Wenger Officially Sacked! Tang Long: My Fault? I Was Just Celebrating My 20th Birthday!
Young player Welbeck had told Tang Long before the match that he wanted to exchange jerseys with him.
But after such a crushing defeat, how could he dare to ask Tang Long for his jersey? He'd be torn apart by fans and media after the game.
Eight balls! A whole eight balls!
This was absolutely the most painful defeat of Arsenal player's career.
Moreover, this is not a friendly match or an amateur game, but a regular Premier League match!
Guardiola steeled himself and walked over to Wenger to shake his hand.
In the previous round against Bournemouth, they scored 6 goals against the opponent, which directly led to the dismissal of the opponent's manager Eddie.
Remembering the promise Guardiola made to their coach Eddie before the match, Guardiola somewhat guilty and turned to walk into the players' tunnel as soon as the game ended. This prompted some nosy UK media to make sarcastic remarks:
"Guardiola lacks responsibility; he benefits from the game but then acts innocent. He beats his opponent but doesn't dare shake hands with the opposing coach—it's a cowardly act!"
Therefore, Guardiola will not choose to run away this time.
But when he grasped Wenger's large hand, he felt an icy chill that startled him.
London's climate in September is pleasant, with a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius—neither too hot nor too cold.
But Wenger's hands were as cold as ice.
Guardiola wanted to say a few words of comfort to Wenger, but Wenger just nodded at him without saying a word, patted Guardiola on the back, and turned to leave.
"That was awesome! It was so exciting to watch! The Premier League is definitely the best league in the world!"
The stands at the Emirates Stadium.
Among the group of blond people, a middle-aged man with dark hair sighed deeply.
Wang Wen, formerly the director of CCTV -5, has now been promoted to director of CCTV's Sports Youth Program Center.
His promotion was quite dramatic.
Do you remember when Tang Long first showed his talent at Serie A Milan in Serie A? He played well in every game after that, and his meteoric rise was amazing!
A deputy director of CCTV, who was in charge of live sports broadcasts, ordered Wang Wen, the director of CCTV-5 at the time, to go to Sky Sport Italy to discuss with the broadcasters about bringing the broadcasting rights for the Coppa Italia final (Inter Milan vs. Juventus) to CCTV, thereby enhancing CCTV's influence in China and preventing other online platforms from getting a share of the pie.
This is absolutely a historic decision.
Although CCTV began broadcasting Serie A in the 1990s, it has never broadcast the Coppa Italia!
The reason why everyone is so eager to participate in a cup competition is simply because Tang Long has become a sensation in China.
Initially, Director Wang was full of confidence, feeling that the station was being too conservative. A Coppa Italia final had a budget of 8 million RMB? Did they really need that much money? How much did the Chinese Super League broadcast Chinese Super League three years cost? It couldn't be that much.
As Asia's largest sports broadcasting station, Channel 5 has an illustrious reputation, and Sky Sport would certainly be very willing to cooperate with us.
Who would have thought that Sky Sport would ask for a whopping 8 million euros from TV5?
Wang Wen was shocked by this number: 8 million euros, more than 60 million RMB...
"Damn it! Our total broadcasting fee for the 2014 Chinese Super League season was only 50 million RMB, and they want 60 million RMB for a single match! This is blatant robbery!"
When the leaders of the central station learned of this, they were so angry that they cursed.
"Is this little Coppa Italia inlaid with gold? 60 million for a match? That's outrageous! Even if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played in this Coppa Italia, it wouldn't be worth that price!"
I thought there was no point in even talking anymore.
Unexpectedly, Tang Long scored a long-range lob shot from the center circle in the subsequent match against Udinese!
The next day, as Wang Wen Wendou was packing his bags to say goodbye and return to China, the receptionist called him and told him to stay calm.
"Xiao Wang, yesterday is yesterday, today is today. The situation is constantly changing, you know that?"
"You might not know this since you're not in the country, but let me put it this way: from last night to this morning, there's been an overwhelming amount of news about Tang Long!"
"The top five trending topics on Weibo are all about him!"
"Countless fans went absolutely crazy because of that lob shot! No, no, no, this kid has even gone viral; little girls and old ladies who don't watch football are talking about him!"
"Huh? Really?" Wang Wen was taken aback.
"Of course it's true! We've also received a lot of complaints from fans, saying that we broadcast Serie A and the UEFA Champions League, so why not the Coppa Italia? They're strongly demanding that this season's Coppa Italia final be included in CCTV-5's broadcast schedule!"
A few bitter laughs came from the other end of the phone.
"This morning, quite a few fans even came to our stadium and held up banners, saying that if they couldn't see the Coppa Italia final, they would block the entrance to our office building and prevent us from working!"
After a series of difficult negotiations, Director Wang lived up to expectations and completed the task.
The final transaction cost was 7 million euros, for just this one match!
When Wang Wen returned to China, he thought he had signed a contract that would humiliate Taiwan and be severely criticized. He slunk away from work, not daring to use the front door, and sneaked in through the back door, hiding in the office without making a sound.
Unexpectedly, when the Coppa Italia final began and CCTV-5 became the only broadcaster from China, the results were astonishing!
5.02!
Such ratings are truly astonishing, setting a new viewership record for CCTV-5 in nearly ten years!
It's even 0.1 percentage points higher than the 2014 World Cup final!
After this match, advertisers on CCTV-5 who want product placement will have to pay at least three times the price!
With its revenue soaring, it became the most profitable of CCTV's more than ten channels!
The entire department achieved excellent annual performance and was recognized as an outstanding department, resulting in a significant increase in bonuses for all employees!
Wang Wen himself became famous overnight, and the following year, he was promoted from director of CCTV-5 to director of CCTV 'Sports Youth Program Center.
CCTV has multiple centers responsible for the production and business management of different types of programs.
The promotion from channel director to director of other centers means taking charge of more comprehensive and extensive program content and business operations, requiring a more comprehensive control over the production and distribution of different types of programs.
Wang Wen's promotion, while based on his own excellent professional skills, was also related to the huge impact of Tang Long's passionate victory in the Coppa Italia final, winning his first professional championship.
After tasting the benefits of becoming Director Wang, Director Wang, driven by greed, set his sights on the position of Deputy Director.
"If I want to advance further and become the deputy director, I must produce more results. As the director of the Sports Youth Program Center, I am responsible for the planning, production, and broadcasting of sports events and other programs for CCTV. This is a perfect match for my job, and I have the advantage of being in a good position. I must make a big splash!"
This time, Director Wang led a large group of six or seven people to London to visit Sky Sport' London headquarters.
The goal is to secure the Premier League broadcasting rights for this season.
Sky Sport has exclusively licensed the Premier League broadcasting rights in China to LeSports this season.
Seeing the latter's dominance and how Tang Long's influence in China allowed him to make a fortune through various product placements, Director Wang Wen was itching to do the same.
After watching the Manchester City vs. Arsenal match, Wang Wen was deeply impressed by Tang Long's record-breaking fastest hat-trick, and felt even more anxious, wishing that Tang Long's image would immediately appear on CCTV-5's broadcast.
"Tang Long is the only son in our entire village. We absolutely cannot let other platforms steal this commercial value!"
He immediately went to London to discuss the matter.
At the post-match press conference.
Guardiola brought Tang Long with him.
A reporter from the London- based newspaper, the Times, asked Guardiola:
"Mr. Guardiola! Do you know what your 8-1 scoreline against Arsenal means for Professor Wenger?"
Guardiola looked at the furious the Times reporter with a murderous expression and sensed that the man was up to no good.
He coughed twice and tried to answer in a tactful and apologetic tone:
"I apologized to Mr. Wenger after the match. I'm very sorry. I know this is a painful memory for any coach. Being a coach is very difficult; you face all kinds of pressure. Although this match was a painful defeat, Mr. Wenger's contribution to Arsenal is indelible. He will always be one of the best managers in the Premier League. I..."
The reporter interrupted Guardiola, speaking loudly:
"No, you don't know! Let me tell you, Mr. Wenger's biggest defeat in his Arsenal career was 2-8 against Manchester United. And you? You beat them 1-8, you brought Mr. Wenger his biggest defeat ever, congratulations, Pep!"
Guardiola was taken aback by the reporter's sarcastic tone.
His coaching career was largely spent in Spain and Germany. Although he had studied the style of play in the Premier League and the tactics of various top clubs before coming to the Premier League, he was unaware of the most painful defeat Wenger suffered while managing Arsenal.
In the third round of the 2011/2012 Premier League season, Arsenal suffered a humiliating 2-8 defeat to Manchester United.
Rooney scored a hat-trick, Ashley Young netted twice with a stunning strike, and Welbeck, Nani, and Park Ji-sung also scored. For Arsenal, Walcott and Van Persie scored consolation goals for their team.
This is the first time Arsenal has conceded eight goals in a single game since their 0-8 defeat to Loughborough in the Second Division in 1896, and it is the biggest defeat Arsène Wenger has suffered since taking charge of Arsenal!
But today, the record has been rewritten!
Manchester City 8-1 Arsenal!
This will forever remain a painful memory for all Arsenal fans.
In Guardiola's mind, Wenger is a highly respected old gentleman who is more than 20 years older than him.
It's fair to say that while Wenger had already achieved great success at Arsenal, winning the Premier League title, Guardiola was still playing football.
So even though the reporter's sarcastic remarks made Guardiola think, "Anything can happen in a football match, we haven't broken any rules, so why should it affect me?", he still calmly replied:
"I'm sorry, but I need to repeat myself, I have great respect for Wenger and his football philosophy, and to reiterate, he is one of the best coaches in the world."
Guardiola's answer was naturally tight-lipped, as he tried to evade the media.
However, when it was Tang Long's turn to answer, he was much less polite and spoke his mind directly.
"You asked me why I scored two more goals after the score was 4-1?"
"Because I want to complete the hat trick!"
"... What, I was wrong? A hat trick isn't that important?"
"Should I respect Arsenal and Wenger?"
Facing the aggressive reporter from the Times, Tang Long, who had long disliked his tone, smiled faintly:
"Excuse me, I don't care about the biggest defeat. I just wanted to tell you that today is my 20th birthday, and to celebrate, I scored a hat-trick. Is that wrong?"