Football Dynasty

Chapter 596: Playing it Safe Doesn’t Make you Safe

On the late afternoon of August 18, 1998, Manchester City were playing Liverpool at a stadium that many football fans considered nothing short of an intimidating fortress. The stands were packed, and the supporters had been making themselves heard from the moment the teams walked onto the pitch.The score was still 0–0.

The players had been given a brief break, but there was little rest for the coaching staff. Richard, however, had something else on his mind.

He was discussing which clubs might join them in the Champions League this season.

"Are you not worried? After all, you were knocked out at this stage last season," Roman Abramovich said, amusement evident in his voice.

Richard glanced at him and sighed. Of all the people he had expected to see sitting beside him that afternoon, Roman was perhaps the last.

The Russian billionaire had been an old friend of his, though "old friend" was a complicated description. Richard leaned back in his seat and looked at him.

"I thought everything wasn’t going fine with Evrazholding? And then you suddenly decided to come all the way here and watch a football?"

"Why? You’re not happy to see me?"

"No, it’s not that. It’s just..." Richard pinched the bridge of his nose.

He still couldn’t believe the conversation they’d had the day before. Yesterday, he called him out of nowhere and suddenly said, ’Hey, Richard. What do you think if I sell my shares in Zenit and buy a club in England?’

As if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell. Richard was shocked. A strange feeling had settled in his stomach ever since that phone call.

Butterfly effect!

He wasn’t supposed to buy Chelsea—not yet. That wasn’t supposed to happen until a few years later.

Seeing Richard sigh from time to time, Roman became even more certain about his decision to buy an English club.

He was afraid! Hah!

He was amused but quickly waved the thought away.

"Well, forget about that for now. What do you think about the Champions League? Are you still confident about this season?"

Of course, the question wasn’t merely casual. He wanted to understand. He was still learning how European football worked as a whole—the leagues, the competitions, the money, the hierarchy between clubs, and, most importantly, how a club could turn success on the pitch into long-term financial power.

And for that, he had found himself an expert.

Hearing the question, Richard let out a long breath. He stared at the pitch for a moment before answering.

"This year? Well, in my mind..."

The competition was entering an interesting period. Unlike the 1997/98 campaign, the 1998/99 Champions League allowed the runners-up from the top eight European leagues to enter the competition. At the same time, champions from smaller nations once again had a route into the tournament after having been pushed into the UEFA Cup for three seasons.

The result was a much broader qualifying field.

Clubs such as HJK Helsinki, Maribor, Anorthosis, Skonto Riga, Litex, Košice, and FK Obilić now had a chance to fight their way into Europe’s most prestigious club competition. For those clubs, qualifying was about far more than prestige.

Simply reaching the group stage—or even drawing a favorable opponent along the way—could transform a club’s finances. The difference in prize money, television revenue, gate receipts, sponsorship opportunities, and international exposure could amount to several times what a smaller club might normally earn in an entire season.

A single successful run could change everything.

"It doesn’t matter, though," Richard shook his head.

He wasn’t too concerned about the draw results; whoever they faced didn’t matter much to him.

"What’s important is," Richard continued slowly, "the Champions League isn’t just a competition anymore. At least, not for me."

Roman raised an eyebrow.

"It’s becoming an ecosystem."

"An ecosystem?"

"Yeah. The clubs that understand that early will have an advantage over everyone else."

Richard leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"The money attracts better players. Better players bring better results. Better results bring more money, more supporters, more sponsors, and more exposure. Then you use that money to build an even better squad."

He glanced at Roman.

"It’s the same with the league."

Roman nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes. Every competition is just part of the same cycle in the end. And where does an investor fit into that cycle?"

Richard smiled faintly.

"That’s the interesting part."

He was about to explain when a roar erupted around Anfield. But It wasn’t the roar of celebration. It was the kind of roar that came from thousands of people reacting to something unexpected—disbelief all mixed together.

Richard immediately stood. Then, the moment he saw who had scored, he let out a sharp whistle.

"Lampard..."

There were two players Richard had been paying particular attention to during this match.

The first was someone who had rejected him in the past.

Steven Gerrard.

The second...

Frank Lampard.

Richard’s eyes followed Lampard as he celebrated through the field.

Over the years, he had dedicated himself to becoming a Director of High Performance. The title might have sounded grand, but the principle behind it was actually quite simple.

He studied what made elite players elite. Or... comparing them.

What did the best midfielders have in common?

Why did certain players continue improving while others stagnated?

Which attributes could be developed through training, and which ones were largely innate?

And, perhaps most importantly, what did a young player need at sixteen to become an elite player at twenty-three?

He had spent years comparing the profiles of top players, looking for patterns. Eventually, those questions had led him to develop something of his own.

A personal philosophy of player development.

He no longer believed that developing young footballers was simply a matter of giving them more training and hoping talent would take care of the rest.

Every player had a profile, every profile had strengths, weaknesses, and a ceiling that could be pushed higher—or left untouched.

Back to the players. Take Lampard, for example. He shared some similarities with Gerrard, but from the days of Martin O’Neill to Jose Mourinho, they had clearly positioned him as a central midfielder, serving as a backup to Pirlo.

While Lampard might not possess Pirlo’s creative brilliance, he could certainly add greater defensive solidity. His offensive duties involved making incisive runs and taking long-distance shots, allowing him to maintain his natural range of movement while still having clearly defined responsibilities on the pitch.

Then there was Gattuso, Carrick, and Hargreaves, who was being groomed specifically for a role similar to Makélélé’s—dedicating 80% of his energy to defending, while using the remaining 20% to initiate attacks.

Nothing else mattered. Mastering these two roles would provide far greater value than trying to develop an all-around skill set.

Players who were capable of both attacking and defending might sound impressive, but as competition intensified and the differences between top teams became smaller, expecting one player to dominate both ends of the pitch was simply wishful thinking.

It was much the same with another player Richard had been keeping an eye on at Liverpool: Michael Owen.

Owen’s trajectory reminded Richard of countless talented forwards who had come before him. At the beginning of his career, He had been used almost relentlessly—a pure, explosive striker whose greatest weapons were his acceleration, movement, and ability to attack space behind the defensive line.

But that style came with a cost. Too many matches. Too little recovery. Too much reliance on explosive bursts of speed.

Two consecutive seasons of almost full-time football at such a young age were already beginning to take their toll. Richard didn’t need to be a doctor to recognize the pattern. Players who relied so heavily on acceleration and repeated sprints were especially vulnerable when their bodies weren’t given enough time to recover.

Back to the match~

"The second half of the Premier League match is underway. After Manchester City took a 1–0 lead in the first half with a screamer, Liverpool are back on the pitch, looking to turn things around.

Liverpool feature several new signings this summer, along with a number of homegrown talents. It is a youthful team, both in age and experience, so it remains to be seen whether they can withstand Manchester City’s potent attacking force.

The result? Their 5-3-2, with two young midfielders, looks shaky.

The second half begins with Liverpool kicking off. They play a few passes across the back to establish their rhythm, but their first attempt to move the ball forward ends in a mistake.

Richard studies the young talents in Liverpool’s lineup, particularly those in midfield. Aside from Dietmar Hamann, who is twenty-four, the other three midfielders are all around twenty years old.

Hamann plays as the defensive midfielder, while the other three can either form a diamond midfield or line up in a flat four-man midfield. Which shape they will ultimately settle into remains to be seen.

Players like Simpson, who once shone in Liverpool’s highly regarded 1996 youth setup, would soon demonstrate how difficult it was to replicate that success at the highest level. His career would take a winding path. After being cast aside by Liverpool, he would claw his way back through the lower leagues before eventually earning an England shirt.

An inspiring story, perhaps—but nothing more than that in Richard’s eyes.

As for Danny Murphy, Richard could only remember him as the so-called "Manchester United killer." Beyond that, he struggled to recall any truly breathtaking performances Murphy might produce on the pitch.

For Richard, the midfield was the real question.

Could these young players withstand the pressure?

Where is Gerrad?!

They had looked dangerous from the opening whistle, but City’s midfield—especially Deco, Pirlo, and Lampard—had been highly active in the center of the pitch. The three moved intelligently, constantly looking for opportunities to push forward.

Then, just after the start of the second half, Lampard found a pocket of space outside the penalty area.

A loose ball fell to him. He took one touch to settle it.

Then he struck.

BANG!

The shot flew through a crowded defense and beat the goalkeeper, nestling into the bottom corner.

’So that’s your answer.’

Liverpool 0–1 Manchester City.

The first forty-five minutes have already made one thing abundantly clear.

The best defense is a good offense.