Chapter 317: Chapter 316: Blossoms Inside the Wall, Fragrance Within
Lisbon Athletic’s team doctor rushed onto the field.
After the examination, he helped Quaresma to the sidelines for a further check.
Seeing the situation, Trigella immediately called for Drogba and Kwame Ayew to warm up.
Subsequently, Trigella replaced Quaresma with Drogba.
He then comforted Quaresma, telling him something along the lines of, "We still need you for the league and European competitions, it would be too much of a loss if you got injured in a match like the Portugal Cup."
Quaresma was understanding and expressed his compliance with the arrangement.
But in fact, even without this incident, Trigella might have substituted Quaresma anyway.
With Matthaus’s absence due to injury and Pepe becoming a starter, a substitution slot had been freed up.
Trigella tended to use this substitution slot more often on Quaresma.
Some believe that this kind of substitution led to Quaresma’s fluctuating form.
But in reality, it was because Quaresma’s form was not good that he was frequently substituted mid-game.
So on this matter, fans can completely take their own conclusions, seek explanations to support them, and thus perfect their own speculations. The conclusions might be diametrically opposed, but they use the same example.
This is why many football commentaries seem logical, yet they conflict with each other.
The truth has become difficult to investigate as time has passed.
Unless you witnessed the whole series of processes at the time, you could know the true answer.
This is precisely the value of old fans.
Old fans never need to explain to new fans how dazzling the old stars were, as the latter will never understand unless they experienced it themselves.
New fans also never need to doubt the greatness of the older generation of stars, precisely because we didn’t experience it, so we will never understand.
Only if a fan patiently watches all the matches of that team and most of the matches of the strong teams of that era can they be qualified to evaluate that period of history and those stars.
Thus, the veracity of all history, in reality, cannot be verified.
"Deng Kai moved to the right wing position, with Viana as the sole attacking midfielder, Lisbon Athletic’s formation now looks more like a 3232,"
"Drogba and Ibrahimovic have formed a double striker partnership, a rare combination of two tall forwards who both have strong hold-up play."
"Ibrahimovic has better footwork, passing and shooting, and is more imaginative."
"Drogba has a greater range of movement, he’s faster, especially in terms of sprinting speed, and possesses considerable impact."
"Ronaldo and Deng Kai each became left and right wingers, but their responsibilities are completely different. Ronaldo, whether in terms of positioning or style of play, still follows the modern winger’s approach, cutting in with his inverted foot, posing a great threat."
"Deng Kai, on the other hand, focuses more on organization and passing, and he also has a decent cross after making it to the end line. He can fully unleash the threat of the twin towers!"
"With Viana as the sole attacking midfielder, he has to take on more organizing work than usual, which is a test of his abilities. In fact, last season Viana seemed rather uncomfortable in the attacking midfielder position."
"He truly began to show the brilliance of his youth training days this season, as Deng Kai’s arrival, with his running and organization, has provided Viana with enough space to perform."
"Fans in Italy generally regard Deng Kai as a stat-padder, but if we combine the team situation, player performances, and statistics of the last two seasons, it seems that Deng Kai is actually the key factor in Viana’s surge in form."
"This presents Inter Milan with a dilemma; if they insist on taking Viana away at the end of this season, will they consider taking Deng Kai with them?"
"If they don’t take Deng Kai, then they might struggle to get the real manual for Viana."
It’s clear that the commentators of the Portuguese league have a better understanding of the local competition.
Flowers bloom inside the wall and the fragrance stays within.
The Portuguese fans generally know that Deng Kai, not Viana, is the absolute core of the Lisbon Athletic midfield.
But it’s hard to explain this issue to fans of other leagues.
You say Deng Kai is an ironclad starter, they’ll say that’s because Deng Kai is Trigella’s favorite disciple, that there’s a special relationship.
Trigella and Wenger are currently acknowledged in Europe as the two managers best at nurturing young players.
Wenger has led Arsenal in the Premier League to compete against Manchester United for several years, achieving fame and success.
But Trigella lacks these tangible honors; he’s just a youth coach.
Many say Trigella is just riding on Wenger’s coattails, which seems to be the case in the eyes of most people.
But as insiders know, Trigella’s abilities in nurturing young talent are absolutely not inferior to Wenger’s.
Trigella needed a signature work.
After all, Simon, Quaresma, and Viana were just his youth apprentices, while Ronaldo and Deng Kai were the first direct disciples since Trigella embarked on his career as a head coach.
Trigella’s status in the industry hinged on Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
Given that Ronaldo was exceptionally talented, molding him into a successful player would not reflect technical complexity.
Only by bringing out Deng Kai could he truly claim excellence.
With this understanding, Deng Kai’s inclusion in the starting lineup seemed to be entirely about connections, unrelated to his abilities.
As for stats, comparisons of team performance, these were even less likely to be accepted by fans outside.
The sixtieth minute.
Deng Kai, while sprinting down the right flank, suddenly cut back with a sharp turn and planted one hand on the ground, his body tilted but not falling.
Manual Dribbling!
This move was frequently used by Quaresma, as he had excellent explosive power and strong dribbling skills.
Deng Kai would find it difficult to execute this move in other positions, mainly because his ball control was slightly lacking.
But on the right flank, it was possible.
Because on the right flank, he was empowered by Robben’s socks, which noticeably improved his ability to take on opponents.
This was why he didn’t refuse to play on the right.
Otherwise, he would have had Trigella move Ronaldo to the right flank, let Viana play on the left, and continued as an attacking midfielder himself.
But in that case, the team’s strength would inevitably suffer.
Viana was skilled on the left flank as well, but the problem would lie with Ronaldo.
Putting a right-footed player with zero assists so far in the season on the right flank was simply a disaster waiting to happen.
What, did you still expect him to deliver high-quality killer passes from the baseline?
As for cutting inside... even if Ronaldo managed to do that, how could he shoot?
His left foot and the outside of his foot obviously hadn’t yet been mastered.
Bang!
After manual dribbling, Deng Kai continued to head to the baseline and crossed the ball; it was almost as if he had picked a lock and precisely found Drogba.
But Drogba’s vision was blocked by his teammate Ibrahimovic, and he hesitated to jump firmly, causing the ball to brush past his head and out of play, missing a chance to shoot.
Drogba and Ibrahimovic gave the thumbs up right away, signaling to the young Kai that it was a good pass.
Better to be overly polite than otherwise, right?
What if young Kai started ranting?
Although Kai wasn’t as obsessed with assists as Ronaldo, who couldn’t stand others wasting his brilliant passes, we can’t take advantage just because he is good-natured.
Once Kai loses his temper with you, you’d have a rough time in this team.
Get it?
The sixty-sixth minute.
Ronaldo made a dummy run on the left, drawing the defenders, and Viana passed the ball to Deng Kai on the right.
That was a standard pass.
Deng Kai, however, stepped back twice before the ball rolled to him, posing as if to cross.
Serafim, the left-back from Moreirense, knew about Deng Kai’s crossing and quickly maintained his distance.
Bang!
Deng Kai faked a cross and really pushed forward, taking the ball to the baseline.
Serafim immediately followed, determined to catch up with Deng Kai.
Bang!
Deng Kai flicked the ball inside in advance, perfectly evading Serafim.
