Chapter 148: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
"Hi, Matt. Why haven't I seen you playing "The Godfather of Champions" recently?" Hammond Castle head coach Tony Clark greeted Matt Dawn after seeing him.
"I have fully verified what was said in that post, why should I continue to play? I will die young if I stay up late every day, boss."
"No, you won't die young, Matt. Only your hair will."
Matt reached out and grabbed his messy hair: "It's okay, it's okay..."
"You shouldn't focus on the top of your head, you should focus on your hairline, which is getting higher."
"That has nothing to do with me staying up late playing 'The Godfather'. Boss, my dad's hairline has almost reached the back of his head, but there was no 'The Godfather' when he was young," Matt retorted.
Clark grinned and showed his teeth, then changed the subject: "How is your Chinese boy?"
"The league was suspended because of the Asian Cup. He scored two more goals before the suspension, and now his league goals are nine." Matt spoke of Lai Hu with a very proud tone, as if he was really one of his men.
Like a promising player.
"Oh, did his outstanding performance allow him to be selected for the national team to play in the Asian Cup?" Tony Clark asked.
"Of course not. After all, it is only the second-level league in China. Just like a forward who scores 30 goals in the English Championship, it is impossible to be selected for the England team." Matt Down said.
"Then what happened to his previous national team games?"
"I checked later and found out that it was actually just the Olympic team, but they were participating in the competition in the name of the national team..."
Clark curled his lips: "God, you really care enough. And you haven't even really met him or watched his games... Can you see China's second-level league in the UK?"
Matt laughed when he heard the leader's question: "Of course you can't see it."
After fully understanding Lai Hu's real-life scoring data, he became more and more interested in this young Chinese player, so naturally he was not satisfied with just getting to know this person through games or the "transfer window". He
Wanted to really see how Lai Hu performed in an actual game.
As a result, there is no media in the UK that broadcasts China's second-level league, let alone the second level. Even China's top league, the Chinese Super League, does not have a TV station to broadcast it.
Clark didn't expect Matt's reaction: "Are you happy that you can't see him play?"
"Indeed, it is impossible to watch the Chinese second-tier league games in the UK." Matt smiled and nodded, "But I can go online to find his game videos, although I still haven't found the Chinese League One games online.
game video, but I found the East Asian Cup video.”
As he spoke, he took out his phone and found the video he had saved in the photo album.
"One is a highlight of the match between the Chinese team and the South Korean team, and the other is a highlight of the match between the Chinese team and the Japanese team. Although they are all highlights and the picture quality is quite average, it still allows me to see a lot of things. Boss, you
Wanna see?"
Tony Clark shook his head: "No, just tell me what you see. I believe in your vision."
"First of all, the data of "The Godfather of Champions" generally reflects Lai Hu's football style, that is, he is not the kind of player with the ball, he is not good at dribbling, and he is not fast. If the ball is at his feet, and he Since he is not in the opponent's penalty area, his role can be almost ignored. But on the other hand, his ability without the ball is very outstanding." Matt Dawn said.
"I watched him carefully both in goal and in a few non-goals, and he was very good at finding spaces around the penalty area and taking advantage of them..."
"So he's pretty good off the ball?" Clark asked.
"It's very good, boss." Matt said, "I even have this opinion. I don't think there is anyone on our team who can match his off-ball movement."
"This is too exaggerated, Matt. We are a Championship team..."
"But it is also true that the level of our forwards is not very high. Otherwise, why would we only be able to avoid relegation in the league this season?"
"Let's not discuss this topic..." Tony Clark was a little embarrassed. "The team's performance is not determined by the performance of the forwards alone."
The team's performance was not good, and his coaching position was unstable. Fortunately, when the league was about to end, Hammond Castle successfully avoided relegation in advance, otherwise Tony Clark would not be in the mood to chat with his video analyst here. .
"Sorry, boss, I didn't mean to expose your wounds..." Matt Dawn also apologized quickly.
Clark waved his hand to signal him to stop talking: "Besides running without the ball, does he have any other advantages?"
"From my perspective, although there is still room for improvement in his shooting skills, he is already very good among his peers. We all know that most players of his age will be keen on dribbling, breakthroughs, and relying on instinct to kick. Few people can calm down and hone their shooting skills. But I think Lai Hu should have specially practiced shooting. From this point of view, I don’t agree with the shooting value determined for him in "The Godfather of Champions". His shot should be above 13, not just 9..."
"Well, he's good at running without the ball, and his shooting skills are superb... He does sound like a shooter. What else?" Clark asked in a more serious tone.
"No more." Matt spread his hands.
"No more?" Clark was a little surprised, "You can see these two points after looking at it for a long time?"
"Because it is a collection, it is not complete. I can't see any other advantages. There are a lot of disadvantages, such as poor physical confrontation ability, average ball control, mediocre speed...etc. Oh, I feel like he is just a pure As a shooter, if you want him to complete some tactical tasks, I’m afraid it’s not realistic.”
"A partial subject?"
"A player with very outstanding advantages and disadvantages needs appropriate tactics to make good use of him. I have also tested it in the game. As long as the midfielder can be equipped with one or two passers who are good at passing the ball and are good at through balls, he The number of goals will explode."
Clark frowned and thought.
Matt laughed when he saw him like this: "Isn't that right, boss? Were you seriously considering bringing him in just now? Now he can't get a labor certificate. I rented him out for two years in the game.
It didn't work for a whole season, but in the end, I used a modifier to allow him to obtain British citizenship and then successfully obtained the labor certificate..."
Clark was reminded by him and came back from his thoughts, and then laughed dumbly: "It's an occupational disease... Well, anyway, he is just a person who has nothing to do with us. Why do you continue to pay attention to him?
,Matt?”
"I got to know him because of the game, and then found out that his performance in reality was almost the same as the game, so I naturally paid attention to him and wanted to see how far he would grow in the future," Matt explained.
"What expectations do you have for him? How far do you want him to grow?"
"I think..." Matt thought seriously, "He has already been selected for the Olympic team. Based on his performance, I think it won't be a big problem to join the real national team in the future. I hope... I hope
I hope I can see him in the World Cup one day. I heard that the Chinese team has never participated in the World Cup. If I can see him in the World Cup, I think it will be a very, very interesting thing."
Tony Clark laughed when he saw Matt say this: "You have become a fan of the Chinese team, Matt. Just because of a young Chinese player you have never met."
"It's pretty cool to hear you say that. Maybe I should buy a Chinese team jersey?" Matt also smiled.
Tony Clark imagined Matt standing in front of him wearing a Chinese team jersey and grinned: "Then I must take a photo with you, hahaha!"
※※※
Although Matt Dawn is far away in the UK, he can still learn about Lai Hu's current situation in a timely manner by virtue of his developed network and "transfer window" timely updated league data around the world.
But he can only understand this part of the current situation. He can know that Lai Hu scored consecutive goals in the game, that's all.
He is completely ignorant of many things outside the football field.
For example, he didn't know what Lai Hu was doing now, and he didn't know that Lai Hu was not selected for the Chinese national team. Before the start of the Asian Cup training camp, it caused a small disturbance in public opinion. It was not as he thought.
It's a matter of course.
In fact, Hu Lai's performance in the East Asian Cup is still fresh in the memory of many people. Since then, there has been a call for Hu Lai to enter the national team. Although it is not too high, it cannot be ignored.
The upcoming Asian Cup is an excellent opportunity. Fans want to see whether Hu Lai, who dominated the East Asian Cup, can help the Chinese team achieve a breakthrough in the Asian Cup.
However, after the league was suspended, Hu Lai's name was not included in the training list released by the Chinese team.
Even the name of Guo Junfu, who did not perform as well as Hu Lai in the East Asian Cup, is among them, but Hu Lai's name is not included.
This made everyone very surprised and very... angry.
What does the Football Association do for a living? We usually say that we have no talent in Chinese football, but now that talent has appeared, we turn a blind eye!
Is this how you treat our geniuses?
Chinese fans' desire for talented players and their expectations for the Chinese football team to achieve good results in competitions such as the Asian Cup are superimposed, and this is a big deal.
In the end, it was Zhao Kangming who came out to explain and took all the responsibility on himself.
It is said that he has communicated with the national team coach Marcel Wilson that Hu Lai will not be recruited for this Asian Cup and let Hu Lai have a good rest. After all, there will be intensive league games ahead, and the game has just started at the beginning of the season.
After the East Asian Cup, he basically started playing in the league without taking any rest...
The reason for his explanation is actually what he said to Hu Lai, but more euphemistically. After all, he can't directly say that the Chinese Football Association and the fans are eager for quick success and quick profit, which is detrimental to the growth of young players, right?
But even so, Zhao Kangming was still scolded by many fans and some media.
He was scolded for being selfish, only caring about the interests of the club, not the interests of the country, and not caring about the overall situation.
He scolded him for limiting Hu Lai's development for his own selfish purposes.
There are also conspiracy theorists who believe that the Asian Cup is a bigger stage for Hu Lai. If he performs well here, he might be able to leave the Flash Stars and play in a higher-level league. This is obviously not in line with the Flash Stars.
The interests of the Star Club are not in line with the interests of head coach Zhao Kangming.
So in order to make Hu Lai work for him obediently, he did not hesitate to use his connections in Chinese football for many years to forcefully suppress Hu Lai...
Some people are going over old scores, saying that it was Zhao Kangming's red card that ruined the Chinese team's path to the World Cup, and now he is ruining the future of Chinese football again.
But no matter how the outside world scolded him, Zhao Kangming stopped saying anything after making his explanation. He did not accept interviews from reporters or answer any questions about Hu Lai and the national team. However, he did not explain further and just suffered in silence anyway.
Just like what Hu Lai once said to Shi Wuyin, in today's Internet information age, although all kinds of information spread quickly, the popularity also decreases quickly... After his "dead pig is not afraid of boiling water" response,
After a week, everyone basically stopped talking about it. Maybe they thought it was boring to scold someone who didn't talk back, or they felt that the matter was a foregone conclusion and scolding was useless.
Anyway, this wave of public opinion has passed.
During the entire process, Hu Lai did not come out and say a word, and reporters could not even find Hu Lai.
So where has Hu Lai gone and what is he doing?
In fact, he didn't go anywhere. After returning to the team from Shanhai one day late, he joined the team's training as normal.
At that time, both fans and reporters could see him.
When public opinion aroused, he moved from the rental house to the dormitory at the team's training base.
Also with him is roommate Wang Guangwei.
At this time, Zhao Kangming has also given the first team a 20-day holiday, allowing the first team players to have a good rest. After 20 days, they will gather for training and prepare for the second half of the season starting on July 5th.
However, Hu Lai and Wang Guangwei were asked to stay and move to the dormitory building of the training base to avoid external interference and concentrate on training.
The trainee is Hu Lai, and Wang Guangwei is the sparring partner.
There is only one training content - catching the ball in the penalty area and getting rid of the defender to shoot.
When he first heard about this training plan, Zhang Qinghuan also wanted to apply to stay and help Hu Lai. He could be the one to pass the ball to Hu Lai.
But it was rejected by Zhao Kangming.
These three people got together, who knows whether it was for training or for fun - Zhao Kangming was quite happy when he heard that Zhang Qinghuan was renting opposite Hu Lai and Wang Guangwei, feeling that someone finally helped him watch over the "prodigal son"
. As a result, he regrets it now. He feels that Zhang Qinghuan seems to be led astray by Hu Lai...
So there were only three people in the empty first-team training ground: Hu Lai, Wang Guangwei and assistant coach Chen Mo.
They were sitting under the shade of a tree beside the training ground, resting in the shade and chatting.
"The grandsons on the Internet scolded me so harshly that I almost couldn't hold it back..." Hu Lai was talking about the controversy that had just ended.
"What should I do if I can't help it?" Chen Mo stared at him.
"Uh... register a trumpet and go speak to Director Zhao?" Under the gaze of the former youth training head coach, Hu Lai shrank his neck.
As the name suggests, Chen Mo has a dark complexion. Generally speaking, football players have darker skin colors due to long-term outdoor activities and exposure to the wind and sun. However, the complexion on Chen Mo's face is extremely dark, so it makes people feel that every time
None of them look good.
People often say that one is pretending to be white and the other is pretending to be black... Chen Mo doesn't need to pretend, his face is just that dark.
Wang Guangwei couldn't help but laugh when he heard Hu Lai give in for a second.
Hu Lai glanced at him: "Why are you laughing, Old Wang? Aren't you angry at the unfair treatment that Director Zhao suffered!"
Of course Wang Guangwei couldn't say "no", so he had to say seriously: "Of course I'm not happy either..."
"Then why don't you stand up and speak out for Director Zhao? I can't speak because of my identity, but you can! Otherwise, you can register a Weibo and authenticate yourself with your real name to enhance your persuasiveness, and then I will use your Weibo to represent our Director Zhao.
Make a sound?"
In front of the assistant coach, Wang Guangwei couldn't say "MMP", so he had to swear silently in his heart. When he arrived at the training ground, he would press Hu Lai to the ground and rub him to let him fully understand that it was necessary to get the ball away from the defense in the penalty area.
What a difficult thing!
Seeing that Hu Lai was getting more and more outrageous, Chen Mo coughed: "Don't worry about Director Zhao, he is used to it."
"Can you get used to this?" Hu Lai was a little surprised.
"Why not?" Chen Mo said, "He was scolded for a year because of a red card in the World Cup Top 40. When people recognized him when he went shopping on the street, no one would sell him anything..."
Oh, yes, there is such a thing.
Hu Lai remembered.
In fact, most of the time, if no one mentioned it, it would be difficult for Hu Lai to connect the gentle director Zhao with the identity of the "sinner of Chinese football".
Because Director Zhao did not show any depressed or painful emotions at all, he smiled all day long, worked hard, and his overall attitude towards the players was approachable and easy to get along with. Of course, when he encountered problems, he would also show his
His serious side as a head coach.
Generally speaking, he is just an ordinary head coach, who looks no different from the thousands of football coaches in this country.
It's just that his personality seems to be gentler, but there must be football coaches who are gentler than him.
Because of this, Hu Lai often ignores the things that Director Zhao carries.
In fact, in Hu Lai's view, the culprit for the Chinese team's failure to qualify for the World Cup was not Director Zhao's red card in the 14th minute at all.
When the Chinese team needs to decide their life or death in the last battle every time...this is the problem!
Hu Lai believes that even if Director Zhao does not have the red card and is not sent off, and the Chinese team has a complete team, they will definitely not be able to enter the World Cup. After all, even if they are lucky enough to get through the top 40, there will still be the top ten...
…Can the Chinese team enter the World Cup finals by entering the top ten?
Director Zhao unfortunately took the blame for Chinese football in those dark years and became a vent for everyone's emotions.
He can defend himself, just like this time, because not everyone does not understand the above principles.
But he didn't.
He was scolded in silence for a whole year, and now he is still being pulled out and whipped to death every now and then.
"But it's not fair," Hu Lai said. "The failure of the Chinese team to enter the World Cup is not the responsibility of Zhao alone. It may not even be his responsibility."
Chen Mo looked at him and smiled: "What's fair and unfair? Everyone in the Chinese football circle has responsibilities. Everyone bears the blame. Isn't it because of your status as a Chinese player?
Have you ever been scolded by someone online?”
Hu Lai was silent, thinking of the experience of the Olympic team.
East Asian Cup,×
Debt repayment cup,√
To put it bluntly, someone has to pay the old debts accumulated by Chinese football over the years, right?
If you don’t repay it and I don’t repay it, football in this country will never get better.
Seeing that Hu Lai stopped talking, Chen Mo patted his butt and stood up: "Okay, enough rest, let's continue practicing!"
Wang Guangwei put down the water bottle and stood up.
Behind them, Hu Lai was the last to get up.
Forget it, it’s up to me to repay this debt...
Alas, who told me to have trouble?
The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.
Hu Lai shook his head, put his hands inside his shorts to tighten them, followed the two of them, and stepped onto the training field with swaying steps.