! Your psychological tactics are nothing compared to Sir Ferguson. They are too immature!"

For the first time in England, a manager publicly challenged Joe Wanxian, which immediately sparked the indignation of everyone from the club chairman to the cleaning lady of Chelsea. At 21:40 on the evening of September 11th, when the referee blew the final whistle, the red and glaring number on the scoreboard at Villa Park was as red as O'Leary's eyes!

O'Leary, a young and inexperienced manager, was completely defeated by Joe Da Pao!

In this match, Joe Wanxian used up 3 milliliters of Source 1 at the start, giving it to Kaka, Gudjohnsen, and Makelele. He only planned to play Owen for half the game, so he didn't waste it.

In the match, Gudjohnsen, who started in place of Joe Cole, went on a killing spree against the weaker opponent. In the 30th minute of the first half, he received a brilliant pass from Kaka and scored his third goal, completing a hat-trick. Owen, with his keen sense of goal-scoring, also scored a goal by capitalizing on the goalkeeper's mistake. The first-half score was 4-0!

In the second half, Finnish forward Forsell replaced Owen and scored a goal to repay the manager's trust. In the 65th minute, Kaka scored another goal with a classic long-distance run and was then substituted by Gremio. The final score was 6-0!

O'Leary, who had boasted before the match, became one of the laughing points of the fifth round of the Premier League. However, his players were not upset by the score. After the final whistle, they happily went to exchange jerseys with Chelsea's star players, especially surrounding Kaka.

But, to be fair, they didn't need to be upset. Even Manchester United was beaten 6-0 by Chelsea, so what was Aston Villa?

At the post-match press conference, O'Leary again showed his unique and ridiculous side.

Before the match, he imitated Joe Wanxian's bold remarks, but after the match, he imitated the madman Mourinho by pulling out a small piece of paper and reading it without saying a word: "1. Cech, 2. Glen Johnson, 3. Gallas, 4. Ramos, 5. Makelele, 6. Cannavaro, 7. Owen, 8. Lampard, 9. Rooney, 10. Joe Cole, 11. Duff, 12. Gudjohnsen, 14. Gremio, 18. Bridge, 19. Parker, 20. Morales, 21. Grant, 22. Kaka, 24. Forsell, 26. Terry, 29. Huth, 31. Oliveira, 32. Watt..."

After reading a long list of names, under the surprised gazes of the reporters and Chelsea's assistant coach Mourinho, O'Leary calmly said, "With so many talented players under Chelsea, how can I win?"

"Ha!"

"Ha ha!"

The entire press conference burst into laughter. O'Leary, who had spoken boldly before the match, now used such a grandiose excuse, making people laugh out loud.

Although O'Leary became a laughingstock, Joe Wanxian, after laughing, fell into deep thought.

To develop a long-term career in football, one cannot make enemies everywhere! Having enemies is not scary, but one must also have allies on the same front! For example, before the match, when O'Leary mocked him, not a single manager stood up to help him. This was not just a matter of face but also a matter of influence.

"Strong enemies are not to be feared, but even weak allies are still allies!"

Of course, with Joe Wanxian's personality, he wouldn't bother with unknown managers.

At this stage, Joe Wanxian had already made enemies with Mourinho, Ferguson, Eriksson, and probably Wenger. And due to a friendly match, he also had a strong aversion to AC Milan's Ancelotti. In a short time, Joe Wanxian had made five major enemies among the top managers!

Recalling the initial overtures from Liverpool's manager Benitez, Joe Wanxian decided it was time to form alliances! Otherwise, fighting alone, the power of public opinion would not be enough.

The biggest score of this round was Chelsea's 6-0 win over Aston Villa, followed by Arsenal's 3-0 win over Fulham and Liverpool's 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion. Arsenal, as expected, remained in second place, while Liverpool, with this big win, climbed to seventh in the league table.

Immediately after the match, Joe Wanxian sent an email to Liverpool on behalf of the club, congratulating them on their victory and expressing excitement about Owen's transfer. He also mentioned that if there was an opportunity, Liverpool would have the first choice of Chelsea's players.

At the same time, Joe Wanxian sent a personal message to Liverpool's manager Benitez, congratulating him on overcoming the toughest period at Liverpool and hoping he would lead Liverpool to great success in the upcoming matches.

Joe Da Pao's overtures immediately received high attention from Liverpool's management and manager Benitez, who directly expressed congratulations on Joe Wanxian's success at Chelsea through the Liverpool official website.

In an interview with Liverpool reporters, Benitez also said, "Joe Wanxian is a very talented manager, and his football philosophy will lead to a new era. I am not sure about some of his radical remarks, but I know that only Mr. Joe Wanxian can achieve great success at Chelsea."

The next day, the Liverpool Echo published a highly influential article titled "Joe and Benitez Show Goodwill, Premier League New Managers Unite."

The article stated that both Joe Wanxian and Benitez were new to the Premier League this year. Joe Wanxian led Chelsea to the top of the league with five consecutive wins, while Benitez overcame the toughest period at Liverpool and was on the rise. It hoped that these two young managers could learn from each other and progress together.

This article further strengthened the relationship between Joe Wanxian and Benitez. The story of the friendship between Coach Joe and Coach Ben began with this article.