"Take over a golf practice course?"
"What would I do with that? I don't really know anything about golf."
Leo Lin had not caught it clearly at first. He had been thinking about whether to have pan-seared steak or grilled prawns for dinner.
After Barnett repeated himself, Leo Lin understood. Barnett was not asking him to play golf. He wanted him to become the owner of a golf practice course. It was an investment.
"Do you know why rich people like playing golf?"
"Every swing can be measured in money. Every ball they hit doesn't represent accuracy so much as their status and wealth. That might be why golf is so popular with rich people."
"Personally, I think it's because on such a huge course, when they take shot after shot, slowly following the route until they reach the end, it gives them the feeling that they've conquered the whole golf course."
"Of course, it's also a sport that really tests coordination and precision."
"A lot of football and basketball players like golf too. Take the most famous golf fanatic among my clients, Gareth Bale. I've heard Curry likes golf as well, and he's pretty good at it."
Barnett found it funny whenever he thought of Bale. Bale would even give up training time to play golf. If the club allowed it, Bale would probably wish there were twenty-five hours in a day, all of them spent on the golf course.
Barnett wanted Leo Lin to invest. Leo Lin's income was already very high, but if the money just sat there, his expenses would eat through it sooner or later.
For example, the maintenance on his private sports cars, the upkeep of his mansion, and all sorts of extra costs.
"I've asked around. Quite a few people want to buy it, but as long as you want it, I can guarantee you'll get the right to purchase it."
"The current owner is asking for six hundred and eighty thousand pounds. I can negotiate it down to six hundred thousand for you, but after that, you'll need to spend your own money improving the surrounding facilities, including the car park, snack shops, and so on. The final cost shouldn't exceed one million pounds."
"If business is good, you'll make your money back in five years, and after that it's all profit. If we factor in your celebrity appeal, I estimate you could break even in about three years."
Over dinner, Barnett and Leo Lin were still discussing it. After hearing everything, Leo Lin felt it was feasible and looked at Maria. She nodded as well.
"No problem. Then I'll take it. But if it loses money one day, you're taking responsibility."
Leo Lin smiled and patted Barnett. Barnett always thought of him first when it came to good opportunities like this.
The original owner was leaving England for personal reasons, so he had decided to sell. Leo Lin seized the chance.
Before long, six hundred thousand pounds was transferred into the former owner's account, and Leo Lin took over a golf course covering around thirty thousand square meters. At the same time, he began hiring people to build a car park with one hundred spaces, along with four snack shops.
Leo Lin kept all of the golf course's original employees and gave them a ten percent pay rise. That single move instantly won the support of every long-serving employee for their new owner.
As for the name of the golf course, Leo Lin simply named it after himself. Perhaps in the future, he would buy a second and a third, creating his own chain of golf courses.
After completing the golf course acquisition, Leo Lin immediately threw himself into preparations for the EFL Cup final.
On March 20, Liverpool's second final of the season arrived. The EFL Cup final against Chelsea. Chelsea were struggling with injuries, especially at centre-forward, where they were desperately short of options.
So for this final, Chelsea sent out a smaller attacking front line. The young left winger Callum Hudson-Odoi started on the left, Willian remained on the right, and Hazard filled in through the middle.
In midfield, Chelsea's new signing Jorginho partnered Kanté and Kovačić.
Emerson started at left back, Rüdiger partnered Christensen at centre back, Azpilicueta played right back, and the young, handsome Kepa started in goal.
In the latest Spain national team squad, Kepa had been selected as the third-choice goalkeeper.
He had once seen Leo Lin address the dressing room like a true leader. Now, back at club level and facing Leo Lin again, Kepa could only hope his own back line would not leave Leo Lin any shooting space, because he knew exactly how terrifying this guy was.
On the day of the final, at 8 p.m. England time, the match officially kicked off.
Liverpool sent out their strongest lineup. After the match began, injury-hit Chelsea took the initiative to sit back and counter, showing little desire to attack.
When they did go forward, Chelsea mostly kept the ball on the ground, trying to create chances through the dribbling ability of their three smaller attacking players.
Hazard, Hudson-Odoi, and Willian kept trying to break through.
But apart from Hazard having the edge one-on-one, Hudson-Odoi and Willian found very few good openings out wide. Instead, Liverpool created more chances through the excellent form of Salah and Mané.
The 18th minute of the match.
"Mané is in excellent form today."
"Azpilicueta has been beaten!"
"Kanté chases back to intercept and crashes into Mané!"
Mané was almost knocked over, but he withstood Kanté's tackle and immediately passed into the middle.
"Firmino goes for the ball and collides with Rüdiger as well!"
"Foul!"
"An attacking foul by Firmino. He didn't reach the ball there, and Rüdiger defended decisively!"
Rüdiger had already become an important part of Chelsea's back line, while his usual partner, David Luiz, was not in the starting lineup.
The young Christensen started instead. Chelsea's new manager Sarri valued Christensen's mobility.
"Chelsea recently changed managers. After Conte left, Sarri took over."
"Sarri is also an advocate of possession-based football, but he's been trying to blend pure possession football with his own newer tactical ideas. That's why his team's possession style still doesn't have a very clear identity."
"It's strange, isn't it? Do coaches who like possession football all enjoy coming up with new tactical ideas of their own?"
"Guardiola is like that, and Cruyff was like that before him."
Scholes felt that Sarri's possession game lacked a clear identity, and that was exactly the weakness Klopp wanted to exploit in this match.
Sure enough, Chelsea's back line insisted on building from the back, while Sarri chewed tobacco and directed his players' passing routes.
At first, Liverpool did not press high. It was only after Firmino was called for the attacking foul that Liverpool began to press. But it was not the high press the fans were familiar with. It was a completely new Pressing tactic.
The Chelsea players were still insisting on short passes, but they had no idea what kind of new running-and-pressing approach they were about to face.
After studying it with his assistant coaches, Klopp had prepared a brand-new Pressing tactic specifically for Sarri's Chelsea.
Herding-style running Pressing.
...
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