Reverse

Chapter 178 Like-minded, Different Paths, Same Destination

"Xiaofeng, what are you thinking?"

Fu Xiaofeng, who was lying in bed preparing to sleep, suddenly heard Chu Yu from the next bed ask a question.

He was completely bewildered: "What do you mean, what were you thinking?"

"When Tsai Ing-wen looked at you during the meeting, why did you say there was no problem?"

Fu Xiaofeng countered, "What's the problem with that?"

"You should be aware of how demanding your role is in the national team's new tactics, right? Defensively, you have to drop back; offensively, you have to push forward; and you also have to press into the opponent's penalty area, all the way to the goal. The coverage area is large, and the tasks are more numerous and demanding. Can your stamina handle it?"

"Otherwise what? Would I say I'm not good enough in front of so many people and ask Commander Cai and the others to reduce the weight of my load?" Fu Xiaofeng chuckled, thinking that Chu Yu's question was very stupid.

"So you actually..."

"Don't worry, Captain Chu, I'm a professional. Don't fret about those things. Just watch whether I've completed the head coach's tasks on the field. Go to sleep, we have training tomorrow."

Hearing the noises coming from Fu Xiaofeng's bed, Chu Yu guessed that Fu Xiaofeng had probably turned over and was facing away from him, which meant that the other party did not want to continue talking to him.

He could understand Fu Xiaofeng's thoughts. After all, Fu Xiaofeng was never the kind of person who trained particularly hard in the national team, but his performance on the field was not bad, and he could basically complete the tasks given to him by the coach.

Otherwise, how could he have secured a starting position on the national team for so many years?
Especially after Coach He took over, even Wang Lie was able to be replaced, but Fu Xiaofeng is still the team's main player.

This shows that Fu Xiaofeng's performance on the field was impeccable.

Football is, after all, a sport where the final result matters.

No matter how hard you train, if your actual performance in the competition is terrible, then diligence is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Wang Lie trains relentlessly, putting in extra training on top of his regular schedule. He has always been a positive role model that everyone talks about, mainly because of his good results: he can score goals, win games, and take championships.

When he was ridiculed by the whole world in the second half of last year, was it because he suddenly started going to nightclubs and living a dissolute life, and stopped training hard?

Of course not, it's because he couldn't produce any convincing performances, and he couldn't even get playing time at the club.

Chu Yu remembered that many people mocked Wang Lie back then, asking why he still couldn't impress head coach Heldon if he trained so hard. It was clear that his hard work, professionalism, and diligence were just a fabricated persona created by Wang Lie's team—a label...

Therefore, in the end, what people look at is your performance on the field. As for how you perform in training... it will ultimately be reflected in the game.

He felt that with Fu Xiaofeng's talent, meeting the requirements of the new tactics shouldn't be a problem.

Thinking this, Chu Yu turned over and went to sleep.

※※※

Now that the goal has been set and the new tactics have been communicated to the players, the rest is simple – practice!

Because the new tactics require the players involved to run a lot to create opportunities, physical training took up almost half of this training camp.

The remaining half of the article focuses on offensive and defensive training.

Especially in offense, we practice offensive tactics under various circumstances.

Furthermore, the coaching staff also experimented with different personnel combinations.

Although Cai Bokang used Wang Lie, Chi Zhen, and Fu Xiaofeng as examples when explaining tactics, the actual personnel combinations in a game cannot be so fixed. The coaching staff needs to consider preparing more personnel combinations to deal with different scenarios.

At the very least, center forward Tan Xingchang is indispensable. When the opponent plays a tight defense, there is a big difference between having a strong center forward and having to find someone else to fill in at center.

Players like Tan Xingchang give the Chinese team more tactical flexibility.

In Cai Bokang's tactical design for the Chinese team, there was also a personnel combination that involved starting Tan Xingchang, Wang Lie, and Chi Zhen together, with the Chinese team's formation changed to 4-3-3.

Previously, Wang Lie was played as center forward because his athleticism had declined, limiting his range of movement and confining him to the penalty area. Now that Wang Lie's physical functions are fine, keeping him in the penalty area would be a waste.

Tan Xingchang, a center with both physical strength and skill, who can set up his teammates and is willing to play a supporting role, can greatly enrich the Chinese team's tactics.

Theoretically speaking, the new tactics designed by Cai Bokang for the Chinese team will definitely have a higher ceiling than before.

The question now is, how much of the players' theoretical potential can they achieve?

“A week of intensive training is still not enough…” Cai Bokang sighed. “We can’t see much of a training effect yet.”

"We didn't expect to develop anything from this training camp," He Zhenyong said. "We even changed our formation, from four defenders to three defenders... Everyone was used to four defenders, so asking them to switch to three defenders is not just a matter of losing one defender."

In the new tactics, the Chinese team's starting formation has changed from the 4-4-2 that they were used to, to the 3-5-2. The switch from a four-defender system to a three-defender system is not just a simple increase or decrease in numbers.

Increasing the number of midfielders from four to five is not a simple matter of comparing sizes; it doesn't mean that five midfielders are necessarily better than four.

Offense is only one part of this tactic, while the other parts are interconnected and can affect the whole situation.

Training for new tactics is definitely not as simple as just a few passing and running routes marked on a PowerPoint presentation.

Even if the players fully understand the positional relationships and passing routes on the two-dimensional plane of the PPT, it is still very troublesome and difficult to transform the two-dimensional things in their minds into three dimensions and switch from a third-person perspective to a first-person perspective when they are actually on the field.

People used to think of football as a purely physical game, even believing that only children who didn't do well in school would play it. But in reality, football is a complex game that requires both physical and mental skills. Players who struggle academically have very limited achievements in professional football.

"So, should we use the same tactics and formations as before in our match against North Korea?" Cai Bokang asked.

This issue needs to be decided by head coach He Zhenyong.

Unexpectedly, He Zhenyong shook his head: "No, we'll use the new tactics."

Cai Bokang was somewhat surprised: "But the team hasn't quite mastered the new tactics yet..."

He Zhenyong explained, "It's okay. There are still three rounds left in the qualifiers. We are currently six points ahead of third-placed Australia, and this round is Australia playing Iran away. There are risks, but overall it's manageable. I think it's worth a try. Whether our new tactics will work or not still needs to be tested in actual matches. Actual matches can also help us discover problems. There's only one year until the World Cup finals next year, and every match in this year is very valuable. Especially matches like the World Cup qualifiers, which are real and intense, have an effect that warm-up matches can't achieve."

Cai Bokang thought about it and agreed with He Zhenyong.

In these three remaining qualifying matches, the Chinese team only needs to win one to secure qualification. Is it possible they won't win a single match in all three rounds?

He felt that the possibility was extremely low.

"also."

Then he handed He Zhenyong a handwritten paper list: "This is the list of 25 people for the competition. Can you take a look and see if there is anything that needs to be adjusted?"

He Zhenyong took the list, looked at it carefully, and nodded: "These are the best players in each position during this training camp. There's nothing to adjust. Let's announce it according to this list tomorrow."

※※※

"...The national team's training camp in preparation for the match against North Korea is nearing its end. It is understood that the national team will depart for Pyongyang tomorrow to participate in the World Cup qualifier against North Korea...If the Chinese team can defeat North Korea away from home, they will basically secure a place in the World Cup finals two rounds in advance..."

The wife, who was watching the news, suddenly sighed. Her husband looked up at her in confusion and asked, "What's wrong?"

The wife said, "The training camp ends tomorrow. I don't know if our son will be able to stay on the national team..."

Her husband comforted her, "Don't worry about this. Just relax and think of it as him experiencing the atmosphere of the national team. Don't care too much about the result. He's still young, he'll have plenty of opportunities in the future..." "I've already bragged about it, and now you want me to relax..." his wife rolled her eyes at him.

The husband asked in confusion, "What kind of cowhide?"

"I told my colleagues to wait and see our son in the match against North Korea..."

"..." The husband was speechless. "Let's not even talk about whether he can stay in the national team. Even if he makes the match roster, who can guarantee that he will definitely play?"

"Didn't my son say he was working very hard in training?"

"Working hard in training doesn't guarantee you'll stay or get playing time! You're 'jinxing' people, you know that?!"

Knowing she was in the wrong, the wife still sobbed in rebuttal, "I'm just showing confidence in our son..."

The husband rolled his eyes at his wife, too lazy to say anything more to this woman. In the end, it wasn't him who would be facing his colleagues; whoever was bragging would be the one to lose face.

※※※

After training, Liu Jinxuan was stopped by the national team's new media team on the sidelines: "We want to do a short interview with you. Is 7:30 pm okay? Right here at the hotel."

"Huh? An interview?" Liu Jinxuan was taken aback, recalling what Xiaofeng had said to him at the airport...

He's been training for a week, why are we only being interviewed now?
"Sure, no problem." Although he didn't understand why the interview was delayed until almost the end of the training camp, Liu Jinxuan still agreed.

"Then let's add each other on WeChat and keep in touch?" The reporter from the new media took out his phone.

After Liu Jinxuan added the other person as a friend, he caught up with his teammate and headed towards the locker room.

On the way, Su Ju winked at him and said, "Congratulations, Xiao Liu!"

Liu Jinxuan didn't quite understand what was so congratulating about accepting an interview: "Isn't an interview just a routine procedure?"

Chi Zhen, who was standing next to him, explained, "Su Ju, this is to congratulate you on being selected for the national team's competition roster."

Su Ju nodded: "That's right, why would we interview you at this time? It's definitely because you're the only Chinese League One player on the national team, so it's meaningful. If you weren't selected for the matchday squad, would we even need to interview you? We could just pull you to the sidelines during training breaks and say a few words."

Liu Jinxuan was stunned.

He realized that Su Ge's words made sense and that if he hadn't made the final roster, what would be the point of this interview?
Unless the national team is deliberately trying to humiliate him, when it airs, everyone will laugh at him for not being selected and still spouting nonsense in interviews, it's simply shameful...

But I haven't offended the national team, so why would the national team do this?

Therefore, only if one has already been confirmed for the national team's competition roster will the national team's new media interview requests seem reasonable.

Despite the logical analysis leading to this conclusion, Liu Jinxuan still found it hard to believe.

When he first heard that he had been selected for the national team training camp, he was not as excited as his parents, because he felt that he was just there to make up the numbers. At most, the national team coaching staff wanted to evaluate new players. He did not think that he could stay in the national team and that he would definitely go home after participating in the training camp.

He only considered it as experiencing the atmosphere of the national team. After the training camp, the biggest gain was having a group of senior veterans as his WeChat friends.

As for when he can truly become a member of the national team, he's not in a hurry. After all, he's only nineteen, and he has plenty of time and opportunities.

However, after arriving at the national team and hearing Coach Wang's ambitious goals, his heart began to stir. He desperately wanted to stay with the national team and become a true "national player." At that moment, he didn't feel that he had plenty of time left, because there was only one year between now and the World Cup. He had to become a "regular national player" within that year; otherwise, why would Coach He select him for the World Cup roster?
Being able to fight for the championship with Wang in the World Cup would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, and he didn't want to miss it.

So during that week of intensive training, he was extremely proactive and hardworking, keeping up even with the high intensity of the training, afraid of leaving the coaching staff with even the slightest bad impression.

He had also secretly analyzed his own strengths and how he could stay in the national team.

The timing is actually quite delicate – if he had been selected for the national team training camp in September, he would have been more confident of staying.

Because by then the Chinese team should have already qualified, the head coach, in order to assess new talent, will likely include more players who haven't previously been on the national team or rarely get playing time. Meanwhile, the European season will be in full swing, and the national team's key players will need rest.

The national team's match against North Korea is crucial in determining whether they can advance to the next round.

In these kinds of competitions, the coaching staff will likely play it safe and won't give newcomers many opportunities, so his chances of being selected for the national team roster are very low...

After analyzing everything, Liu Jinxuan never expected that he would be so easily "spoiled".

※※※

Liu Jinxuan had no idea how he got back to the hotel; the route from the training ground to the hotel seemed to have been erased from his memory.

After he returned to his room, Chi Zhen noticed that he was still somewhat smug, so he half-jokingly said, "Do you want me to go out and let you call your parents to share the good news?"

Liu Jinxuan quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need, Brother Chi... It's not good to talk about things that haven't been confirmed yet, I'm afraid it will ruin my reputation!"

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that Brother Chi was probably subtly reminding him not to get too cocky.

So he sincerely thanked Chi Zhen: "Thank you, Brother Chi."

Chi Zhen shook his head with a smile: "What are you thanking me for? I was even more excited than you when I was first selected for the national team. I immediately posted on my WeChat Moments to announce it to the world. At the time, I pretended to be very calm and said something like 'one small step' in a very pretentious way. At least you didn't post on WeChat Moments. You were much more composed than I was back then."

Liu Jinxuan didn't know whether Chi Ge had made up this "dark history" to comfort himself, or whether he really had such a frivolous past.

But Chi-ge is right.

Being selected for the national team is indeed a remarkable achievement for him now, but from the perspective of his entire career, it is actually just a small step.

Making the national team is just the first step. The next step is to play for the national team, be a regular member, become a key player, play abroad, and win various championships and honors...

Making the national team roster doesn't guarantee playing time. Playing time doesn't guarantee a good performance. A good performance in this match doesn't guarantee a spot on the national team next time. And even if you make the national team next time, there's no guarantee you'll perform well again…

A player's career is a long marathon, and poor performance in any stage can affect their final career rating.

Many of those who were once selected for the national team have ended up fading into obscurity.

How can he ensure he doesn't repeat the mistakes of his predecessors? The answer is to never get carried away, no matter what.

In summary, it boils down to one sentence:

Victory is not arrogant, defeat is not discouraged.

※※※

During dinner, everyone gathered in the restaurant, and the coaching staff announced the final 25-man roster for the competition.

Liu Jinxuan was indeed among them.

For those players who were not selected for the national team match roster, head coach He Zhenyong thanked them on behalf of the national team for their hard work in training and hoped that they would continue to work hard and maintain their good form after returning to their clubs, waiting for the next call-up to the national team.

"...I hope that after you return to your clubs, you will still remember our common goal and strive for it. The national team is like a train; now that we have determined our destination, we will keep heading towards the final station. You are only getting off temporarily, and those on the train may also get off at some point along the way. But that's okay, as long as our goals are the same, we will all arrive at the same destination by different paths. I hope to meet you all again at some future station. I also hope that when we reach the final station, I will see you all there!"

After He Zhenyong finished speaking, applause rang out in the restaurant.

Liu Jinxuan took the photo with extra force.

He thought Coach He's explanation was excellent!
As long as the goal is the same, we will eventually arrive at the same destination by different paths!
(End of this chapter)