On the training ground, Sampdoria Reserves are practicing full-court defense in an 11-a-side format, with a total of 22 players participating, using the entire stadium to train.

The aim of this training is for the players to learn to defend as a team in regular playing conditions, with the attacking side wearing a red vest and the defending team wearing a blue Sampdoria jersey without a training vest. Whether it is defensive or offensive, it is the same as in the official game, you will be whistled for fouls, and there will be offsides. Except for one point - for the purpose of facilitating teaching, the "game" can be blown off by the coach at any time to make adjustments and lectures.

Assistant coach Alfredo Casirio works as a referee on the pitch and is also responsible for specific training guidance. Head coach Bruni is on the sidelines and also has a whistle in his hand and will blow the whistle to pause training when he thinks it is needed.

Previously, teams would conduct separate defensive drills for a variety of different situations, either by limiting the area or by limiting the number of participants.

And now it is directly placed in the entire stadium, and the staffing is carried out according to the official competition, which is to integrate the previous various individual trainings for training. Especially when training throughout the stadium, the demands on defense are even higher. After all, when the defense line is opened, there are more gaps, and the difficulty of defense naturally increases.

Conducting comprehensive defensive training throughout the field is to ensure that the team can form a tight defensive line when defending, and not be like a sieve, which can be penetrated by people.

"I didn't expect you, Mr. Manager, to even pay attention to our ordinary training?" Head coach Bruni stood on the sidelines and said to the newly arrived sporting manager Doliano Tosi.

"Of course, there are two geniuses here!" Thossi said with a grin.

Icardi has already scored five goals in his last six reserve team games and has shown his quality. Sampdoria FC are already in talks with FC Barcelona to buy him. No matter how good Icardi is anyway, Barcelona will not take him back again, and there is no place for him in either the first team or the B team. Sampdoria is equivalent to picking up a bargain, but if this bargain is not completely put into his pocket, there will still be the possibility of chicken and egg beating.

Although Gao Zheng has not played in the reserve team yet, his talent has already aroused the club's expectations.

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Since it was a defensive practice, Bruni specifically told the sparring attacking team before the start of training and asked them to do their best to score goals.

Gao Zheng and Icardi are in this attacking lineup.

Although Icardi has proven his scoring prowess with five goals in six reserve games, the reserve defenders are willing to spend more on defending Gao Zheng than Icardi.

So when Gao Zheng got the ball, Icardi was in a good position.

Gao Zheng passed the football without hesitation!

Icardi was a little surprised by Gao Zheng's pass to him, but he still caught Gao Zheng's pass and sent the football into the goal.

"Icardi feels so good in front of the goal!" Tossi said happily.

"The defense is leaking." Bruni said coldly.

"It can't be helped, Gao and Icardi are always going to make the backline take care of each other......" Tosi said with a smile.

Bruni glanced at him, and he stopped talking.

Assistant coach Casirio stopped training and pointed out the problems in the defense just now, and too many people defended Gao Zheng and ignored Icardi. He asked the defenders in the back line to be extra careful not to miss people and keep the back line intact in the next training session.

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On the pitch, Icardi looked at Gao Zheng, and although he had scored, his brow was furrowed.

He was very dissatisfied, because Gao Zheng's pass reminded him of the conversation he had with Gao Zheng on the motorcycle in the morning.

He thought that Gao Zheng was "avoiding war".

Don't you just want to play against me?

What are you running away from?

Afraid of losing?

Icardi didn't go to Gao Zheng to understand, he had his own way - if Gao Zheng turned a blind eye to his competition, then he would keep using better performances to make him unable to turn a blind eye, or have nowhere to escape.

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"Gao always has to run out and retreat...... I remember he was a center, right? Tossi watched for a moment before suddenly asking.

"I found out too." Bruni nodded. "Maybe it's because I don't want to fight the defenders in the box, after all, I've suffered a serious injury, so I'm definitely going to pay special attention to this aspect......"

When he said this, he suddenly stopped, because Gao Zheng's performance gave him an inspiration.

Although Gao Zheng has not yet played in the development team, Bruni has been thinking about how Icardi and Gao Zheng can coexist on the pitch.

What can be done to make two talented centers together be one plus one is greater than two, instead of holding each other back?

After seeing Gao Zheng frequently pull out and assist Icardi for a goal, Bruni was inspired.

He still has a vague idea, and when his mind matures, he plans to go to Gao Zheng for a good chat.

Tossi didn't pay any attention to Brunie's sudden silence and continued to say there, "...... I just feel sorry for it. ”

"What a pity?" Bruni came back to his senses from a momentary wandering.

"It's good to shoot high, and while staying away from the goal allows him to avoid some confrontations, it also allows him to miss more chances to score and inevitably score fewer goals," Tosi said. I feel sorry for that. ”

"Goals, ......"

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The defensive players also performed very well, keeping a clean sheet for some time.

It wasn't until Gao Zheng stood up that the deadlock on the field was broken - after he pulled out of the penalty area and received a pass from his teammates, he pretended to stuff the football inside, shook off the defenders, but shot low directly on the spot.

The football went straight to the far corner of the goal against the turf, and the goalkeeper Tozzo was blocked by the dense crowd in the penalty area, plus he didn't expect Gao Zheng to shoot so decisively and suddenly, he pounced sideways, and only touched the football slightly, but it did not change the trajectory of the football, and the ball still flew into the goal.

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"Beautiful!" Tosi, who was on the sidelines, praised Gao Zheng's performance, and after speaking, he also looked at Bruni, "There is nothing wrong with this ball defense, right?" I think the defenders are good enough. They stood up for ......"

"There's only one person to defend high, and that's the biggest problem." Bruni said in a deep voice.

"But Icardi was given a chance because there were too many defenders who defended high......

"The number of defenders is limited, what about the midfielders?" After saying that, Bruni blew his whistle, interrupted the training, and walked onto the court.

As he walked, he pointed at the midfielders of the blue team and yelled: "What should the midfielder do when defending?" Do you want to watch the play in place? Push it on! ”

He strode forward and grabbed Gao Zheng's jersey with one hand.

"Get started! Are you usually such a gentleman in defense during games? Then why are you so polite to Gao?! ”

Gao Zheng also waved his hand to the others: "You're welcome, you're welcome......"

Bruni glared at him, cheeky and smiling at the manager.

Bruni couldn't do anything about him, he just shouted: "Cheer me up, treat training as a game, if you concede three goals in half a game, you can see what the consequences are!" ”

With that, he turned around and walked off the field.

When he walked back to Tosi, the assistant coach on the field, Casirio, blew the whistle: "Keep training!" ”

"You just said that Gao probably doesn't want to fight hand-to-hand, and now you're going to find someone for him to fight, Luciano." Tosic said.

"When it comes to the official competition, no one cares if he is happy or not." Bruni snorted.