Chapter 202: Chapter 201 Strong Football and Weak Football
"In high-intensity physical contact and rapid pressing situations, their ability to handle the ball becomes weak, and the quality of the match drops significantly, falling from the level of a core star player to even less than that of a substitute,"
"Deng Kai believed this was because they had never encountered opponents with intensity and pace far superior to their own,"
"In youth leagues, you can always overpower your opponents as long as your physical development is sufficient,"
"But there is an endpoint to human growth. A person’s body cannot keep on strengthening endlessly,"
"And this is all the more true for professional players,"
"The gap in the ultimate strength, speed, and ability to contest of most professional players isn’t very large,"
"When you realize that the physical advantages you relied on are being caught up to by your opponents, what can you play football with then?"
"Moreover, can you be certain that you will never meet opponents faster and stronger than you?"
"When you’re at a physical disadvantage, what can you use to compete against the opponent? Strength training?"
Trigella remained calm and collected,
It was only after Deng Kai raised these points that he began to reflect on them,
And the conclusions he came to were rather pessimistic,
He had always prided himself on being a top-notch developmental coach,
Simon, Quaresma, and Viana were his most prized creations,
But based on Deng Kai’s theory, when looking at the data and their performance this season, Trigella realized that the professional heights these three rising Portuguese stars could reach might be much lower than he expected,
Not only would they struggle to replicate Figo’s success, but they might not even possess the level of world-class stars,
In the future, let alone becoming key players for top clubs, it wouldn’t even be easy for them to maintain a long-term spot in the top five leagues,
It wasn’t that they weren’t good enough, but rather that their careers would encounter challenging situations they had never faced before,
Once their physicality, contesting ability, and speed all became disadvantages, and the opponent’s pressing no longer allowed them to play "leisurely," they would be nothing,
Situations such as these would repeat in Ronaldo’s future,
Of course, the data indicated that Ronaldo’s physical potential was much greater than that of other players; he could always play against those who were not as fast, strong, or tough as him, thus avoiding the decline seen in players like Simon,
But this would still limit him, preventing him from seeing another aspect of football,
"Ronaldo," Deng Kai said, "believe me, this is only the time when you would feel the pressure due to the physical condition of your opponents. Once your height stabilizes and you’ve done strength training, you will possess the most top-notch physique in football,"
"But there are some things that you can only learn when you are weak,"
Ronaldo seemed to half understand, "If you’re saying that early strength training could impact the growth of my body, then I can accept not doing extra training. In fact, I agreed to this before, but... but what do you mean by your last sentence?"
Deng Kai smiled, "You think the Marseille Turn I did in the last game depended on strength, right?"
Ronaldo nodded,
Deng Kai said, "I admit strength played a role in contesting, but if it were you, with your faster speed, I guarantee you would just knock the ball past and then get pulled down, most likely resulting in a yellow card and a free kick from a decent position,"
"That’s the difference in our mentality toward handling the ball. Since I don’t have your speed, I have to use everything I have. I need to utilize footwork techniques like the Marseille Turn, to use body strength to shield against the opponent, to give him physical resistance before speeding up, thus accelerating myself while slowing him down, and even deliberately slowing down to draw him into committing a challenge; otherwise, I can’t beat him,"
"And before that, the no-touch flick pass to Emerson when I was surrounded by three players and then knocked down by an opponent,"
"You’ve faced similar situations before, where you were simply knocked down and earned a foul. But their intent to stop our tactical attack was achieved,"
"Our processing speeds for football aren’t the same, I’m maybe half a second faster than you, maybe a second,"
"This is barely worth mentioning compared to the advantage you have in running, shooting, and physical strength over me. But that’s exactly why I can become a core player in different teams,"
"No one can restrict my passing without fouling, as long as I want to pass. Because I’m half a second faster than them, a second faster!"
"This isn’t innate. It’s because ever since I started playing football, I’ve been weaker than others. If I didn’t pass the ball faster, I’d lose possession. Extreme weakness crafted my unique vision and habits,"
"You have always been strong, so you’ve never seen this aspect, let alone mastered it,"
"The majority of renowned stars play dominant football, or traditional football. If someone is fast, they are faster. If someone is strong, they are stronger. If someone is accurate in shooting, they shoot even more accurately,"
"Messi plays talent-based football, his sense for the ball is innate, unmatched, and impossible to replicate,"
"I and a few others play from a position of disadvantage. Lacking the speed and strength to break through, we strengthen our passing ability. Since we cannot compete in power and contest, we expand our running range and increase movement to receive the ball all over. Without exceptional foot skills, we rely on other parts of our body to transition the ball, thus developing various distinctive features,"
"Right now, you’re following the path of dominant football. But... your talent tells us you’re not limited to this. Your strongest attributes are actually your adaptability and learning ability, you can definitely master disadvantage-based or distinctive-style football,"
"Ronaldo, be thankful for the adversities God has given you. These are opportunities for you to surpass yourself over and over again,"
This conversation left Ronaldo contemplating for a long time,
So was Deng Kai talking nonsense? About his own part, he was making stuff up, his excellent passing ability stemmed from Guardiola’s vision and Ding Ding’s unconventional passing,
But regarding Ronaldo’s part, Deng Kai wasn’t talking nonsense,
Ronaldo’s strongest attribute certainly wasn’t his physical condition but his self-discipline,
This sort of self-discipline can be transformed into an invincible learning and mastering ability,
As long as it is something that can be learned, Ronaldo can replicate it through self-discipline,
In the future, at thirty-seven years old, Manchester United’s Ronaldo might have significantly reduced physical capabilities, but in such adversity, he developed quite strong capabilities in falling back to support, creating plays, and threatening with his passing—seemingly simple but full of menace,
Especially the highly imaginative chest-traps, were like strokes of genius,
Many people say he lacks the ability to be a pivot, but when he started to exhibit these skills, he actually had a quite strong presence as one,
These were things young Ronaldo would have disdained to learn because there was no need—he didn’t need to support anyone, the entire team was meant to serve and support him.
