In the second round of the Ligue 1 on August 14, Chu Zhongtian still did not enter the final 18-man squad.

However, it was not for nothing, because just before the team left for Corsica, Fernandez called Chu Zhongtian aside alone and told him that in the second-tier league on the 15th, the team had registered him and that he would play in the game on the 15th. It was his first official competition after a month and a half at Metz.

"I'm sure you've learned a lot on the training ground, and now it's time for the actual battle to put those results to the test."

This news made Chu Zhongtian very happy, he didn't expect the opportunity to compete so soon. The only regret is that manager Fernandes will not be there to watch the game, which means that the manager will not know immediately how he will perform.

But at this time, it would be good to have a game to play, Chu Zhongtian didn't care if there was a coach watching the game on the spot.

"There's one thing I want to warn you about. I know you used to play in the amateur league. Don't look at the second-tier league level is only the third tier, but it can be regarded as a professional competition, because the second-tier league can participate in the reserve team and other professional teams of each club. Don't underestimate your opponents. ”

Sent off the first team, he watched his team-mates play live on TV at home.

Despite his poor performance in the first round of the league and the suspicion of the media and fans, Franck Ribery still started the game in a 10-shirt shirt. Let. Fernandes is under pressure to give Ribery plenty of opportunities and trust.

Chu Zhongtian looked at Ribery who walked out of the passage, and suddenly felt that it was really Ribery's luck to play under such a coach. And what about yourself?

The narrator on TV was talking endlessly in French, but Chu Zhongtian could only understand part of it.

Metz's opponents are Ajaccio, a weak Corsican team with most players coming from free agency or loan. However, they inherited the strong and belligerent character of the Corsicans, so it was not an easy game for Metz.

Ribery's performance is far from good, but Chu Zhongtian can see that he deliberately strengthened some cooperation with his teammates in the game, but unfortunately everyone is not prepared for his passing, the tacit understanding is not enough, and the passing cooperation cannot be played.

In the end, Metz defeated Ajaccio 2-1 away to get two wins in a row in the new season. Ribery and those two goals are still unrelated.

As a friend, Chu Zhongtian was very concerned about Ribery's performance. Another reason is that he seems to be able to see his future in Ribery, who has a similar experience to himself. If I play, will I be as uncomfortable as he is?

When the Metz team finished their match against Corsica, stayed there for the night, and set off for the next day, Chu Zhongtian's first game in Metz was about to begin.

Xu Xiaodi knew that Chu Zhongtian would play in this game, so he came to watch the game. Xu Xiaodi knew that Chu Zhongtian would not be able to attract people's attention no matter how well he performed in such a game, and the domestic readers and viewers only had the top league in their minds, and they were not interested in low-level competitions, so he sent a press release back at most, telling everyone that Chu Zhongtian played his first game in Metz, and everything else was business as usual and nothing would change. But he still had to come to the game, not for the sake of reporting and reporting, but just to cheer for Chu Zhongtian - he may be the only fan of Chu Zhongtian in Metz.

The match was not scheduled to take place at the Holy Mountain Furien Stadium, but in a modest field with no stands outside the stadium. There weren't many people who came to see the game, about 300 people, standing on the sidelines. However, these more than 300 people are all irons of irons, or relatives and friends of the second-tier players of Metz.

Chu Zhongtian looked at the scene in front of him and thought of the ninth tier of England he played, which was about the same as the ninth tier of England in terms of audience size.

He started the game and was beaten by the coach of the second team, Jose. Pinault was deployed in a defensive midfield position.

"Chu!"

Chu Zhongtian heard Coach Pinault calling him, so he stood up from the warm-up crowd.

"In this game you play as a midfielder and your main task is to defend." Pinault tried his best to assign tasks to Chu Zhongtian in simple French.

Chu Zhongtian nodded, indicating that he understood.

He hasn't been a pure defensive midfielder for half a season, and in the final half of his season at Wimbledon, he has been the playmaker of the mission team. Sidwell, on the other hand, took his place and focused on defense.

It seems that it is really going to start again, even the position and role on the field.

'Don't let the opponent get the ball in the first 10 metres of our box, don't let their men shoot from distance, if they pass the ball to the wings, let them pass, it's your job to hold the middle. Pinault is the head coach of the second team, and he is responsible for the training and games of the second team.

"Yes, sir." Chu Zhongtian replied in French.

Pinault patted him on the shoulder after hearing his answer: "Good, perform well in the game for a while." ”

Most of the players who participated in this game were second-tier players, and Chu Zhongtian was the only player from the first-team team. He got a lot of attention from his teammates.

A few days ago, before the first team rushed to Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, the first team coach Fernandez once told Chu Zhongtian to take the game seriously.

Soon Chu Zhongtian knew what it was.

He always thought that his physical fitness and physical ability were fine, but what he showed in the game was a different story, as if he couldn't keep up with the pace of the game, he didn't seem to have enough strength to run, and he always felt a little difficult to make physical contact with his opponents. This made Chu Zhongtian feel very confused, he was not like this when he played at Wimbledon...... "He seems to be a little unsuitable for such a game......" Pinault said to Coach Tadio, who had taught Chu Zhongtian, while shaking his head from the sidelines.

'It's normal, he hasn't played in two months and he's played before...... The quality of the competition is also not high. He may have to start learning how to play a real professional game again. Coach Tadio said.

Pinault frowned and said, "Shall we loan him for one season and then spend half a season teaching him how to adapt to the professional game?" Actually, I don't really understand why Mr. Fernández insisted on lending this Chinese. In my opinion, Wang and Jiang in the junior team are better and more promising than him. ”

Tadio laughed: "Not only that, Mr. Fernandez also asked me to observe Chu's game and then write a detailed game report. ”

Pinault was a little surprised: "What does Mr. Fernández want to do?" ”

"I don't know, just do it. I think Mr. Fernández always had his own considerations. Anyway, I don't think there are many people in French football who are skeptical of Mr. Fernandez's vision. After Tadio finished speaking, he continued to look at Chu Zhongtian who was on the field. There is some bad news about Ribery in the media right now, but he doesn't care. He's a coach and he knows his boss Jean well. Coach Fernandez's ability. In Cannes, Mr. Fernández and Mr. Guy Guy were in Cannes. Lacomb produced Zinedine Zidane in the Academy and gave Cannes a brief spell of brilliance.

A few years ago, a second division team, Sochaux (fc_sochaux), was born, and not only was the team promoted to the second division in 2001 as the French second champions, but also a number of outstanding young players: Benoit was known as "Deschamps II". Pedretti (benoit_pedretti), Frow...... And the head coach who led this team to a successful promotion was none other than Jean. Fernandez.

Now, he has come to Metz and has also helped Metz return to the First Division as the second division champion. And he has also produced another young player who is now gaining more and more attention on the continent - Togolese goalscorer Adebayo (emmanuel_adebayor).

Tadio is adamant that Ribery has a bright future ahead of him, despite his current form that has not been satisfactory. And his confidence in Ribery naturally comes from Jean, who he worked with. Fernandez.

"He's physically strong and fit. But he hasn't fully learned how to use his body wisely. Maybe he's doing well in an amateur game, but it's an amateur game after all......" Tadio commented as he observed. He would then bow his head and quickly jot these down in his notebook as part of the race report.

"I think it will be a very systematic process to train him...... But I can't figure it out, as a player on loan from Chelsea FC, is it necessary for us to bother so much? Pinault still can't understand - if Chu Zhongtian is directly transferred to this team, he will spare no effort to cultivate Chu Zhongtian and let him continue to grow and improve. But now he has the feeling of going to great lengths to make wedding dresses for others.

'I don't think he has a future at Chelsea, a big club like that doesn't give young players a chance. Maybe we can put him on loan for two seasons and then buy him outright. Tadio replied. Also, in the second half he was involved a little bit more in the second half, because he was always in the second half, so I had to see more of him. ”

"Is that what Mr. Fernández meant?" Pinault asked.

Tadio shrugged: "Almost." ”

※※※ In the first half, Chu Zhongtian felt that his performance in the game was simply a mess, and he couldn't figure out why, even when he played at Wimbledon, he was not as good as his performance when he was playing at Wimbledon.

He thought he would be criticized, but he didn't. At halftime, Pinault told Chu Zhongtian that he should stop entangled in the defense, and step forward boldly to participate in the attack: "I heard that you used to play the role of midfield playmaker in the last team?" Then you continue to do it in this game. ”

Chu Zhongtian was confused, Pinault's French was very good, but why was he confused when those French words were put together?

Why defend yourself in the first half and attack in the second half?

Pinault didn't explain, just told him to do it.

So the second half was a tragedy for Chu Zhongtian. In the first half he was able to at least use his diligence to make up for some mistakes, and in the second half when he got the ball and wanted to pass it to his team-mates, it was always easy to concede the ball. On several occasions in a row, he was cut off from the feet of an opposing player when he looked up to observe his teammates' movements.

Xu Xiaodi looked on the sidelines and shook his head - this was not the Chu Zhongtian he was familiar with, he looked clumsy, as if he didn't know how to play football.

"Well, ......sure enough," Taddio mused.

"Sure what? His attacking performance was simply terrible, did he really score twice in a row against Chelsea? ”

"He still has a very shallow understanding of professional football, and he is completely unaccustomed to the rhythm and habits of professional football." Tadio buried himself in his notebook, and what he said was an explanation of Pinault, and it was like a statement of his own words.

"Looks like we should let him play more?" Pinault gave his opinion.

"That's right. He's played too little professionally, but he can't play in the first team's official league yet. After that, he will be yours, Jose. ”

"Well, let me see what kind of changes he can make...... Does an ugly duckling become a swan? Pinault laughed, a slight suspicion in his tone.

※※※ In the eightieth minute, Chu Zhongtian was replaced, and he sat on the side gasping for breath, feeling that his performance was really shit. You must know that the game has not yet played 90 minutes, and he will feel tired! This is something that has never happened before...... No, I felt that after the game against Chelsea, but it was because the opponents were strong and it was only a second-tier league now, so why were I so tired? He has always felt that technique is his shortcoming, but physical fitness is a strength that he is proud of, and now this strength no longer exists...... He couldn't figure out why this was the case, and he even wondered if the match would bleak his future at Metz.

At this time, the second line team of Metz had a 5:2 lead over the opponent Pontarlier (Pontarlier), but this score had nothing to do with Chu Zhongtian, and his contribution to the team was almost zero.

Xu Xiaodi was very worried when he saw Chu Zhongtian sitting alone on the edge of the bench panting. However, he soon saw a coach of the Metz team walking towards Chu Zhongtian.

Chu Zhongtian was gasping for breath, and suddenly noticed that there was another person beside him, and when he looked up, he saw that it was Francis, who had been in charge of teaching him techniques. Morality. Coach Tadio.

"You're not doing very well, Chu." Coach Tadio said to Chu Zhongtian at a very slow pace to ensure that he could understand.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tadio......" Chu Zhongtian replied with some frustration. His most confident strengths were also in full swing in this game, and he really didn't know what to do with his coach.

"But don't be discouraged, lad. Let's find out what the problem is. Tadio crouched down.

Mr. Tadio's words surprised Chu Zhongtian, who thought that he would be reprimanded and then announced that the next game was out of play. Unexpectedly, Coach Tadio came to help him.

"I remember that you showed good physical fitness during the physical examination and your usual training, why are you so tired now?" Tadio's question is also Chu Zhongtian's question.

He shook his head, "I don't know, sir. I didn't feel tired while training. ”

Tadio asked, "Can you tell me how you trained in England?" ”

Chu Zhongtian said his situation over there, of course, due to the limitation of language, he didn't say it in detail, but the general meaning was clearly expressed. Training in the first season at Wimbledon was very irregular, because sometimes there were classes in the afternoon, and sometimes there was something going on and there was no training scheduled. It was only in the second half of the second season that it slowly became regular.

After listening to his words, Tadio was silent for a while, and then said to Chu Zhongtian, who had been nervous, "I know...... Our training plan will have to be modified in the future. Two additional training sessions are added every Tuesday and Thursday. Your fitness isn't a problem, but due to a long-term lack of regular and effective training, your physical function can't automatically adjust to the right state for the game on race day. Amateur leagues may not be a problem, but professional games are sloppy. After adjusting the training plan, at most two months, you can make your body form a ** period on Saturday or Sunday, ensuring that you have inexhaustible physical strength in the competition, and I think there should be no more feeling of being so strong today but still very tired. ”

Chu Zhongtian was confused when he heard this, but he finally knew that this was not the reason for his physical failure, but the reason for training, as long as he adjusted the training plan, he could return to normal. He breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that the biggest asset was still there...... "Next, let's talk about your problems in the attack." You have a big problem with being too slow at the tempo, slow in receiving, slow in passing, slow in ball control. Did you find out for yourself? When you stop the ball, the opponent who is far away from you is already pressing, and when you are about to pass the ball, there are players all around you, and as soon as your foot leaves the ball, the ball will be broken......"

Chu Zhongtian nodded, he really experienced that kind of thing.

"The problem is that you don't know enough about the professional game, you don't get used to it. Just play more games. Amateur games are always slower-paced, so you can stop and turn around and decide what to do next. Tadio gestured as he spoke, helping Chu Zhongtian understand what he meant. This doesn't work in a professional game, where a high level of play requires you to make decisions in advance, rather than waiting for the football to be at your feet. If you want to observe, observe in advance, and hesitation will only get you into a quagmire. Mire, do you see what I mean? It's a place where once you get stuck and want to get out. Now all you have to do is play as many games as you can and correct some of the bad things you've developed from playing in the amateur league for a long time. ”

This passage was spoken by Tadio for a long time, and some places were repeatedly explained, so that Chu Zhongtian fully understood what he meant.

"So the performance of a game doesn't matter, Chu." After speaking, Tadio patted Chu Zhongtian on the head, "I think your performance in this game is quite good, allowing us to discover your problems, so that we have the opportunity to correct those problems." I know you'd love to play in Ligue 1, but you'll have to get used to it in the second tier for some time to come. ”

Chu Zhongtian nodded, he had no objection to this, as long as his problem could be solved, he was willing to do everything, not to mention just letting him play in the second-tier team.

After Tadio left, Xu Xiaodi walked around, leaned behind Chu Zhongtian, and then asked him what the coach had said to him just now.

Chu Zhongtian turned around and gave Xu Xiaodi a smile and a thumbs up: "I'm on the way, Mr. Xu." ”

Seeing his smile and hearing this, Xu Xiaodi was relieved.

So he also gave a thumbs up: "Come on!" ”

(To be continued)