Chapter 4 (24)

Just when Li Xiaolin reminded Gao Jinsong not to make trouble for himself, in the assistant coach's office on the first floor of the base office building, acting head coach Yan Liangcheng and his two assistants, as well as the club's general manager Wu Xingguang and the team's leader, were sitting together to discuss how to hold tonight's meeting.

There were several topics for tonight's meeting, the most important of which was the part about Sunday's league game, the tactical characteristics of the opposition, the habitual behaviour in the defensive attacking system, the defensive of key players, and the tactics to be adopted by the team to deal with the opponent – including tactical requirements and tactical set-ups. Before explaining the tactics, it is also necessary to tell the players what the club has for this game - a mid-table team like Yafeng never expects a satisfactory result in every game, for one reason or another, they will selectively give up some games, these games that are determined to be lost in advance, some to avoid the strong team's edge to save the strength and equal opponents to compete for the upper position, and some to repay the favor or make others owe themselves a favor.

The TV is playing the last round of the league Sichuan Hongsheng and Shandong Donglin's game, Sichuan Hongsheng is like a sick lazy cat, was cleaned up by Shandong Donglin, if it weren't for the referee to see that this is Hongsheng's home stadium A few times, maybe the score is not a mere "two to zero".

Yan Liangcheng let the picture stop on a panoramic view of the field, and then said to Wu Xingguang and the team leader: "Sichuan Hongsheng's current style of play is Dutch-style all-attack and defense, but their head coach did not take into account the players' own conditions, nor did they consider whether the players' physical fitness can support ninety minutes, so Sichuan Hongsheng's games usually start very fiercely, and there are also two-point Dutch football, and they can bluff people coldly, but after thirty or forty minutes, as the physical fitness of the players declines, the ......prototype of the paper tiger appears." He stopped and took the cigarette roll handed over by Wu Xingguang. The absent-minded team leader squeezed out a smile on his face, leaned over again, and was about to stand up with a teacup to refill the water. The goalkeeper coach snuggled up on the couch with his elbows and stared at the TV without saying a word. Only the coach who was temporarily transferred from the youth team to be Yan Liangcheng's assistant laughed dryly twice, and then quickly took the leader's teacup and put it on the coffee table, and ran over to carry a thermos to help everyone fill the teacups with water.

Yan Liangcheng lit a cigarette on the lighter in Wu Xingguang's hand, waved his hand to drive away the cloud of smoke in front of him, and then continued his words: "Of the nine games in Sichuan Hongsheng this year,—— including two FA Cup games - they only won one, drew one, and lost the remaining seven games; Goals conceded in eight of the nine games; There were goals conceded in the first half of three games, and all four of those goals occurred after 40 minutes of the first half of the game; There were four games in which more than two goals were conceded; There were also three late openings. He laid out a long list of numbers and asked, "What does this mean?" ”

What does this mean? What does that mean? Wu Xingguang stared at the TV screen and muttered the question twice.

No one spoke. Everyone knows that Yan Liangcheng doesn't need others to answer this question. Except for General Manager Wu, who is already fascinated by the still TV picture.

"This shows that the physical fitness problems of Sichuan Hongsheng players are very serious! They can't even hold up half a game, they can't hold up forty-five minutes! ”

"They have serious fitness problems? Good. Good. Wu Xingguang nodded, repeated the word "good" several times in a row, and smacked his lips and said, "Okay, this is good." ”

Not only Yan Liangcheng, who was analyzing the opponent, stopped talking, but even the team leader who was holding the tea and bowing his head to think about his thoughts raised his head in surprise and stared at Wu Xingguang, and the assistant coach and goalkeeper coach straightened their waists and waited for Wu Xingguang to continue. It seems that General Manager Wu, who has been an observer of the pre-game preparatory meeting for a long time, is ready to show his hand to everyone today.

But everyone's waiting was exchanged for Wu Xingguang's silence.

Yan Liangcheng coughed and asked, "Mr. Wu, do you have anything to say?" ”

But Wu Xingguang still immersed himself in the still picture of the TV, and he didn't even move, and the cigarette roll in his hand had accumulated a long section of gray ash and connected it to the cigarette butt tremblingly.

The team leader took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth, coughed loudly and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, my wife had to turn on the air conditioner last night, and I was frozen in the middle of the night - maybe a little cold." ”

Wu Xingguang woke up from his trance. He first hurriedly slapped the cigarette ash that fell on his clothes and trousers, and when he noticed that the room seemed to be too quiet, he raised his head and looked at everyone blankly, as if he remembered something, and said to Yan Liangcheng: "Very good, very good, very reasonable." Then you say, "I'm listening." ”

Yan Liangcheng didn't know what to say about him. What is "very good and reasonable", Wu Xingguang didn't listen to a word of what he said after making trouble for a long time. He glanced at Wu Xingguang dissatisfied.

Wu Xingguang also knew that he was at a loss, so he had to laugh and say, "There are too many things today." First of all, he was called by the boss of the group company to praise him fiercely, and then accompanied the two shareholders and sponsors to lunch, and in the afternoon, he said that he would come back early and we would meet first to discuss the content of the evening meeting, and the result was ...... As a result......" The corners of his mouth twitched twice involuntarily, and he quickly lowered his head and took the opportunity of extinguishing the cigarette butt in the ashtray to cover up the past, and picked up the cigarette case and scattered it around everyone again, and his face returned to its normal color. He also took the opportunity to find a suitable excuse, "but he was arrested halfway through the migrant worker and went to a fan rally...... Hey, this back and forth, everything has been delayed. As he spoke, he glared at the leader with his eyes, hoping that he would stand up and lie to himself.

"Yes, this is a collective activity of several big associations in the city, I originally wanted to call all the coaches at home, and then call a few team members, but Mr. Wu said that everyone was tired, and there was a game the day after tomorrow, so just the two of us went for a run. The two of us showed up together on this occasion, and the fan association that initiated the event also had a bright face. Didn't you go to see it, the associations of several big cities in the province have sent representatives, and the people in the auditorium are full of people...... "The team leader even talked and laughed and compared, and sketched a lively scene out of nothing, and by the way, he also put a high hat of "considerate colleagues and caring for team members" on Wu Xing's bald head without a trace.

The goalkeeper coach and temporary assistant also complimented Wu Xingguang according to the team leader's words.

Yan Liangcheng didn't squeak. He didn't believe that Wu Xingguang went to participate in any fan activities in the afternoon. Yesterday's game has sounded the alarm for Wu Xingguang - if Cheng Dexing does not take over the coaching whip of Coach Yafeng for a day, he will not have a peaceful life for a day. At this time, he has to appease the players who are about to move, and he can't teach them to do stupid things; had to maintain close contact with Cheng Dexing to prevent him from changing his mind halfway; We also have to do a good job of ideological work in the club so that the change of manager can go smoothly. How could he possibly have the time to go to a fan event for Rausch?

"Complimented by the group company?" Yan Liangcheng sneered in his heart. If he really accepted praise in the group company, why did Wu Xingguang's mobile phone turn off all afternoon? There must be something hidden in this!

He glanced at Wu Xingguang.

Wu Xingguang immediately lowered his eyebrows, his gaze avoiding him.

He thought about it for a moment, but he couldn't think of a ghost trick that those bastards could do, so he didn't bother with it anymore. He pressed the button on the remote control board of the video recorder to make the picture move again, and continued the original topic: "Judging from the data of the part of the goal conceded by Sichuan Hongsheng, their all-offensive and all-defensive tactics can only last for thirty or forty minutes, and then the physical fitness of the players will decline significantly, and in the last twenty minutes of the whole game, they have almost not completely lost the ability to counterattack." The Dutch coach's idea was good, but Hongsheng's players were not suitable for this tactic. This time he was brief, not mentioning specific data or analysing a few people, just stating the results he had obtained from the video. We're at home and we're playing against the bottom of the league and we're aiming for the game and the result. Referring to the course and final results of our team's last three games, I suggest - attack. Non-stop attacking from the first minute of the game. He took a teacup and drank water, waiting for the others to speak.

At this time, Wu Xingguang usually speaks first, and after he agrees or raises questions on a certain issue, others will follow suit to express their own views. Since You Shen coached the team, this small meeting before the pre-game preparatory meeting was a tactical discussion, even the team leader and laymen like Wu Xingguang, whether they were right or not, they could also speak freely, and this small meeting was not only limited to things related to the game, such as the long-term plan of the club's echelon construction, or the punishment of a certain player, such a small thing was also brought to this small meeting to discuss, and even administrative issues such as base facility planning also appeared in the meeting- For example, Yan Liangcheng raised the issue of cultural education of the junior team at a small meeting, and insisted that the junior team members spend half a day every day in cultural classes, and the curriculum should include at least Chinese, mathematics and history, for which the club had to recruit several retired teachers in the society, and prepared a place for these old teachers to stay in the guest house of the base, and had to send a special car to pick them up at the beginning of each week and on weekends.

Wu Xingguang did not speak. He sat half-on the couch, cigarette in one hand, rubbing his temple vigorously with the other, staring at the fluorescent lamp hanging from the ceiling, not knowing what he was thinking.

If the general manager doesn't speak, it will be even more difficult for others to speak. So everyone just sat like this. The team leader held the teacup and drank water, leaned over to read the real estate advertisement in the newspaper in front of him; The goalkeeper coach frowned, as if carefully weighing Yan Liangcheng's tactical arrangement; The temporary assistant coach stood up again and diligently filled everyone's teacups.

No one spoke, and Yan Liangcheng was not in a hurry, only holding a teacup and smoking to watch the video of the game.

The game against Sichuan Hongsheng is not difficult for him at all, when You Shen was still on the team, the two of them discussed this team many times, although he didn't dare to say that he knew Sichuan Hongsheng well, at least he knew the crux of Hongsheng. Sichuan Hongsheng's tradition is fast and flexible style, the former head coach is a well-known Sichuan international, whether in the eyes of the players or in the hearts of the fans, he has a high prestige, coupled with an easy-going and tolerant personality, the business level is not bad, so Sichuan Hongsheng twisted into a rope, two consecutive FA Cups have broken into the top four, the league results are also a third and sixth, and there is already a strong team style. But unexpected good results may not be able to bring unexpected good results, two consecutive years of unexpected gains so that Hongsheng Club has confidence, self-confidence, and the idea of "going further". So they politely invited the old coach to leave, and then more politely invited the Dutch, bent on making the Dutch tulips bloom more delicately in the Sichuan Basin. But the cruel facts of one win, one draw and seven losses in this year's league prove that planting tulips in the Sichuan Basin can only be wishful thinking on the part of the Hongsheng Club, because they only found a florist, but did not give him tulip seeds......

A close-up of the Dutch manager's face appeared on the TV screen, and there was no hope in his gray-blue eyes, only doubt, confusion and despair......

The physical fitness of Sichuan Hongsheng players is too poor! This is the unanimous evaluation of all those who have watched this year's Hongsheng game, as for the basis of the evaluation - just look at the Hongsheng players who can't run in the second half of the game.

This judgment is wrong!

Yan Liangcheng and You Shen collected all the video videos of Hongsheng's games, and repeatedly observed each game, discussed the reasons for Hongsheng's sudden decline countless times, and finally came to a completely different opinion from everyone's evaluation - Sichuan Hongsheng's decline this year is definitely not because of poor physical fitness! On the contrary, Sichuan Hongsheng is one of the teams with the best physical savings in this year's league, which can be verified from the total results of their physical fitness test in Haigeng spring training, all 36 teams in A A and B, Sichuan Hongsheng scored first!

Sichuan Hongsheng lost in the player's technical basic skills are too poor!

To be more precise, the players of Sichuan Hongsheng lacked sufficient game reading ability! In this respect, they can be said to be lacking in reading skills!

Because of the lack of game reading ability, Hongsheng's players cannot prejudge the route of the opponent's most likely means in attack and defense, nor can they clearly grasp the most reasonable activity trend of their teammates in attack and defense, so they have to spend more physical energy on unnecessary running; In addition to physical exertion, unnecessary running will also affect their mood, bringing psychological pressure and technical mistakes. Mental stress and technical mistakes, in turn, can affect mood and athletic performance. In fact, it's a cycle of mutual influence. Sichuan Hongsheng's team members kept repeating in this cycle of strange circles until their physical strength and fighting spirit were exhausted by themselves. It also proves that the Dutchman is not just talking about it - every time Hongsheng falls and his nose is swollen, but after a few days they can return to the pitch alive and well, and then he falls again and his nose is swollen, which shows that the Dutchman has a way of training and boosting morale. Unfortunately, he can only go this far, and his players need more training and more frustration and more games to gradually make up for the lack of game reading ability. The question is whether he still has time to figure it out?

Yan Liangcheng lowered his eyebrows. He doesn't know if the Dutch have time, but You Shen and he don't have time to transform Wuhan Yafeng, their original idea was to implement the all-offensive and all-defensive tactics similar to the Dutch in Sichuan Hongsheng, and the oppressive style of play, in the previous Changsha Qinyuan they have had a successful example, proving that this soil can also bear fruitful results, and they are also starting to implement it gradually, such as strengthening the construction of tactical discipline, such as the introduction of technical players, such as strengthening the control of the midfield...... It's a pity that this team is very different from Changsha Qinyuan, that team was formed from scratch, and each player was selected by them, while the style and tradition of Wuhan Yafeng have been formed, it is difficult to break, and the characteristics of the players here are also difficult to adapt to their ideas.

When he thought of You Shen, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend. You Shen, what a good person, what a good coach, and his wife, who is both gentle and strong......

He threw up his face sharply, let out a long sigh of relief, and rubbed his cheeks as vigorously as if to drive away the tiredness that had sprung up. He quietly wiped away the tears that filled his eyes.

His friendship with You Shen can be traced back to the days when they were together in the national team more than ten years ago, and even if You Shen later coached the national junior team and he was only a member of the Xiangtan Sports Bureau in Hunan, their friendship has not faded, and they often quarrel over something on the phone or discuss it through letters. Even though he and You Shen were not in the same trench during the "physical and technical" discussion, it didn't affect their friendship, and they kept in touch and continued their discussion after You Shen left the country in anger. The issue they discussed was football. However, unlike You Shen, who has both theory and practice, he only had theory left when he worked in the Sports Bureau, so he was nicknamed "lame theorist" by You Shen. There is also a certain basis for You Shen's statement, he has published several highly academic articles in major magazines such as "China Sports" and industry internal journals on and off over the years, but the issues he expounded are neither the "technical flow" that proved to be a failure, nor the "physical flow" that has the upper hand, so it has not attracted much attention at all. Of course, these articles also brought him benefits, when the professional league was established, he entered the Hunan Zhengxiang Club as a "former international player and theoretical researcher", and had the title of technical consultant, but he soon found that this "consultant" was not far from his original intention of "combining theory with practice". After receiving a year's salary for nothing, he became You Shen's coaching partner in Changsha Qinyuan without hesitation, and then followed him to Wuhan, and then ...... And then he acted as the head coach!

Fortunately, he will soon no longer be the acting head coach, and he doesn't want to stay in this place anymore, and the reason why he is still sitting here is only because he promised Wu Xingguang to be a conscientious caretaker coach. As soon as Sunday's game is over, he will resign from all his positions at Wuhan Yafeng and return to Xiangtan to start his own tea business.

He glanced at Wu Xingguang, who was still smoking a cigarette.

He has no prejudices against the general manager of this club, and he has no resentment, even if this guy indulges those players, he can't be angry with him. It is not easy to be the general manager of a club, this position that seems to outsiders to be extremely glamorous, in fact, is only a little better than the position of the head coach, but there are many more troubles - shareholders have to listen to what they say, fans have to persuade their mothers, players have to care for them, peers have to be courteous, the media has to have some relationships, and they have to socialize with sponsors and agents every once in a while, and they are tired and tired all day long, and there may be countless fevers that even he doesn't know who he is. From this point of view, the general manager is actually not as good as the head coach, and even if the head coach achieves this result, he can at least earn a resounding name......

Just when everyone was buried in their minds and didn't speak, suddenly someone knocked softly on the door.