After a day of training, the gates of Luton's training base were opened.
Margis glared menacingly at the group of reporters at the entrance. Gao Bo had instructed that absolutely no one other than the team's players should have the opportunity to spy on the situation inside the training base. To block the reporters' view, the original iron gate of the training base was covered with a thin layer of iron sheet.
The players drove out of the gate with a roar, giving the reporters no chance.
Because Gao Bo had now issued a media silence order to the team, all players were prohibited from accepting media interviews during this period.
Adam sat in Vardy's car, along with Kanté and others.
"New car?!?! Cool!!!!"
Adam touched here and there in the car, his expression quite excited.
Usually, Adam or Kanté would walk back by themselves. It's not that they can't afford a car—even though they are only League One players, their income is still higher than most ordinary people in England. It's just that neither of them has passed the driving test yet. Kanté still needs an English teacher...
Vardy recently signed a new contract offered by the team. Under Gao Bo's persuasion, the owner David Morton finally agreed to break the team's salary cap.
Gao Bo increased Vardy's salary to £12,000 a week in one go. He is now, like Kanté, one of the highest-paid players in the team.
A salary of £12,000 is actually a very exaggerated salary for a League One team. After all, even for the core players of those teams at the top of the League One table, the average salary is only around five or six thousand pounds. And now Vardy's salary has basically reached the level of an average Premier League player.
The reason Luton dared to make such a large salary increase is because the team's income has greatly increased this season. The team has already earned more than one million pounds from FA Cup ticket sales alone. Coupled with the television broadcast revenue and match bonuses, the team's income from the FA Cup is close to three million pounds!
No other League One team can match this income. In addition, the team's home games are always sold out, and Sky Sports has also broadcast several of Luton's League One matches, which has made Luton's income even higher!
And it can be expected that Charlie Austin's asking price will continue to rise. Manchester United, which is currently offering the highest price, has already raised the price to five million pounds.
With the increase in income, raising the salaries of core players has also been put on the agenda.
A major motivation for professional players to play football is their salary. If the salary doesn't keep up, relying on feelings alone won't keep people. Gao Bo is also unwilling to let the players who follow him suffer too much economically, so he insists on raising the salaries of the team's core members to over £10,000.
The American David Morton is also preparing to push the team into the capital market. For a team, the biggest asset is undoubtedly the players in their team, so David Morton has nothing to say about retaining players.
Now this American is single-mindedly thinking about how to make money through the capital market.
From a bricklayer earning £300 a week to a professional player earning more than £10,000 a week, Vardy's life has undergone earth-shattering changes in the past six months.
"You're going to start in the final, Adam!"
Vardy said while driving: "Then you have to seize the opportunity. With your physical fitness, you won't even be able to last the first half, will you?"
"I've improved a lot now..." Adam sat in the back seat, "I really want to become an iron man like N'Golo..."
Adam looked at Kanté next to him with some envy.
Recently, the team has been working on a new formation in the training base. The players all know that the coach has created this lineup to use in the final, so everyone is very motivated.
...
The reporters who had been squatting at the gate for a long time gained nothing. They couldn't get any news from Luton's training base.
"Luton has been in closed training for nine days. In these nine days, no media has been able to approach their training base. Luton's coach and players have not accepted any interviews. In order to prepare for this FA Cup match, the Luton team has almost completely locked themselves in the training base. No one knows what their Chinese coach is up to..."
Benitez frowned as he held the newspaper.
His assistant Ayestarán knew what Benitez was thinking: "It's nothing more than a dense defense. All we need to do is pay attention to their counterattacks!"
Benitez nodded. He put himself in Gao Bo's position and found that Luton definitely had no other tricks to use besides defensive counterattacks.
Liverpool attacks, Luton defends.
This is the script for the FA Cup final.
Could there be any surprises?
Benitez put the newspaper on the table.
It seems that the Chinese coach's tricks are still a bit effective. At least I'm a little uneasy about what Luton has come up with.
Unlike Luton, Liverpool seemed much more confident before the game.
Team captain Gerrard said in an interview: "It's a pity for our fans that we didn't make a breakthrough in the league and the Champions League this season. But the only consolation is that we brought back the FA Cup trophy."
"Liverpool still has a final to play?!" the reporter reminded.
Gerrard smiled: "This is the FA Cup final. I don't think there will be any suspense in the match. We are Liverpool!"
"But they eliminated Chelsea..."
"We are Liverpool! Our players will not be careless in the final!" Gerrard interrupted the reporter before he could finish speaking.
For Gerrard, this championship is already a certainty.
Benitez didn't really agree with Gerrard's view, but the other party had already said so in the media, and Benitez couldn't do anything about it.
Let him criticize Gerrard?
To be honest, Benitez knew very well that this team could not do without Gerrard. He was the soul of Liverpool and someone that a foreign coach from Spain could not afford to offend.
"Yes, we only have the FA Cup championship left to fight for, and we will do our best for it," Benitez said at the pre-match press conference.
Gao Bo, who had been silent in the media for more than ten days, was finally caught by reporters at the press conference, and a series of questions were thrown at him.
"Does Luton have a chance to beat Liverpool?"
"The ball is round, and everyone has a chance in this game."
"Whose chances are greater?"
"You should flip a coin yourself to calculate it."
"What do you think of Liverpool?"
"They are an English giant and a strong team."
"Luton has been in closed training for more than ten days. Is this in preparation for dealing with Liverpool?"
"That goes without saying!"
Gao Bo answered the questions raised by the reporters briefly with a blank expression.
The pre-match press conference ended quickly. In order to prepare for tomorrow's final, Gao Bo decided to let the team set off a day early and head to Wembley!
After the press conference, Gao Bo led the team on the journey to the FA Cup final venue.
After Gao Bo waited for all the players to get on the bus, he looked at the setting sun in the distance.
Going to London this time, I hope to see the rising sun.