However, most of the highly anticipated Great British Stars failed to meet everyone's expectations, so gradually, the title of Great British Star became a mocking title.

For example, King Jesse Lingard, happy boy Sterling, Arsenal's prince Wilshere, Tottenham's Kane, Everton's little Rooney Rodwell, and the hottest son of the Red Devils, "Black Be" Welbeck - these people are considered the first generation of British stars.

Among these British stars, only Kane's performance in the future can be considered worthy of the expectations of the national rising star.

Of course, these people can be called "Great British Stars" because they are indeed geniuses.

...are also Gu Ran’s main competitors in the future.

Sterling was originally a youth training player of the Queens Park Rangers Club's youth team. His amazing football talent was soon discovered by major scouts. As soon as the summer transfer window of 2010 opened, Liverpool Club couldn't wait to bring the 16-year-old Sterling to the Liverpool U18 youth team for 2 million pounds.

This transfer price also created a transfer record between youth teams!

Sterling is also defined as a "star of hope" by the Liverpool club, but his contract includes a clause that he must play in the U18 youth team for at least two years and complete an evaluation before he can be promoted to the first team.

So it is no surprise that Sterling appears in Liverpool's U18 team.

When Gu Ran thought of the highlights of "Happy Boys", he almost couldn't help laughing like a pig.

In this game, whether or not a goal is scored doesn’t matter for now. The important thing is that we must not laugh!

Gu Ran tried hard to suppress the smile on his face and continued to train seriously.

Coach Mark continued to brag to Coach Dodd: "This will be Sterling's first game for our Liverpool U18 team, so many senior executives of our Liverpool club will come here to watch the game today. Their purpose is to catch a glimpse of Sterling!"

"Don't be fooled by our Sterling's nonchalant look now, but when he is on the field, he is simply like the Son of God! He is very, very fast, his instantaneous explosive power is very, very strong, his footwork is also very skilled, he has world-class positioning, and his ball sense is absolutely natural! I dare say that at the U18 level, absolutely no one can defend him. I believe that it won't be long before this child's name will be compared with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo!"

Coach Mark is about to praise Sterling to the sky!

Coach Dodd chuckled, "Really? Congratulations to you, Liverpool."

Coach Mark asked proudly, "What about you? Southampton U18 has always produced young talents. What good talents do you have this year?"

Coach Dodd smiled faintly, "What a coincidence, isn't it? We do have a rising star this year! His name is Gu Ran, and he just led the underdog Bucks Steelhorns to win the national championship."

Coach Mark laughed, "I have heard of it, but... the champion of the amateur campus competition is meaningless in the eyes of professionals."

Coach Dodd said proudly: "This is exactly what makes Gu Ran awesome. He is obviously a grassroots person and has never received professional youth training before, but he is not only extremely fast and explosive, but also very strong in physical confrontation! His defensive positional sense is also good! I dare say that at the U18 level, there is no player that Gu Ran cannot defend! In addition, he has a Beckham-style crescent-shaped scimitar and a Lampard-style through ball. His long-range shot is world-class. His dribbling skills are dazzling. He can dribble from his own penalty area to the opponent's penalty area and achieve full B2B coverage!"

Coach Mark's mouth twitched, "Are you talking about... still human?"

He comes from a grassroots background and has never received formal training. He is invincible in defense at the U18 level, and can kick out Beckham's crescent moon kick, Lampard's genie lamp kick, long-range world waves, dribbling past opponents like drinking water, and full B2B coverage... Can he still be a human being?

Coach Dodd smiled proudly and said, "Man? Of course not! Although Gu Ran seems ordinary during training, he is simply a god on the court!"

Coach Mark frowned immediately.

He said Sterling was the son of God on the court, and Coach Dodd immediately said Gu Ran was God...

He said that no one can defend Sterling at the U18 level, and then Coach Dodd said that no one can break through Gu Ran at the U18 level...

Is the targeting so obvious?

You guys in Southampton are so awesome that you almost burst out of the solar system! "What's even more awesome is," Coach Dodd paused for a moment, and after seeing Coach Mark's increasingly unhappy expression, he continued proudly, "Gu Ran has a superb football IQ that is ahead of this era. He really uses his brain to play football."

This kind of praise is incredible.

You know, most young talents are still in the stage of strong physical talents. Generally, players with basketball IQ will only appear in the middle or late stages of their careers.

The saying "getting better with age" actually refers to basketball IQ and experience.

When you reach your physical and technical peak, if you want to break through further, you can only rely on your basketball IQ and brains.

Veteran stars are often smarter, more cunning, and better at taking advantage of situations when handling the ball, rather than just relying on their physical strength and skills.

So, to say that a young player has a basketball IQ that is ahead of his time is absolutely incredible.

Coach Mark smiled and said, "Dodd, you are really good at blowing. How can a Chinese who has not received professional training blow so well? I don't believe it!"

Coach Dodd smiled and said, "Hey, Mark, my old friend, you know me. I never brag. I am just stating a fact, even though it sounds a bit exaggerated. This so-called rising star is an exaggeration beyond ordinary people! Your Sterling may be great, but, I'm sorry, our Gu Ran is even better."

Coach Mark shrugged and said, "Don't talk too much so soon. We'll know who's stronger in the afternoon game!"

"Okay, let's compete with each other in a competition."

The two coaches smiled on the surface, but they had already fought for 842 rounds in their hearts.

Coach Dodd walked to his own sideline and waved Gu Ran over.

"Gu, how do you feel today?"

"Very good, Coach."

Apart from Evelyn nagging me all the way and forcibly grabbing my hand, everything else was fine.

Coach Dodd smiled and said, "That's good... Today's game depends entirely on you! The other team already knows that you are very strong. Yes, they know that you are fast, they know that you sprint very hard, they know that you are invincible on defense, they know that you can dribble past opponents, and they know that you can also use the Crescent Moon Scimitar and the Magic Lamp... They will definitely target you in particular."

Gu Ran was stunned. "How did the other party know this... Liverpool's pre-match intelligence system is too strong, isn't it?"

"Ahem..." Coach Dodd waved his hands, "None of this matters. In short, you have to give it your all in this game!"

Gu Ran nodded and said, "Don't worry, coach."

Coach Dodd breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, let's continue training."

At the same time, Coach Mark returned to the sidelines where his players were, gathered the players of Liverpool U18 team around him, and began to lecture: "Today's afternoon game, everyone, take it seriously!"

"Try to pass the ball to Sterling. Sterling, you have to go all out to break through, especially to break through that Chinese man Gu Ran, to let him know how powerful you are!"

Sterling, who is currently worth 2 million pounds, was puzzled, but still nodded.

Coach Mark then warned the others, "I want to emphasize again, in today's game, you must keep a close eye on Gu Ran! The opposing coach has praised that Chinese guy like a god, you must not allow Gu Ran any room to perform!"

"Did you understand everything?"

"Yes! Coach!"

"Coach, don't worry. We will beat up that guy called Gu Ran! We have already memorized his arrogant face!"

"We will beat him to death! We want to take back the glory of the British National Championship from that Chinaman!"

"We want to make him cry and regret playing football!"

Hearing the players' high morale, Coach Mark nodded with satisfaction, "Great! This is the kind of momentum we want! Let's start training! Let the Southampton U18 players see what level our Premier League-level youth training team is at!"

The players of Liverpool U18 team immediately came on the field and trained with the Southampton U18 team.

The training level of Liverpool U18 team is still very high, but the training level of Southampton U18 is not bad either.

The players on both sides immediately entered a tense stage of competition.

The players of Liverpool U18 team all stared at the number 47 of Southampton U18 with eager eyes.

The emotional bubbles of both sides also collapsed one after another.

Gu Ran, wearing the No. 9 jersey, trained quietly while concentrating his mind to pick and choose from a bunch of white training result bubbles and blue skill bubbles.

Before lunch, Gu Ran picked up three white training bubbles about physical fitness and sprinting, and one blue skill bubble of "High-speed sprint dribbling +1".

Gu Ran already has the skill of "High-speed Sprint Dribbling". After picking it up this time, the High-speed Sprint Dribbling is stacked to +4.

The three white training result bubbles, together with the remaining training results, just made up 100 hours, and were automatically exchanged for one special talent point.

Gu Ran did not hesitate and directly allocated this talent point to the "burst" attribute.

The burst attribute then increased from 74 points to 75 points.

——Since today's opponent is Sterling, and Sterling's strongest advantages are basic speed and burst speed, Gu Ran will specifically strengthen his burst so that he can better fight against Sterling.

Gu Ran still has 5 chances to pick up items left today.

Gu Ran plans to leave these five chances to stars such as Sterling and Alan Shearer.

After the morning training ended, the thunderstorm stopped.

Players from both sides rested in their respective locker rooms and then went to the restaurant at Melwood Training Center for dinner.

After finishing their meal, both parties rested for more than an hour in their respective rest areas.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, players from both teams arrived at the first team's competition venue.

At this time, there were already quite a few Liverpool staff sitting on the simple stands on the sidelines.

Some of them are just ordinary employees who came to cheer for the Liverpool youth team, while others are Liverpool's technical staff and full-time scouts. Their task is to evaluate the performance of the Liverpool youth team and see if there is anyone who can be recruited from the Southampton U18 team.

At this time, there was still some water in the venue.

Six workers in charge of grounds maintenance were quickly clearing the lawn.

After the water on the lawn was cleaned, Southampton U18 and Liverpool U18 teams entered the field and began pre-match warm-ups.

Although the accumulated water has been cleared, the ground is still very slippery.

Today's game is destined to be a difficult one that requires a high level of basic skills from the players.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Reporters from Liverpool FC newspaper took photos of the senior executives.

The senior executives were also discussing with each other with a smile, and from time to time they looked at Sterling who was training on the field and gave him instructions.

As expected, they all came to watch Liverpool's rising star Sterling perform.

——This period was also the beginning of Liverpool’s revival.

Liverpool's original owners, the "bloody duo", finally sold their shares to Fenway Group. Having gotten rid of the bloody duo, Liverpool's senior management seemed high-spirited and full of confidence.

As soon as Fenway Group took over Liverpool, it waived the club's debt of up to 100 million pounds and determined the long-term strategic plan to expand Liverpool's home Anfield Stadium and upgrade the Melwood training base and Kirkby youth training base.

Although the new boss Henry and "the most beautiful boss lady in football" Linda did not come to the training ground to watch the U18 friendly match, the thoughtful senior executives still ordered people to prepare three high-definition cameras, and edit the game process into a highlight after the game to report the good news to the new boss and the new boss lady.

They want to dedicate this crushing victory to their new boss and new boss lady.

After a while, the football star Alan Shearer, dressed in simple sportswear, also came to the training ground.

The passion on the training ground was immediately ignited.

The Southampton U18 players were very excited and trained even harder.

Alan Shearer is the pride of Southampton Football Club. Although he spent most of his career at his hometown team Newcastle United, he came from the Southampton youth training camp. His name and photo have always been hanging on the club's wall of honor, inspiring new Saints players one after another.

Southampton U18 team's head coach Dodd was a teammate of Alan Shearer who trained in the youth team at the same time. Almost every word of Coach Dodd's is about Alan Shearer. The young players of Southampton U18 have been influenced by him and have long regarded Alan Shearer as an idol.

It is rare for Southampton U18 players to have the opportunity to meet a legendary star of Alan Shearer's level.

You can imagine how excited they are now.

Compared to the excited Southampton U18 players, Liverpool U18 players were not so excited about Alan Shearer.

However, when Alan Shearer walked into the stadium, Liverpool's senior executives and other staff stood up and saluted Alan Shearer.

Although Alan Shearer had no connection with Liverpool Club when he was a player, he is a retired legendary superstar and the top scorer of the Premier League after all, so he still gets the respect he deserves in Liverpool.

Liverpool's head of data analysis Michael Edwards even invited Alan Shearer to sit with him and watch the game.

Alan Shearer declined with a silly smile.

——He came here specially to cheer for his parent team, Southampton U18 team.

After Alan Shearer shook hands and exchanged greetings with Liverpool's senior executives one by one, he went straight to the visiting team's bench.

The Southampton U18 players were so excited that they stopped training and wanted to rush over to shake hands with Alan Shearer.

"What are you doing?!" Coach Dodd frowned and shouted, "When did I ever say you can stop training? Get the hell back and continue training!"

"Yes...coach." The young U18 players could only return to the court in disappointment.

But at this time they no longer had the mind to train, their attention was all on Alan Shearer.

Only Gu Ran remained calm and continued training without distraction.

After yelling at the players to leave, Coach Dodd excitedly rushed forward and gave Alan Shearer an extremely enthusiastic brotherly hug.

Coach Dodd simply grabbed Alan Shearer with his feet hanging in the air.

Alan Shearer had a silly smile on his face.

His innocent smile is as simple as that of an old farmer, without any airs of a big star.

You know, in the Premier League, Alan Shearer scored a total of 260 goals, making him the top scorer in Premier League history.

His goal celebration is also very iconic - raising his right palm into the air and running - yes, it's that simple.

Alan Shearer has many nicknames, one of which is "Chinese", which was given to him by his teammates at Newcastle United. The meaning of this nickname is that Shearer is usually shy, and his smile has the shyness of an oriental man. Shearer is hardworking and never acts alone. Although he is the Premier League scorer with the most goals, his assists are also ranked among the highest in Premier League history. This spirit of teamwork is also in line with Westerners' impression of the Chinese.

"Hi! Alan! Long time no see!"

"Dodd, how are you doing recently? How is everyone at home?"

"Haha! Good, good, good! Alan, you're still the same!"

"Dodd, you've gained a lot of weight."

"Hahaha, I'm getting old..."

The two old friends who used to play together in Southampton's U18 youth team were very happy to meet each other.

Coach Dodd smiled and said, "Alan, thank you for helping the kids get this chance to compete. Look, when these kids heard they could see you today, they all practiced very hard."

Shearer glanced at the training area of ​​Southampton U18 team and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, really good. But you don't have to thank me. After all, I also came from Southampton's youth training. It is my duty to do something for the Saints."

Coach Dodd said with a smile: "When you see them, do you remember when we were young? Of course, they can't compare with us."

Shearer smiled innocently and took the initiative to bring up the topic: "Dodd, I heard that the club has signed a new promising star? How is it, is there any hope of beating Liverpool U18 today?"

Coach Dodd immediately said with great joy: "Yes, his name is Gu Ran! I tell you, this kid is amazing! Let me put it this way, with him here, I think it won't be a problem for us to win!"

Shearer's eyes widened in shock, but his expression was still silly, "Really? Can we beat Liverpool U18? Brother, are you kidding me? I heard that Liverpool U18 just spent 2 million pounds to buy a promising star!"

Coach Dodd said proudly, "It's just a rising star. We have one too! It's almost time now. I'll let him come over to meet you!"

Hiller's eyes were full of anticipation. "Good! Good!"

Coach Dodd stood on the sidelines and clapped his hands. "Okay, stop pretending to train. I know you all want to see the legendary superstar! So come on!"

“Roar, roar, roar!”

Southampton U18 players rushed down the field frantically and surrounded Alan Shearer! "Mr. Shearer! I finally saw him alive!"

"Mr. Shearer, I'm your number one fan! Please sign an autograph for me. I want to tattoo your name on my thigh!"

"Mr. Shearer, our whole family loves you!"

"Mr. Shearer, I grew up listening to your legendary stories!"

"Mr. Shearer..."

The entire Southampton U18 team went crazy.

This is the superstar effect...

Gu Ran secretly admired Alan Shearer's influence in Southampton.

However, Gu Ran was not in a hurry to squeeze next to Alan Shearer.

Of course, Gu Ran also likes Alan Shearer very much. It is no exaggeration to say that Alan Shearer is the ceiling of all Premier League forwards and the most typical British forward. He has been a legendary figure since he was 17 years old.

There are two eras of super strikers in English football. The 1970s and 1980s belong to the legendary striker Kevin Keegan. Kevin Keegan started from Liverpool and played for Southampton and Newcastle United.

The period from 1990 to 2006 belonged to the era of Alan Shearer, who also played for Southampton and Newcastle United successively.

In 1988, when Alan Shearer was 17 years old, he got his first professional contract with Southampton Club. On April 9 of the same year, he made his first appearance in the then top league, English League One, and completed a hat trick in his first professional debut.

And the opponent at that time was not a weak team, but the powerful Arsenal! This record of a player under 18 years old appearing in the top league and completing a hat trick has not been broken so far.

After Shearer, England has never produced another legendary local striker who is worthy of being ranked alongside them.

Even Rooney, at his peak, was less than half of Shearer's.

Shearer has a calm and steady personality and is very low-key. He is even a little dull during interviews and is extremely bad at speaking. But when he is on the field, he is absolutely a nuclear-level presence. His speed (his speed was destroyed after three serious knee injuries in the middle and late stages), confrontation, positioning, sense of goal, and shot are definitely the ceiling for an all-round striker, and his most iconic feature is his powerful long-range shot.

Alan Shearer's long shots are not only powerful and beautiful, but also accurate and pursue tricky angles, just like a precision-guided cruise missile.

In the 1990s, being able to perform a Shearer-style long-range shot had become a criterion for fans to evaluate whether their own strikers were strong enough.

At the same time, Alan Shearer's free kick and penalty kick levels are also top-notch. He can often kick direct free kicks with both power and arc.

He took 50 penalty kicks in his career, scored 45 of them, with a hit rate of 90%!

In some ways, Gu Ran at this stage does have many similarities with Alan Shearer.

For example, Gu Ran is Chinese, and Alan Shearer is also a "Chinese".

Gu Ran is very low-key and was very dull during the interview. Alan Shearer was equally dull and could hardly speak in front of the camera.

Of course, Gu Ran has Evelyn who automatically polishes his writing, which is something Alan Hiller cannot compare to.

Gu Ran is currently wearing the number 9 jersey, and Alan Shearer is the representative football star who wears the number 9.

Alan Shearer made his English League One debut at the age of 17, and Gu Ran will soon make his English League One debut at the age of 17...

The differences are also obvious - Gu Ran is very handsome, Alan Shearer is not handsome enough, Gu Ran's smile gives him a Beckham-like charm, while Alan Shearer's smile looks silly.

It's a bit like... rust strips.

All these similarities make Gu Ran feel close to Alan Shearer.

For Gu Ran, the most important thing now is not to rush to Alan Shearer to ask for his autograph, but...

How can I get Alan Shearer for free? (End of this chapter)