Chapter 184 Look at Su Dong, are you ashamed? [Fifth update of the explosive heart, begging for monthly ticket subscription! ]
Su Dong's feeling was not wrong, and things were moving in a good direction.
The results of the Valencia captain election were recognized by head coach Benítez and were quickly announced to major newspapers.
Albelda and Baraja were elected as the team's captain and vice-captain, which was unanimously recognized by Valencia's local fans. Both players have proven their strength and value in the team.
Central defender Ayala, who was criticized by fans for his transfer rumors with Barcelona, also quickly came out to apologize.
First, AS broke the news that Real Madrid was very interested in Ayala after sending away veteran Hierro, but Valencia's Argentine central defender reacted quickly this time and immediately came out to clarify, expressing his loyalty to Valencia and saying that he had no interest in joining Real Madrid.
Not only that, Ayala also took the opportunity to apologize to Valencia fans, clarifying his previous "slip of the tongue", saying that he had no intention of leaving Valencia, "If possible, I hope to play for this team until I retire."
Ayala's statement was also recognized by Valencia fans and the media, especially his clear rejection of Real Madrid.
You know, as early as the mid-1990s, Valencia had a big dispute with Real Madrid over the transfer of Mijatovic. The chairman of Valencia at that time was Roig who had just won the election. Because of this, Roig immediately rejected the news that Real Madrid was interested in Ayala.
"As long as I am the president of Valencia, no Valencia player will transfer to Real Madrid!"
Like Ayala, Roig's words won the hearts of Valencia fans.
It was in the midst of this turmoil that Valencia quietly began preparations for the new season.
Benítez led the team to Nyon, Switzerland, for a secret training camp.
…
As early as last season, Valencia was already the favorite to win the La Liga title, but the team's performance declined in the end and it almost missed out on this season's Champions League. One of the important reasons for this was its weak offense.
The lack of offensive players on the front line meant that Valencia had to fight hard in many games where they had the upper hand but could not score.
For example, in the two-legged match against Inter Milan in the Champions League quarter-finals, Valencia had a ball possession rate of 70 percent, which was an advantage. Whether it was the scene or the opportunities created, they surpassed Inter Milan. However, the final result was that Valencia was unfortunately eliminated.
Why?
Because there is no one on the front line!
After learning from the painful experience, Valencia made a comeback this season.
In order to reduce the team's debt burden, the management sold two big salary earners, Salva and Carew, but also spent 10 million euros to sign Sudon from Sporting Lisbon, which made everyone in Valencia feel the determination of the management.
Although Su Dong is only 18 years old, he scored 23 and 12 goals respectively in the Portuguese Super League and UEFA Cup last season, and was selected as the top scorer of both tournaments, which shows his scoring ability.
Although he is young, he has achieved remarkable results and is valued by head coach Benítez. The whole team is full of expectations for Su Dong.
With the joining of Sudong, the forward line has been supplemented, and the arrival of Mohamed Sissoko has further strengthened the midfield. These two signings have strengthened Valencia's overall strength compared to last season.
As for how much stronger they are, we still have to wait for the test of the new season, especially Su Dong's performance.
But after the summer training camp began, Su Dong clearly felt the anger held by his teammates.
In this increasingly mature team that Benítez spent two years to build, everyone is ready to do a great job.
Before heading to Nyon, Switzerland, the club arranged for the players to be interviewed by the media as per usual practice. They all expressed their hope to create greater glory for the team and achieve breakthroughs in performance in the new season.
Aimar rarely accepts media interviews, but this time he said: "We made a lot of mistakes last season and lacked some luck, but all of this is in the past. This season we will seize all the opportunities in front of us and win all the games."
Argentine defender Pellegrino also said: "With the addition of strong players such as Su Dong, we already have a very complete lineup. Although there are still many areas that need to be improved, everything is moving in a good direction. Everyone in the locker room is working hard for this!"
This is true for the players and the head coach as well.
Before the team went to Nyon, Switzerland, Benítez had made it clear that this would be the most demanding season since he took over as coach, requiring every player in the team to be mentally prepared and everyone to go all out and focus on pre-season training.
"Whether it's La Liga or the Champions League, I hope we can gain something in the new season!"
Benítez's words encouraged the whole team.
…
In addition to the players, coaching staff and staff of the Valencia first team, Sudong's personal coaching team, including Nuno Cruz, a total of three people, also went to Nyon, Switzerland. Nutrition expert Paul Lacasco will go to Switzerland to follow up every few days.
Su Dong is also the only player in the team who has hired a private coach for a long time, which is relatively new in the Valencia team.
Hiring a private coach is actually not uncommon in the field of football. For example, some injured players will hire a private physiotherapist to help them during the recovery process, but this is only for a short time.
People like Su Dong, who hired a private coach for a long time and a whole team, are quite rare, not only in Valencia, but also in La Liga and even in the entire European football world.
But the Valencia players did not have much objection to this, because all the expenses were paid by Su Dong out of his own pocket, even the team's expenses in Nyon, Switzerland, except for food and accommodation with the team, all other expenses were borne by Su Dong.
In this case, Valencia players will naturally have no objections. On the contrary, many ambitious players will be happy because they see Su Dong's determination and dedication to progress.
And if Su Dong can really solve Valencia's striker crisis, it will be a huge boost to Valencia's overall strength.
Especially when the team came to Nyon, Switzerland and started pre-season training, Valencia's players felt how hard Su Dong worked. In addition to training with the team every day, he also carried out extra training tasks assigned by his private coaching team.
Many players in the team were originally resistant to Benítez's devilish training and strict requirements, but after seeing Su Dong's training volume, they were shocked and gave up the idea of bargaining with the coaching staff.
Just ask yourself, if you really go to the coaching staff, they will directly say to you: Look at Su Dong, then look at yourself, do you have the nerve to do that?
Naturally, no one wants to do such boring thing.
Su Dong's approach also caused some controversy within the team. Some players privately believed that he had "corrupted" the team's atmosphere, but most of the players, especially those like Aimar, Ayala, Albelda and Vicente, were delighted and admired Su Dong's approach.
As a new player, Su Dong has initially gained recognition from his teammates with his efforts.
…
While Valencia was secretly training in Nyon, Switzerland, the schedule for the new European season was gradually released.
The most important match for Valencia is the Champions League qualifiers.
Having only finished fourth in La Liga last season, Valencia must participate in the third round of the Champions League qualifiers, and the first round of La Liga is at the end of August, so the Bats will have to fight on two fronts from the start in the new season.
It is worth mentioning that since the Portuguese Super League occupied three of the four places in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup last season, and Sporting Lisbon won the UEFA Cup in the end, the Portuguese Super League's European points soared and obtained two valuable places in the Champions League.
This summer, after UEFA recalculated the European competition points, the Portuguese Super League champion Sporting Lisbon was able to directly advance to the Champions League group stage, while as the runner-up, Porto had to participate in the peripheral qualifiers.
This also made Su Dong regretfully express to his best friend Pepe on the phone, "I originally wanted to send you back to Portugal in the third qualifying round, but unfortunately there is no chance!"
Boloni remains in Sporting Lisbon. If he really meets his former club, Su Dong would not mind sending Boloni home, whether as a professional player or out of revenge against Boloni.
Of course Pepe was not polite and said that there was still a chance in the Champions League group stage.
The Brazilian center back's gratitude to Su Dong came from the heart.
If it weren't for Sudong, he wouldn't have been able to transfer from Maritimo to Sporting Lisbon, let alone be reused after the transfer. He won the Portuguese Super League and UEFA Cup double in the first season, and can even represent the team in the Champions League this season. How many Brazilian players have dreamed of this situation?
But because of this, Pepe is always reminding himself to work harder so as not to be left further and further behind by good friends like Sudong and Ronnie. At the same time, he also desires to improve the lives of himself and his family by achieving good results.
As the first leg of the Champions League qualifiers will be played in mid-August, Valencia's summer training started relatively early. Benítez led the team in a closed training camp in Nyon, Switzerland. In addition to the necessary physical reserve training, they were more focused on running-in and practicing the team's offensive style of play.
Su Dong also carefully watched the contents of the USB flash drives prepared for him by Benítez, and indeed benefited a lot from them. He discovered many details and mistakes that he had not noticed before.
There are even many places that vaguely echo Romario's "Wolf in the Penalty Area", which makes Su Dong have a very strong feeling that if he improves these shortcomings, not only will his own strength be further enhanced, but the threat on the court will also become greater.
Because of this, Su Dong not only fully cooperates with Benítez's daily training, but also actively participates in the sports physiology research project he leads to improve his movements.
He hopes to perform better in the new season and further prove his worth!
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(End of this chapter)
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