Chapter 270: Chapter 269 The Competition between Ibrahimovic and Drogba
"Friends who really want to further develop their football skills can totally join the Sporting Lisbon Youth Training Camp. Or you can join the ’Maxa Football Advanced Training Camp’ that I’ve invested in! For the seven-day trial version, it’s only €998! For the nineteen-day ultra-long battery life version, it’s €1999! There’s also a superstar coaching version where, apart from Portugal’s top players, you even have the chance to meet world-class stars!"
Wow.
Maxa hasn’t become a head coach yet, but he’s already turned into a camp director.
But Maxa is very interested in this business collaboration.
Because he didn’t have much to do in the first team anyway, making some easy money on the side couldn’t be better.
Basically, it’s just about gathering some football coaches who are out of work together and mimicking Sporting Lisbon’s training methods.
This venture seems small-time and unlikely to rake in much cash.
But... the main content of Sporting Lisbon’s collaboration in China is essentially just this.
It is just that the scale is bigger, the personnel are more professional, and the equipment is top-notch.
After Deng Kai explained how this venture would benefit Maxa’s future, Maxa cried for several hours once he fully grasped the key point.
The young master has actually paved the way for the next decade or more of his life.
My emperor father!
I have nothing to repay you with, except to make by my own hands a bowl of your favorite brown sugar glutinous rice cake!
...
On September 13th, the second round of the Portugal Super League kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon went away to face Leiria.
Ibrahimovic, who had been in excellent form in the previous match, earned a starting position, while the other players saw no significant changes.
However, after the first half’s fierce battle, Ibrahimovic’s performance did not meet everyone’s expectations.
"He’s too obsessed with his footwork, when he could deal with the football more simply, he insists on dribbling it a bit more."
"Moreover, his physical battling ability is not as strong as he makes it appear—he’s actually a bit skinny."
"With his height, if he put on weight it would definitely affect his speed and agility, and then he couldn’t maintain the playing style he likes."
At this stage, Ibrahimovic somewhat resembles the future beer-bellied forward Lukaku, only Ibrahimovic is the luxury version.
During halftime, Trigella simply substituted Ibrahimovic out.
Of course, he didn’t speak harshly to Ibrahimovic, one need not strike hard to sound the drum, and besides, it wasn’t any critical moment; there’s plenty of time to slowly temper Ibrahimovic.
If he really can’t change, it’s not unacceptable for him to remain as a substitute for Drogba.
In any case, Drogba is quite useful.
Ibrahimovic: MMP!
In the second half, with Drogba’s entry, the situation visibly shifted.
At least with an equal number of opportunities, wastage was reduced.
What kind of players does a team fear the most?
Players without talent?
Definitely not.
Sappers have their own merits, look at someone like Deschamps; he’s still pretty handy.
What’s dreaded are "players who seem pretty decent."
What does that mean?
It means those who have the courage to try dribbling past opponents, but with an unstable success rate, and once their attempts don’t go smoothly, they can’t adjust on their own... When passing the ball, they often have fanciful ideas, but with a low success rate, either the passes are occasionally too long or too short, or sometimes not even executed... They have a decent shot, but their timing for taking shots isn’t particularly good, or to put it another way, they lack supplementary intentions, and so on.
In a nutshell, they look like key players, but their performance is unstable, or they don’t perform well under high pressure or against strong opponents.
Often, these pseudo-cores are key reasons for losing a game.
To give a simple example, take Ibrahimovic in the first half.
How did the football get to his feet?
It came through a series of passes by the defenders, as well as some unconventional exquisite passes from Quaresma, Deng Kai, and Viana.
If you’re a defender and the ball that’s gone through so many processes ends up at your feet, at worst you just pass it back—the ball would only retreat from step seven to step six, which isn’t a big loss.
But Ibrahimovic frequently tried to outplay his opponent with footwork or pull off some fancy moves, and whenever the opponent broke through, the ball would go straight from step seven to step zero.
Or even fell back to step negative seven.
The team would then have to spend a series of time and effort to win back the ball and get it to that position again.
It’s not that every opportunity can’t be squandered, an attacking threat itself is a process of squandering opportunities.
But not everyone can afford to squander them.
The squandering should be left to the person with the highest probability of success—Quaresma, who has the highest success rate and is unlikely to lose the ball even if he doesn’t succeed.
Or to someone with a special purpose—Ronaldo, tormenting the opposing players’ ankles and stamina, preparing to devour them in the second half.
Ibrahimovic’s actions were pure squandering!
Many players who seem to have overflowing talent or outstanding abilities can only be substitutes or surprise players in top clubs, probably for similar reasons.
That’s also why core substitute players are less likely to stand out than substitute defenders.
If you’re a substitute, it only means your limit isn’t high enough.
Even if the core player isn’t good enough, the team is more likely to find a new core player than promote you.
But there are many cases where substitute defenders are promoted, it’s all the same who is used, isn’t it?
During the World Cup match between Portugal and Morocco, one midfielder sent out about three through passes from a position between the right side of the penalty area and the corner flag.
They all seemed inspired, and once his teammates got the ball near the end line, they were unguarded and could either cut in along the end line to enter the penalty area, cross, or play it back into a triangle.
But all three passes were overhit, and his teammates couldn’t even catch up.
This gave the opposing team the chance to waste time with goal kicks, making the situation even worse for Portugal, which was short on time—it would have been more helpful to the team to pass back.
This same situation had occurred about two or three times before this match.
It wasn’t an issue of unfamiliarity between the players anymore.
It was a matter of the passing player’s ability to pass the ball.
This passer wasn’t Bruno Fernandes, although he too made similar passes from that position.
Can you say he played poorly?
Coming up with the idea is already impressive, surpassing many others.
But sometimes, thinking of something and not being able to do it is worse than not thinking of it at all.
Ibrahimovic’s capabilities, when targeted by the opposition, still need improvement.
57th minute.
The Large Circle Tactics progressed to Quaresma’s step.
After a fancy dribbling move, Quaresma passed to the surging Deng Kai.
Deng Kai, without stopping the ball, directly knocked it to Drogba up front.
Drogba, also without taking a touch, knocked it into the open space on his right.
The advancing Deng Kai smoothly took the ball away.
The central defender behind Drogba hurried to mark Deng Kai; he was a split second too slow and could only catch up a bit.
But he felt it was enough.
He leaned his body towards Deng Kai, and upon contact...
Deng Kai slightly swayed but barely affected his dribbling, entering the top of the penalty box arc.
Deng Kai’s physical contact was not as weak as the opponent had anticipated.
