Chapter 310 Lighthouse·Sudong

Before the Asian tour, Barcelona prepared three warm-up matches, but none of them had anything to do with Sudong.

The first warm-up match was a week after the team arrived at the Peralada training camp. At that time, the players were generally in poor condition and the opponent was not strong, being Banyoles from the Spanish Third Division.

This was also the first time that Ronaldinho wore the captain's armband after being promoted to the team's vice-captain, and Barcelona drew 1-1 with their opponents.

In the first half, Barcelona made a defensive mistake and the opponent scored the first goal. Then, two Brazilian players, Ronaldinho and Motta, cooperated well and the youth team player Christian Hidalgo scored a goal to equalize the score.

Also a local youth training player, Iniesta played very well in the first half but missed two great scoring opportunities.

In the second half, Barcelona replaced all players except Motta at once, and neither side was able to score again.

In the end, Barcelona drew 1-1 with the Spanish Third Division team in the first game.

It is worth mentioning that among the several new signings this summer, the defensive players basically all played, including Belletti, Sylvinho and Edmilson, all of whom played, but the offensive players Sudon, Deco and Giuly did not appear.

In an interview with the media after the game, Rijkaard smiled and said that he was not worried about the offensive players at all.

…

Three days later, Barcelona had its second warm-up match against Figueres in Group B of the Spanish Second Division.

This team is at the same level as Barcelona's second team, so you can imagine how strong it is.

Ronaldinho, who wore the captain's armband again, started again and played the whole game, helping Barcelona beat their opponents 2-1 with an assist.

Messi came on as a substitute in the 60th minute and got a valuable training opportunity, but his performance was mediocre.

Su Dong did not play in two consecutive warm-up matches. Instead, Ronaldinho wore the captain's armband in two consecutive games. He even played the whole game in the second one, which also aroused suspicion from the outside world.

Some tabloid media even began to speculate that Rijkaard was intentionally supporting Ronaldinho.

Especially considering that in the captaincy dispute not long ago, Rijkaard cast his precious vote for Ronaldinho, making the Brazilian superstar the vice-captain of Barcelona, ​​and Xavi could only be the third captain.

But Su Dong did not take these to heart.

It doesn't matter much to him whether he plays in such a warm-up match or not.

What's more, apart from him, Deco and Giuly also did not play.

Even Puyol and Xavi were absent.

Rijkaard's intention is very clear, which is to first run in the defensive lineup, especially the several newly joined defensive players.

…

In the third game, Rijkaard even benched Ronaldinho.

The team played with only substitutes and newly recruited defensive players, and ended up drawing with the opponent 1-1.

Messi had more playing time this time, starting directly and playing for more than 60 minutes. He had several outstanding performances, but overall it was still quite average.

Su Dong sat on the sidelines watching Messi play. He and Nuno Cruz had the same evaluation of Messi, that is, his body was too thin, which had seriously limited his performance and play on the court.

Although La Liga advocates technology, this is just an illusion of the outside world.

In fact, in La Liga, defensive players make a lot of small moves and rough actions, and the physical requirements are also very high, but it is different from the fierce physical collisions in the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga.

To put it bluntly, professional football is still based on physical strength.

The so-called technical flow is based on the physical condition reaching a certain level.

Without a strong body, I can't display any skills even when I'm on the court.

This is Messi's current situation.

…

In three warm-up matches, we won one and drew two. Although we didn't lose, it's hard to be satisfied.

The main reason is that the strength of the three opponents is not strong.

Barcelona's performance like this makes people very worried about the team's performance in the new season.

What puzzles many people is why Rijkaard would keep new players such as Su Dong, Deco and Giuly on ice. However, the views within the Barcelona team are very different.

To put it bluntly, this is Rijkaard's coaching style.

Long before joining Barcelona, ​​Su Dong had already inquired about Rijkaard from many sources. He found that his management of the team was actually very relaxed, and even the intensity of training was not high, which made the players generally feel comfortable.

From Sporting Lisbon to Valencia and then to Barcelona, ​​although he joined the team only a few days ago, this is the team with the easiest and most comfortable training that Su Dong has ever experienced. The players can even laugh and play directly on the training ground, and Rijkaard doesn't mind at all.

On the tactical level, the Dutch coach advocates free-spirited offensive football.

He believes in the creativity of superstars, so he is willing to give frontcourt superstars more freedom.

To put it nicely, he is good at tapping into the strengths of his players, but on the other hand, it can also be said that he does not have many tactics to speak of.

If there is a problem, the players will solve it themselves!

During training, he always put Sudong, Ronaldinho, Deco and Giuly together, just to help them develop tacit understanding, especially for Sudong and Ronaldinho.

The biggest difference between Rijkaard and Benítez is that he encourages Sudon to take the ball more often.

For example, he told Su Dong, "You need to hold the ball more often, dribble the ball more often, and play to your physical and technical advantages."

"You are a center forward. You take the ball in and out of the penalty area and dribble in the opponent's vital areas. It is easy to make the opponent foul, and this is your biggest threat!"

With a new head coach, the requirements are completely different, and Su Dong really needs some time to adapt.

Fortunately, he had a very good relationship with Ronaldinho and Deco, and they communicated a lot on and off the court. In addition, he had good footwork skills, so cooperation was not a problem. They just lacked some tacit understanding.

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During the time in Peralada, several offensive players in the team figured out a very interesting offensive routine on their own that was difficult for the team's defenders to contain. That was Ronaldinho getting the ball on the left flank and Su Dong dropping back to receive the ball.

These two models can derive many different routines.

For example, Ronaldinho got the ball on the left flank, attracted the attention of the defense, and then made a diagonal pass to Giuly on the right. Giuly made a cross from the bottom, and Su Dong followed up and shot from the middle.

Or after Su Dong receives the ball with his back to the goal, he cooperates with Ronaldinho and Deco to penetrate, then moves to the empty space, such as Giuly on the right, and creates a chance to shoot and score.

In this model, Su Dong and Ronaldinho's ability to get the ball in the frontcourt is the key. Based on these two points, Barcelona can organize many different offensive routines, which are really difficult for defensive players to block.

Puyol, Marcos and Edmilson took turns to mark Su Dong, but there was nothing they could do.

With a height of 1.95 meters, lightning speed and explosive power, coupled with flexible and swift movements, and exquisite and delicate footwork, all these make Su Dong almost unstoppable and difficult to defend against.

It is through his performance in training that, although he has not played in even one warm-up match, Su Dong's strength is still recognized by his teammates.

Is there another center forward of this type in the world of football today?

Whether it was Deco and Ronaldinho, or Xavi and Iniesta, they all quickly felt the benefits of having a center forward like Su Dong in front of them. They gained more space and passing the ball became more convenient.

Su Dong is like a lighthouse. No matter how strong the wind or rain is, he always stands in front. As long as the players in the midfield and backcourt raise their heads, they can clearly see him and the direction!

This is the value of Sudong! …………

…………

After training in Peralada for more than half a month, the entire Barcelona team returned to Barcelona.

Since there are only 22 places for the team's Asian tour, many young players, including Messi, who were training with the first team, were unable to travel with the team. Players like goalkeeper Rustu, who are basically certain to leave the team, are also not on the list.

Before the team set off, the club hosted a banquet for all the first-team players in a hotel near Camp Nou and solemnly told everyone how much the club valued this trip to Asia.

According to an analysis report by the Spanish professional financial newspaper [Expansion], after the Asian tour in 2003, Real Madrid's commercial operating income in the past year reached 140 million euros. This is a very astonishing figure. It is the sum of all the club's financial income since Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2000.

In other words, Real Madrid has achieved all the income of the entire Real Madrid team four years ago, including the bonus of a Champions League, through commercial development alone. If the team's income from various competitions, broadcasting rights, and various income on match days are taken into account, the income will be even more astonishing.

[Expansion] believes that Florentino's superstar-centered management philosophy has made Real Madrid the richest team in European football, and at the same time, it has been at the forefront of all professional football clubs in the process of globalization.

"Florentino once said that Manchester United's business strategy was more than ten years ahead of other European teams, but Real Madrid is overtaking at a rapid pace with its strategy of recruiting one superstar a year. He hopes to make Real Madrid surpass Manchester United and become the football club with the highest commercial value in the world."

Barcelona has seen the benefits of Real Madrid's business strategy, because professional football ultimately comes down to money.

Therefore, after Real Madrid's Asian tour, Barcelona immediately began to promote the Asian tour.

Although it seems a bit hasty and there is also the suspicion of imitating others without learning from others, we still have to catch up quickly.

This time, the signing of Asia's leading superstar Su Dong and the presence of Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho in the team have made Barcelona ambitious in its Asian expansion.

Whether it is Nike, Audi, or other sponsors, the feedback given to Barcelona all unanimously agrees that this Asian tour will use Su Dong as the number one star, and leverage Su Dong's influence in the Asian region to open up the Asian market in one fell swoop.

Sarah Martin, vice president in charge of business development and the pioneer, is looking forward to the trip.

At the banquet, he even joked, "The whole of Asia is looking forward to our arrival, especially East Asia, where fans are eagerly waiting for us!"

Sarah Martin hopes that all players can show a better mental outlook during their trip to Asia, and demonstrate Barcelona's top-class temperament in both games and commercial activities.

(End of this chapter)