Chapter 123: Chapter 122: Upwind Positioning (Seeking Follow-Up Reads)
"I came to talk to you about the issue concerning my position," Deng Kai cut to the chase, "I know that my qualifications and versatility may not match those of other players."
"But I know what I can bring to the team, so I need more support."
As long as the topic wasn’t about living it up, Quaresma immediately reverted to his big brother demeanor, "Kai, I know this is your first time being selected for the national youth team. I’ve been through this stage myself."
"What you need to do is to follow the coaching staff’s arrangements and wait for your chance, not... form cliques. This is no different from your performance on the pitch."
Deng Kai wasn’t deterred by Quaresma’s official response and chuckled, "In fact, the dual-attacking-midfielder tactic is a liberation for both wingers and attacking midfielders. You must have seen the importance of Viana to Ronaldo during these past few days’ training."
"At this stage, Ronaldo isn’t stronger than you, but his stats these past few days aren’t much worse than yours."
"And Viana’s stats are also quite good."
"But this kind of liberation doesn’t fall on you. Because Meireles isn’t the same type of player as Viana, even if he plays as an attacking midfielder, he’s essentially doing the work of a midfielder."
"He can’t send you the threatening passes, but he can use your movements to frequently shoot from distance."
"I believe that the current situation is something neither the head coach, nor you, nor the club wants to see."
"A team that can’t leverage its strongest star’s core threat hardly counts as successful."
"Because such a team might defeat average opponents, but it can’t defeat top-tier ones."
"Only Suposida can defeat Supotim!"
"And on this team, there’s only one superstar... and that’s you, Quaresma."
Deng Kai was candid.
His actions were indeed a challenge to Meireles.
But he wasn’t only competing with Meireles.
Nor was he competing for the sake of competing.
He was starting from the development of the team’s strongest offensive force.
This was also what Violante wanted to see.
If this could not be achieved, even if the Portugal U16 could go a bit further, it wouldn’t mean much.
It wouldn’t mean much to Violante, and it wouldn’t mean much to Quaresma either.
And these two people were the most important for the team.
Their opinions held more weight than those of most others.
Violante wanted a beautiful trip to the UEFA Youth League, a splendid performance.
Quaresma wanted the overpowering performance of a professional player over a youth trainee.
Quaresma was already a well-known Portuguese star, in this regard even Viana couldn’t compete with him.
Just like Mbappé and Harland who had joined the U21s, the importance of their needs obviously surpassed the sum of the needs of the other players on the team.
Quaresma looked at Deng Kai.
He had to admit, Deng Kai was really impressive.
Apart from knowing the secret code for picking up girls, he also understood the human heart.
Quaresma wasn’t foolish; how could he not feel his importance to the team waning during these past few days of training?
No superstar could accept this kind of neglect.
The team should be tilting resources towards him.
This was a privilege a star should enjoy.
Giving special treatment to someone with exceptional abilities and granting them opportunities has always been the rule in this world.
Absolute fairness has always been just an illusion.
But with Viana on the left flank, he couldn’t make sufficient connections and coordination with Quaresma, he could only create synergies with Ronaldo.
Quaresma needed an engine on the right flank.
The Meireles brand had been tried, and it didn’t work.
So it could only be Deng Kai.
"What do you want to do?" Quaresma asked.
"In tomorrow’s practice match, come play on our substitute team. I’ll send you some beautiful assists!" Deng Kai revealed his plan.
Quaresma frowned, "Who else? Will Ronaldo and Viana be joining us too?"
Deng Kai shook his head, "If they come too, we won’t have enough persuasive power."
Quaresma couldn’t believe it, "Just the two of us partnering up? There’s a significant gap in strength between the substitute team and the main team!"
Ronaldo, Postiga, Viana, Meireles, these players were more than just a notch above their substitutes.
The other positions might not have such a large gap, but a gap existed nonetheless.
"What? You think you can’t do it?" Deng Kai countered, "If you’re not ok with it, I’ll have to find Ronaldo instead. He might not be as strong as you, but I’m confident I can help him defeat our defense line."
Quaresma immediately objected, "Who said I can’t? As a senior player for Sporting Lisbon, I have more than enough to help you soar! As for Ronaldo... he’s still too green!"
As expected, Quaresma was set to play for the first team in the Primeira Liga next season, and he might even become a starting player.
...
The second day of the training match.
The substitute team lost three to five against the main team.
They lost.
But not by much.
Compared to the previous few days, it could be said that the contrast was striking.
Quaresma scored a hat-trick.
Deng Kai provided two assists for him.
After this match, Violante was very happy.
Because Quaresma was thoroughly activated.
Quaresma and Ronaldo are different; the former has the ability to activate himself, while the latter does not possess it as much.
Therefore, Ronaldo really needs someone to pass the ball to him, but Quaresma does not.
However... if someone can pass the ball to Quaresma, he can perform even stronger.
That should be his peak state.
The problem in front of the Portugal coaching team suddenly became clear.
With a double defensive midfielder formation, the defense is stronger, but Quaresma becomes mediocre. Because even when Viana is the single attacking midfielder in the middle, he prefers to combine with Ronaldo on the left.
Viana is a left-sided player by nature and adapts better to the left, a result of his playing habits.
And with Ronaldo’s extreme speed and fondness for sprinting, he can stretch the opponent’s defense well for Viana.
If Viana goes to Quaresma’s right side, he can only play second fiddle to Quaresma, and subconsciously, he wouldn’t like this choice.
Option two, a double attacking midfielder formation, boosts the attack, and Quaresma can explode at any time.
Deng Kai can completely liberate Quaresma.
So who do you choose?
Do you think the choice is between double attacking midfielders or double defensive midfielders? Between Deng Kai or Meireles?
No.
Actually, the choice is whether to let Quaresma play as an ordinary player or as a superstar.
The answer is clearly the latter.
Because Quaresma is a superstar—at least within the scope of young players.
He is the star of the national youth team!
The marquee player!
Eighty percent of the team’s followers are fans of Quaresma!
He is a well-known future star in Europe, and his current market value has reached six million euros, more than twice the total value of other players on the team!
To treat Quaresma as just one-eleventh of the team is unfair to him.
Because his contribution to the team has long surpassed one-eleventh.
It has even reached nine-elevenths!
In this case, what’s wrong with him receiving a third or a fourth of the team’s resources?
It might still be unfair, but not because he’s getting too much, rather because he’s getting too little since he should be receiving nine-elevenths!
Finally, head coach Violante made the decision: double attacking midfielder tactics!
Deng Kai as right attacking midfielder.
Meireles as defensive midfielder.
Although Meireles was reluctant, he had to accept this decision.
Because if he didn’t play, Veloso and Semedo from Sporting Lisbon U15 are very good defensive midfielders, and they are specialists in defense, better suited for that position than he is.
Meireles was chosen for that position to a large extent also because of his face value and overall strength.
Of course, it was not just Meireles; this kind of positional competition and compromise is everywhere in the team.
Pereira lost to Bosingwa and became the team’s substitute right back. But can you say that Bosingwa is absolutely better than Pereira? At least on the offensive end, Pereira might be a bit stronger.
Veloso and Semedo are stronger in defense, but they can only be substitutes for Meireles.
Angelo’s abilities are not inferior to the starting center-back Ricardo Duarte, but the latter is older and more experienced, so Angelo can only be a substitute.
Ronaldo, as the star striker of Sporting Lisbon U15, can only play second fiddle and pass the ball for Viana.
Even though Deng Kai is also an attacking midfielder, he often has to cover for Viana’s forward runs and flank exploits; clearly, their weight within the team is different.
Eleven different individuals in the team keep rubbing against each other, constantly seeking the boundaries of adaptation with one another.
Ultimately forming a whole.
This is football.
And as time went on... the UEFA European Under-17 Championship... officially kicked off!
Portugal, along with the host Czech Republic, Poland, and Switzerland, were placed in the same group, fortunately avoiding the powerful Netherlands team.
