Chapter 178: Chapter 177: It’s Never Too Late to Start Trying at Any Time
Moreirense F.C., head coach’s office.
Although it was late at night, Trigella, his assistant, and Deng Kai were still busy sorting out data.
"Starting center forward Anderson, twenty-two years old, one meter eighty-eight tall, fits the big center forward profile perfectly, but his footwork is poor and he cannot play as a pivot."
"Also, his shooting is subpar; his wind-up before shooting is too long, often disrupted by others."
"His heading is decent though, with three out of his four goals being headers. However, Moreirense hardly has any chance to cross the ball except on rare occasions; they lack a frontline player who can break through the defense."
After the assistant finished speaking, Deng Kai nodded and said, "Fine, if he can’t use his feet, he can use his head and chest to fulfill the pivot role. As for creating opportunities, I can handle that. I just need him to help me keep the football in the final third."
There was no surprise here, as this was not the first time Deng Kai had said this.
The entire team’s starting lineup and substitutes were determined based on Deng Kai’s playing habits.
Mr. Trigella was still very supportive of and in sync with Deng Kai.
This assistant, who had been with Moreirense for so long, swore he had never seen such a thing.
Had Deng Kai kidnapped Trigella’s child?
"Alex, twenty-two years old, one meter seventy-six. It’s not written here, but I know that Alex’s speed is the fastest on the team," the assistant coach began. "However, due to the team’s conservative tactics, he hardly ever gets the chance to push forward, except on counterattacks."
"Additionally, his crossing is excellent. I’ve always thought that if he had been trained better from a young age, he could have had the potential to become the next Beckham!"
"But the reason he was eliminated from the Porto youth teams was his poor defending and weak physical confrontation; he loses the ball too easily on contact."
Deng Kai thought for a moment, "Fast, good at crossing, but poor in defense and physicality. These characteristics could make him an attacking wingback, or even an overlapping fullback. Attack-minded, not so much on defense."
"Conveniently, the team’s right winger, Flavio, has good ball control but lacks pace, without the capacity to get to the byline. Alex can fulfill that role, creating a threat on both wings, like Ronaldo on the left."
Assistant coach: "Ah? What about the defense...?"
Deng Kai: "When Alex moves up, Kilop shifts to the right, using his speed as an advantage. Macedo can drop back to become a false center back to protect the middle."
"Cordero and Macedo are competing for a spot, right? Whoever can better cover for the space left by Kilop’s shift, will start as the team’s holding midfielder."
"Emerson, as a utility midfielder, will be in charge of sweeping behind me, and once the team gains confidence, he can even join the attacks."
Eventually, Deng Kai and Trigella finalized the team’s starting lineup.
=
Ronaldo, Anderson, Flavio
Emerson, Macedo, Deng Kai
Serafim, Feng Te, Kilop, Alex
Ricardo
=
Cordero (Midfield), Altino (Center Back), Orlando (Center Back), Gomes (Goalkeeper) and others are important substitutes for the team.
The team plays in a 433 formation, focusing mainly on wing play, with Ronaldo’s side being the strong and primary attacking side.
In actual games, Deng Kai’s positioning is closer to an attacking midfielder, near the left side and not as far from Ronaldo as the formation chart might suggest.
This is also thanks to the improvement in Deng Kai’s running ability and speed.
On the right side, Flavio’s main responsibility is to support, staying relatively inside. When the opportunity arises, he’ll attack the channels, while Alex is the true offensive threat on the right side, responsible for delivering crosses.
Alex has two types of crosses: his baseline crosses are primarily aimed at the center of the goal area, mainly Anderson’s zone.
When he doesn’t reach the baseline and crosses early at a 45-degree angle, he aims for the back post, looking for Ronaldo.
The gaps created by Alex’s forward runs would be compensated for by defensive shifts.
But this essentially left the team’s original captain and main center back, Altino, without a spot.
The soul of that defense line lay with Kilop, his role was irreplaceable.
Goalkeeper Ricardo was steadier than backup goalkeeper Sergio Gomes, and he had more experience, so he was certain to start.
But Gomes had stronger attacking capabilities and actually had more potential.
...
In fact, it didn’t take much time for Deng Kai, Ronaldo, and Feng Te to become familiar with Anderson, Alex, Kilop, Gomes, and others.
They were all young people, with shared interests and hobbies to talk about.
Trigella’s tactics were basically to rely on these young players, and as beneficiaries, they naturally maintained a friendship with Deng Kai and others who endorsed Trigella.
These were very pragmatic issues, which Ronaldo could not have encountered in the youth team.
Because the youth team focused more on training, everyone would develop their own strengths under the coach’s guidance.
But professional teams looked at results, and it was normal to sacrifice your personal characteristics for the sake of performance.
Anderson wasn’t great on the ball, so he definitely hoped his teammates would cross it to him more often.
Alex was fast and certainly wanted to play offensively.
Kilop had long wanted to stop being a substitute for Altino and play as a starting player.
Now their wishes had come true, and they naturally needed to put in effort.
On January 27th, the Primeira Liga’s sixteenth round kicked off.
Moreirense F.C.’s opponent was Penafield, who had just escaped the relegation zone.
This indicated there was certainly a gap in strength between the two sides.
Before the match, the bookmakers favored Penafield.
The arrival of Trigella didn’t bring much confidence to Moreirense fans, because those who came with him were not Jia De’er and Quaresma, but Ronaldo and Deng Kai.
Feng Te: Damn it, I’ll say it one more time, I’ve come too! Can you please not overlook me?
As the first professional match for Deng Kai and Ronaldo, the two of them, oh no, along with Feng Te, all three were very excited.
But soon, Ronaldo’s interest in professional football significantly waned.
The thirteenth minute.
Ronaldo, after receiving the ball from Deng Kai on the left, tried to break through the opponent. After several feints, he started doing step-overs.
He felt the opponent was about to lose his balance.
He even already had his next move planned out after getting past his marker.
Bang!
The opponent destroyed the football at Ronaldo’s feet with a somewhat dangerous tackle, also sending Ronaldo to the ground.
The key was that it wasn’t a foul.
Ronaldo was extremely dissatisfied on the ground, believing that although the opponent had touched the ball first, it was a dangerous move, and should have merited a card.
However, the main referee didn’t pay any attention to Ronaldo.
In professional football, the results were what mattered most.
Besides, the main referee even thought Ronaldo was too fragile, as he had a full opportunity to stay on his feet after being hit. Ronaldo’s quick collapse looked like a performance.
That was the difference in standards between professional and youth training matches.
Ronaldo felt he had received unfair treatment.
Little did he know, the opponent was also glaring fiercely at Ronaldo, cursing inwardly... show off my ass!
