Chapter 45 Young Guard

Florence is enough to make people envious. Look at their lineup and you can see that the oldest in the first team is 29 years old, and the youngest La Nokia is only 19 years old.

Future!

They represent the future!

When the Italian league is getting sluggish, and all kinds of giants are facing an embarrassing situation of aging lineup, Florence, a reborn purple lily, has completed the reform of rejuvenation.

Degan, the core player of the team, is 21 years old. With his physical fitness and technical characteristics, he can still fight on the court for at least 15 years. What does 15 years mean? From the establishment to collapse of a dynasty to reconstruction, it will not take so long.

At the end of last season, many teams wanted to dig the corners of Florence. Those young talents made many rich families jealous, but in the end, only Rome won. However, Gambellini, who was poached by them, was not the absolute main force in Florence, and it was important at best. A little young player.

At the beginning of the new season, the young storm in Florence obviously has a more and more fierce trend. In the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, they beat the Dutch team Ferienold at home and away, and the first round of the league swept last season's Serie A dark Empoli by 7:0.

Some people said last season that the Florentine players are too young and lack experience in playing, but now let's take a look. Those who say those words should stop talking.

Young Guards!

Who doesn't want to have such a team, but it is not so easy to establish a truly competitive young guard.

Now the young guards familiar to the fans are just the former White Leeds United and Ferguson's 92 golden generation.

For Degan, what he admires most is the Leeds Youth Guards, which once caused a sensation in England. This story of the White Army began in 1998.

At the beginning of that season, 17 of the 38-person registration forms of Leeds United were under 22 years old, 4 were under 25 years old, and only 5 players over 30 years old. Smith is only 18 years old and scored 7 goals in 9 appearances. How enviable the age structure is.

After Graham's comeback that year, the old fox Graham made Leeds United his first team to coach because he saw the team's youth and plasticity.

At that time, the quality of the young people was amazing. Two of the team played for England under 21 team, five played for England under 19 team, and several young people played for the Irish national team and Northern Ireland under 21 team.

Graham predicted at that time: "This group of players will play an important role in England within three years, and Leeds United will also shock England."

It turns out that Glenham's prediction at that time has become a reality in the future. In the 2000/2001 season, three years after Glenham said that sentence, the "White Rose" from Yorkshire, England, was in full swing, and the energetic Leeds United elites will reach the top four in the Champions League. , using strength to write the most glorious chapter in the history of the club.

After a brief glory, on May 8, 2001, Mestaria Stadium, Spain. Sanchez, who scored twice, and Mendieta, the icing on the cake, helped Valencia beat Leeds United 3-0, and the Champions League myth of the "Young Guards" also came to an end.

If Leeds United is also regarded by the hot British media as a foot in the final after a 0-0 home draw with Valencia in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, then the head-on blow of the "Bat Army" is enough to make the flowering period of "White Rose" end early.

Even so, the White Rose from England is still worthy of respect. They stood out from the group of death. They are the only Premier League team that advanced to the top four of the Champions League this season, and they achieved the club's best results in the Champions League.

When Leeds United was in Group H with Barcelona, AC Milan and Besiktas, the vast majority of fans thought that the young seedlings in the Premier League could die. In such a death group, the "Young Guards" had no chance of winning. The two giants in Italy and West were the popular teams to qualify. Leeds United's first game 0 ∶4 The defeat to Barcelona also seems to illustrate this point.

But the nightmare start did not defeat Leeds United's ambition. In the second game of the group, Bowyer's long-range shot in the 88th minute caused Dida's low-level mistake. With this ball, Leeds United defeated AC Milan 1-0 and scored a valuable three-pointer.

Immediately after Leeds United beat Besiktas in the third round of the group, which was a classic. After Bowier opened the home team's first record, the "White Rose" was full of firepower. The goals of Viduka, Smith, Buck and Huckby completely collapsed the opponent's psychological defense line. Finally, Bowyer's shot in the stoppage time stage for the team The massacre was painted with a rest.

In the following three group matches, Leeds United drew three opponents in the group stage and successfully made it into the second stage of the group stage.

In the second stage, Leeds United, Real Madrid, Anderlecht and Lazio are in Group D. Compared with the first grouping, Oriri's team's life is better, but Lazio is still a difficult bone.

In the opening match of the group, Real Madrid gave Leeds a boost at 2:0, but the "young guard" quickly adjusted their state and narrowly defeated Lazio 1-0 with Smith's final kill in the second round.

Next, in the face of the "point ambassador" Anderlecht, Leeds United will certainly not miss the opportunity. In the first encounter with the Belgian strong team, they relied on Hart and Bowyer's goal 2:1 to reverse the victory after losing a goal. In the second round of the encounter between the two teams, Leeds United easily defeated their opponents 4:1 and played Three consecutive victories.

In the fifth round away against Real Madrid, Leeds United lost 2:3 to their opponents. In the last round of the group, Oriri's team played a high score of 3:3 with Lazio, and finally reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League with three wins, one draw and two losses.

In the quarter-final of the Champions League, Leeds United met on a narrow road. In the first round of the competition between the two sides, the "young guards" decided the world. Hart, Smith and Ferdinand's break-offs made the home team win 3:0. After the game, the British media' comments were concise: the young men of Leeds United grew out Son, they are more mature.

Although they lost 0:2 in the second game, Leeds United narrowly entered the quarterfinals with a total score of 3:2.

But in the end, White Rose failed to break through the encirclement of the Iberian team twice in a row, Valencia ended the progress of Leeds United, and this white-clothed legend also stopped abruptly.

However, in that season's Champions League, Leeds used his actions to explain why newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. The miraculous journey of the Champions League also made many young talents in the team famous and opened the glorious thorn road of their career.

That season, Leeds United had a brilliant record in the Champions League, and Leeds United in the Premier League also ranked fourth after Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, becoming a very competitive iron army.

The next 2001/2002 season was the last glory of Leeds United. In the summer of 2001, Fowler and Robby were introduced one after another. After Keane, Leeds United's investment reached an amazing level.

From 1995 to 2001, the team's total investment in the transfer market reached 126.08 million pounds. However, during these seven years, the income from the sale of players by "White Rose" was only 45995 million pounds, with a transfer loss of 80.9 million pounds. Most importantly, Leeds United's high investment did not bring high returns. After the season, Newcastle United squeezed out the top four of the Premier League, and financial problems also became an important factor plaguing the team. It is no exaggeration to say that the 2001/2002 season became a turning point for Leeds United to flourish and decline.

In the 2002/2003 season, the wise head coach David. Ollie retreated bravely and handed over the mess behind him to Vinables, but the latter was unable to control the "young guards" that were growing infighting.

In the middle of the season, although the team changed its coach, no one could combine the team into a whole. Leeds United' results in the Premier League fell sharply this season. In the end, they only ranked 15th and barely relegated, and many problems of the team began to surface.

At the beginning of the 2003/2004 season, Cowell, Bowyer, Martin, Woodgate, Dakota, Fowler and other famous players left the team one after another, and the departure of many stars caused the strength of Leeds United to suffer a serious defeat. Throughout the season, Leeds United has only won 8 games, and White Rose ranks 19th in the standings with 33 points, and relegation is inevitable.

After the relegation, Leeds United did not have the capital to retain the team's stars. Viduka, Mills, Robinson, Smith, Hart and other players left the team for their own future. Although White Rose began to make a surplus in the transfer market, she paid the price for her achievements.

In the first season of the Championship in the new century, Leeds United only ranked 14th. At the end of the season, South African defender Radbe, who had played for "White Rose" for 11 years, announced his retirement, and the team lost its defensive line.

Leeds United's nightmare has been last season and completely accepted euthanasia. Due to poor financial conditions, Leeds United was severely punished by 10 points by the FA before the start of the season, plus the new coach Dennis. Wise failed to complete the team's running-in as soon as possible, and the fate of the "Young Guards" was doomed to be relegated.

Leeds United only won 13 victories in the whole season, and finally ended their journey to the Championship as a "deputy monitor" and fell into League One.

The Leeds United Youth Guards, which were heavily in debt due to the purchase of star players, changed from the originator of the youth storm to a "fallen angel". From the Premier League to the Championship to the League One, the White Rose withered and was forgotten in an inconspicuous corner in ten years.

A glass of wine in spring breeze, ten years of rain in the world. Today's Leeds United has already changed its appearance in the years, but people will still remember the shining names of Viduka, Ferdinand, Dakota and Smith, and the conquest of the white-clothed "Young Guards" in the Champions League, although they have not In the center of the stage, although their story is as far away as a dream. Even those memories don't need to be awakened at all. They have never been extremely clear.

Degan doesn't want his team to be as a flash in the pan-ituation of Leeds United. What he wants is to conquer, a complete conquest. Today's Florence has more youthful and potential than the Leeds United back then.

In Degan's plan, Fiorentina will not imitate Leeds United for a short time, but the more attractive Ferguson Class 92.

Now people generally say that Manchester United 92 golden generation, Ferguson's children, generally refers to the youth team that Manchester United won the Youth FA Cup in 1992.

At that time, Manchester United's 1992 youth team was full of talents and superstars, which can be said to be rare in history. At that time, the coach of Manchester United youth team was Harrison, and the players were: goalkeeper Kevin. Pilkinton, the defender is Gary. Neville, John. Ocahn, Chris. Caspar, George. Sweitzer, the avant-garde are Giggs and David. Beckham, Niki. Bart and Simon. Davis, Colin. McGee and Gillespi, the striker is Ben. Thornley, Robby. Savage, Raphael. Booker, Andy. Norn, Richard. Ilvin, Giovanni. Korovsky.

Of course, the 92 class that people are talking about now also includes Philip who joined the team later. Neville and Scholes.

This young man in Class 92 later became the backbone of Manchester United, including Beckham, Neville Brothers, Giggs, Scholes and Bart.

They created the first wave of glory for Manchester United under Ferguson, three consecutive championships, three crowns, and a Champions League champion. Ferguson's children won unimaginable results and honors.

Of course, Digan can't expect that his background and reputation can't be compared with AC Milan's Florence from nothing. The youth team has discovered a group of young people to dominate the world football.

What Degan wants is to follow the model of Leeds United and achieve the same success as Manchester United. For two consecutive summers, Florence acquired young talents in the transfer market according to Degan's requirements. After Prandelli's **, it gradually grew into a young guard enough to shake the hegemony of any rich family. .

If last season is just a warning, then this season is the time for the storm to officially attack. What the Florence youth guards led by Degan have to do is to destroy all the opponents in front of them. Empoli is just the beginning of Florence's campaign for the whole season, the victim of the flag, the real The opponent should be a rich team like AC Milan.

To what extent will the Florentine Young Guards reach?

Digan doesn't want to predict!

He only knew that the purple lily would surpass the white rose, and then chase the red devil!