Lvyin Fengmo

Chapter 11 A flash in the pan?
Is the English U18 youth league really influential?

not necessarily.

Those young people who are truly talented rarely waste their precious careers in the U18 league.

For example, Liverpool's last talented young player - Raheem Sterling in 1994, had entered the first team squad at the age of less than 17. For him, occasionally playing two youth team games is just for Just keep it up.

For most young players, they would rather sit on the bench and guard the drinking fountains for the big brothers of the first team than to play as the main force in youth team games.

And how many of those geniuses who are calling the shots in the youth team can gain a firm foothold in the first team?

In Liverpool's Kirkby Youth Academy, there are a large number of talented teenagers every year, who are dubbed "New Dalglish", "Owen II", "Another Fowler", "Gerrard's successor". ’, but never one of them lived up to the expectations.

There are also countless vivid examples in the La Masia Youth Training Academy, known as the "genius processing factory". The former "Messi successor", the Serbian prodigy Bojan, kicked 254 in youth competitions at all levels. Horror data of 899 goals per game!3.5 goals per game!Finish off his old-timer Messi!
But... such a peerless genius has no place in Barcelona's first team!

After experiencing the infinite glory at the beginning, he moved to Rome, AC Milan, Ajax and many other European powerhouses. Not only could he no longer find the shadow of "Messi's successor", he even found it difficult to find a place to stay!
There is no shortage of young and famous geniuses in this world, but how many people can become Ronaldo and Messi?
Even the Brazilian king Neymar, who has high hopes from the whole world, does not seem to have reached the expected height.

So in recent years, the media has not paid so much attention to young talents, especially those who are still hanging out in the youth team.

But for some unknown reason, in just two weeks, Lu Feng's name still set off a wave that cannot be ignored in the entire football world.

Even the most rigorous and authoritative German sports magazine "Kicker" solemnly reprinted the report of the British counterpart:

"Pay special attention! The new generation of Chinese football is about to debut!"
-
In the nearly ten years from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, Chinese football once ushered in a short-term "study abroad craze". Chinese players represented by Yang Chen, Sun Jihai, Zheng Zhi, Li Tie, and Shao Jiayi played in England, There have been memorable performances in clubs in Germany and France.

But after entering the 2012-2013 season, the Chinese figure that can appear in the mainstream league is close to blank. Only Zhang Chengdong is struggling in the Bundesliga Bundesliga. The former genius Wang Chu ended his contract with the French team and joined The distant Luxembourg Esch Youth Club, just to get more opportunities to play.

In addition, there are nearly 200 small players who are either at their own expense or sponsored by companies, and are receiving training at clubs at all levels in Spain and Portugal, but without exception, they all have no hope of making it to the top—and... They don't even have the qualifications to participate in the youth team competition!
Against such a background, Lu Feng, who played for the veteran super giant Liverpool, blasted eight goals in two games, and "led" the team to bloodbath Manchester United, naturally got the attention of the Chinese media thousands of miles away.

"Sports Weekly: China's 'Front'! The British Isles reappear in red!"

"Sina Sports: Lu Feng! The next generation of Chinese football standard bearer?!"

"Football News: Dialogue with Kirkby! Exclusive interview with Liverpool Youth Academy executives!"

"Hupu Sports: In all fairness, how do you evaluate Lu Feng's prospects in Liverpool?"

"Southern Weekend: Be careful to become the successor of Dong Fangzhuo and Wang Chu!"

……

Public opinion in Chinese football always has two sides:
On the one hand, all fans are hungry for real hope after so many dark days and disappointments, so they'll go out of their way to trumpet any youngster who looks gifted.

On the other hand, it is precisely because they have experienced countless times of darkness and disappointment that they cannot help but reflect and question these "stars of hope".

But just after their doubts were raised, Lu Feng slapped them with a practical action!
On the last match day of March, in the Merseyside Derby of the U3 League, the Chinese teenager, who started for the third time, scored all three goals!

3 goals in 11 games!
Such data suddenly made the domestic media unable to sit still!
Relatively powerful media are already preparing to arrange reporting teams to go to Liverpool for special reports, while those media who are too lazy to spend money on air tickets frantically search for news reports from their counterparts in England and Europe. After the craftsmanship, it appeared majestically on its own page!
"The king of the Red Army praised: Lu Feng is China's Dalglish!"

"Mike Paland, Dean of Kirkby, believes: Lu Feng has completely blown Sterling!"

"Liverpool's U18 teammates said in unison: Lu Feng is the number one superstar in the team!"

"Conversation with the general manager of Liverpool Club: Lu Feng has the potential to become a legend of the Red Army!"

……

Before the reporting teams had time to book their tickets, their rising stars were unceremoniously dropped.

In the first game in April, against Southampton's strong defense, Lu Feng, who played the whole game, failed for the first time!
Not only that, but a young player from Southampton was identified by Liverpool as a key focus target because of his outstanding performance!
Lu Feng had a strange feeling:

These "South Coast Saints" players, when they played against Liverpool, seemed to be full of endless power. Even if they drove the plug-in to accelerate, they could still be intercepted by the united defenders!
What a day dog!
"Another shooting star?"

"Just a flash in the pan?"

"He can't afford the future of Chinese football!

"Lu Feng is just an ordinary person!"

"Saints brutally crush the hopes of 13 billion people!"

Domestic public opinion was devastated after a match, and Lu Feng, whom they called "the hope of the next generation" before, seemed to be smashed to pieces in minutes!

And a week later, on April 4th, in the first round of the FA Youth Cup semi-final, Lu Feng was reduced to nothing!
Because he didn't even play for a second!

Bole, the head coach of the Liverpool U18 team, Neil Critchley, who was kind to him, excluded Lu Feng, who was physically exhausted and suffered a "scoring shortage" from the squad!

He was sitting in the stands of the Anfield Stadium, watching his team being poured two goals in a row by Chelsea, who came from afar!

The league has long been hopeless, and now the cup is about to be out!

(End of this chapter)