legendary midfielder

Chapter 9 Unique Enrollment Ceremony

The White Star team is really distressed at the moment.

Today is July 7th. In the 20 friendly matches held before the season, the team won 5, drew [-] and lost [-]. For a newly promoted team, this situation is not good, but it is not bad either.

Originally, the team's formation had gradually stabilized in these friendly matches, but at this critical moment, midfielder Baptis accidentally sprained his knee in the last friendly match. After the hospital examination, it was determined that his knee ligaments were torn, and he would be lying on the hospital bed for at least three months. In addition to recovery training, it would take another month. In total, he would miss the league for four months!

Four months!
Basically half a season is wasted!
If the team still has a midfielder who can replace it, that's no big deal, but the team really can't find someone who can replace Baptis.

Faced with such a harsh situation, head coach Mazu and assistant coach Philippe discussed for a long time, but there was no good solution. They could only temporarily change the formation, from 3-5-2 double midfielder formation to 4-4-2 single midfielder diamond formation.

But the 4-4-2 diamond position, it seems that there is an extra defender, and the defense has been strengthened, but let's take a look at the midfield:

There are four midfielders, one attacking midfielder, two full-backs, and only one organizing midfielder in the defensive midfielder position - Dries. He not only needs to organize the team's offense, but also takes on the task of midfield defense.

In this case, one is to put higher demands on Dries' physical fitness, which is not an easy task for a nearly 30-year-old veteran;

Second, after all, Driss is the organizing midfielder and the core of the whole team. He must be the focus of the opponent's care. As long as the opponent arranges for one person to cut off the connection between Dries and the defense line, it is tantamount to exposing the entire defense line to the opponent's artillery. Although there are four defenders, losing the barrier of the midfielder is not so reassuring.

So Driss needs someone to protect him from the sidelines, otherwise it is very likely that there will be a nasty situation where the frontcourt and the backcourt are out of touch, but this person---unfortunately, he is gone now!

In the end, Matsu and Philip could only look at each other with wry smiles, let's try it!

As for Zhang Xu, Ma Zu and Philip didn't think of him at all, why?A player who almost failed a trial training, can you still expect him to take on such a difficult task for the team?

After the last friendly match, in order to let the team get familiar with the new formation as soon as possible, Mazu and Philip focused on practicing the 4-4-2 diamond formation in the intra-team match.

However, the effect is not very ideal.

July 2011, 7 was a memorable day for Zhang Xu, because on this day, he officially joined the Woluwe White Star Club of the Belgian Second Division.

At [-] o'clock in the morning, the club conducted a routine physical examination on Zhang Xu, and then held a simple signing ceremony.

At the signing ceremony, the club only invited a small local media, and then posted a photo of Zhang Xu wearing the No. 15 jersey on the club's official website, and gave a brief explanation of Zhang Xu's situation.

In this way, Zhang Xu officially entered the ranks of professional football!
Although he has entered the ranks of professional football, Zhang Xu still has a long way to go from the first team, so he obediently followed assistant coach Philip to the U21 training ground.

In the British league, the reserve team is second only to the first team, but in other countries' leagues, there is no such thing as a reserve team, only U21.

U21 is generally composed of first-team substitutes, together with main players recovering from injuries and outstanding youth players, etc., together form the U21 team.

"Boys, you have a new teammate!" Philip took Zhang Xu to the side of the U21 training field, and after calling the U21 players to assemble, he pulled Zhang Xu to stand in front of the team and said with a smile, "I think it's better for Zhang to introduce himself!"

Zhang Xu was not too polite, he jumped out carelessly, and introduced himself solemnly: "Hi everyone, my name is."

Before they had time to say their names, many of the U21 teammates burst into laughter: "Your name is Zhang, and you are Zhang, a master of Chinese studies from the University of Paris VI. Everyone knows this, right?"

"Oh, you all know?" Zhang Xu pretended to be surprised and smiled dryly, and then smoothed his hair coquettishly: "It seems that the charm of my Xueba is really unstoppable, even you all know it!"

"Haha." Regarding Zhang Xu's funny, the teammates were stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing collectively.

Philip was very satisfied that Zhang Xu could integrate into the team so quickly, and he clapped his hands: "Okay, guys, Zhang is our only new teammate this year, so let's welcome him with the most noble entrance ceremony of the White Star team!"

"Wow! As ordered, Mr. Philip!" The teammates all laughed strangely, which made Zhang Xu feel bad.

Sure enough, the teammates surrounded him in a swarm, lifted Zhang Xu up in a panic, and then shouted "One, two, three, victory! Victory! Victory!" Throwing Zhang Xu high, catching, and throwing and catching three times in a row, finally released Zhang Xu who was still in shock.

"The baby is scared to death!" Zhang Xu pretended to be a woman, patting his chest shyly, and his funny appearance made his teammates laugh again.

"Haha, guys, Zhang is not just a top student, but also a strong and strong monster. He is currently in the back of the team." Philip smiled and helped Zhang Xu out: "Should you introduce yourself too?"

"Zhang, hello, my name is Marco, front waist!"

"I'm Kevin, you should know my hands are so long, I'm a goalkeeper! Haha!"

"Jeremy, forward."

"My name is Laurent. I'm an all-rounder on the team. I can play from the backcourt to the frontcourt!"

After a joyful mutual introduction, the training of the U21 team officially began.

Because the league is coming soon, the team's tactics have not yet fully formed, so the daily training, in addition to recovery training and special training, most of the time is based on tactical drills.

Once they entered the training, the team members who were joking and playing around immediately became serious and completed the training tasks in strict accordance with Philip's requirements.

But Philip, who is usually kind like a grandfather, suddenly became very serious on the training ground, and his tense face made people feel terrible.

During training, as long as there are some players who do not do well enough, they will definitely be scolded by Philip like a storm. Zhang Xu is no exception, and the number of times he was scolded is at the top of the list.

Less than an hour after the training started, Zhang Xu had already been scolded a dozen times, and every time he was scolded bloody by Philip, he was in a mess.

Furthermore, after entering the training state, the super midfield training system started immediately, and the very tempting female voice prompts in the training module were mixed with Philip's angry curses. Zhang Xu felt that he was suffering from the inside out.

However, is Zhang Xu's special treatment nothing more than that?of course not!

When the players were resting between training sessions, Philip called Zhang Xu aside and handed him a stack of printed paper: "Zhang, this is your training plan. You have excellent physical fitness, but your technical and tactical knowledge and ability level, I am not hitting you, you should know it yourself, it is indeed too low. Therefore, in addition to completing the same training tasks as your teammates, you have to complete additional training tasks according to the plan I gave you!"

"Of course, these extra trainings are all done when others are resting. Would you like to?" Philip looked at Zhang Xu seriously.

"I am willing!" Zhang Xu agreed categorically.

"Very good!" Philip nodded with satisfaction, opened the training plan in Zhang Xu's hand, and explained: "Your problem is mainly a tactical problem, and it is very difficult to cooperate with your teammates, so I have prepared a lot of game videos for you. I hope you can spare time to watch and study hard."

"In addition, you also need to improve your stealing and man-marking skills, and at the same time pay attention to cultivating your sense of position! Of course, I have assigned a special training coach for you, and he is------me!"

"Ah?! You? This is not good. For me, you will delay your rest time!" Zhang Xu was surprised and moved.

"I'm a 46-year-old man. It doesn't matter if I take a short rest. If I can see you growing up in my hands, I will be satisfied!" Philip waved his hand and said nonchalantly.

"Thank you!" Zhang Xu could only express his sincere thanks from the bottom of his heart for such an old man who devoted himself to helping you.

"Okay, kid, go train with other people, and come to me again when you are resting! By the way, you know, I will not show mercy when training, so be careful! Haha"

"Okay, Mr. Philip!" After Zhang Xu saluted, he quickly returned to the team.

(End of this chapter)