Chapter 758 Born Leader
The team's training day finally arrived!
Since Wang Chuqing went south to Oxford University to handle the admission procedures, Su Dong asked Manchester City to arrange a driver for him.
There is no way. Even now, he still has no time to get a driver's license.
I made up my mind countless times, but I just couldn't find the time.
This has become the focus of ridicule among his friends, media and fans.
Some media even teased him before, saying that if he had one percent of his talent in driving a car as he does on the court, Su Dong would not have fallen to his current state where he can't even drive a car.
It's really disrespectful! But there's nothing I can do. I really can't drive.
…
When we arrived at Carrington, we could clearly see the smiles hidden in the eyes of the staff.
It’s not surprising. It’s probably that the only person in Manchester City’s first team who can’t drive is Su Dong.
No one would really laugh at him for this, but more people would just regard it as a small flaw in Su Dong, which made him more approachable. After all, no one likes a flawless person, right? When Su Dong walked into the locker room with his bag, he easily found his wardrobe, but what really caught his attention was not the wardrobe, but the walls of the locker room, which were covered with various tactical diagrams and running maps.
Su Dong carried his bag, walked to the drawings and looked at them patiently.
He had visited the locker room when he came to Carrington several times before, but had never seen these drawings. This shows that these were just prepared by Guardiola and the coaching staff, and they were all his tactical plans for Manchester City.
The blueprint clearly marked each player's tasks, running positions and passing routes, how to cooperate, how to run, where to run to meet, and where to pass...
This is definitely the most detailed tactical drawing Su Dong has ever seen.
Not to mention anything else, just drawing these drawings is a huge project.
No wonder Guardiola's first-team coaching staff needs so many people.
The tactical arrangements are so meticulous and the details are pursued for perfection. Su Dong has also experienced such a head coach, that is Benítez, but the biggest difference between Guardiola and Benítez is that their philosophies are different.
Benítez is deeply influenced by Italian football and has defensive genes in his bones. He always thinks about restraining the opponent's tactics first. Guardiola is deeply influenced by the all-out attack and defense genes of Dutch football and advocates offense in his bones.
Su Dong once met Van Gaal at UEFA and talked to him about many things, including Guardiola.
Van Gaal also has a very good impression of Guardiola, but he believes that Guardiola is very similar to the madman Bielsa. Both of them have a kind of paranoia in their bones, but they are completely different.
Guardiola's paranoia lies in the fact that he requires his players to remain absolutely rational and calm and execute his tactics perfectly, while Bielsa is more passionate. Although he has extremely high requirements for his players, he is not too demanding of them.
From individuals to a whole, the most interesting thing about Guardiola's team is its stability, but it lacks passion and bloodiness.
Perhaps Guardiola thinks his team doesn't need this, just like Benítez.
Bielsa's team is full of passion and blood, but lacks stability.
Specifically speaking of Manchester City last season, Van Gaal believed that Guardiola's team philosophy was very good and his ideas were very advanced, but he always maintained an offensive posture and was even aggressive when under pressure. However, once the situation in the frontcourt could not be opened up and he had to adopt a defensive posture, Guardiola's team did very badly.
Simply put, Guardiola's team doesn't know how to defend.
"Guardiola's style of play will be very popular in the league. As long as the team's overall strength is better than the opponent, he can basically play to his due level and then defeat the opponent with stable and excellent passing and controlling tactics."
"However, if it comes to a strong dialogue, or a crucial match like the Champions League knockout stage, when the opponent is not afraid of your passing and controlling the ball, and even their attack can force you to defend, Guardiola's shortcomings on the defensive end will be exposed. That's why he needs you so urgently, because as long as you are there, you can break the opponent's goal and create threats, which can minimize the number of times you have to defend, and even the opponent's resources invested in attack will be greatly reduced."
At this moment, standing in front of the wall of the locker room, Su Dong looked at the tactical drawing in front of him that was like a maze. He felt a little overwhelmed and felt that Guardiola was really, really powerful.
Of course, Van Gaal and Bielsa are also very good, especially Van Gaal.
You know, what Bielsa admires most is Van Gaal's Ajax. Even Bielsa's 3313 formation that failed in Argentina was an attempt to learn from Van Gaal's Ajax.
It must be mentioned here that formation is purely for the convenience of ordinary people to appreciate and feel the team's tactics. In fact, on the court, no one will arrange their positions and runs completely according to the tactical formation.
The saying "the military situation is ever-changing, and water has no constant shape" is exactly this truth.
Van Gaal's team has had three head coaches: Rijkaard, Mourinho and Guardiola, and perhaps more will appear in the future. His coaching at Barcelona seems to have failed, but in fact, many people Su Dong met had extremely high opinions of Van Gaal, which is why he was able to return to the club.
Unfortunately, there were too many complex factors that led to Van Gaal's unsuccessful coaching at Barcelona. In addition, his relationship with Cruyff was very bad and the two were enemies of each other, so it was difficult for Van Gaal to gain official recognition at Barcelona.
…
When Su Dong finished packing up and came out, he happened to see Guardiola, Begiristain and others talking on the side of the training ground.
When they saw Su Dong, they were not surprised at all.
In the past, Su Dong was the first one to arrive at the training base. Now that he is the captain, it is normal for him to arrive even earlier.
"I heard that you have met with many players in the past two or three days?" Begiristain asked with concern.
Su Dong did this without hiding it from the club, and even the contact information of other players was provided by Begiristain.
"I've basically met everyone I should have met." Su Dong said with a smile.
These future teammates were quite considerate and when Su Dong called to invite them, they all showed up.
Due to time constraints, Su Dong was unable to arrange individual meetings with everyone one by one. For the time being, he could only arrange meetings with important players of the first team. As for other players, he could only wait for the opportunity or communicate with them individually during the training camp.
"How was the chat?" Begiristain asked with concern.
Guardiola also looked at Su Dong with concern. He knew that the success or failure of Su Dong as the captain would have a huge impact on him. If he could not unite the team, would Manchester City have to fight against the four traditional families, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and other teams in the new season? "It's OK. Everyone talked openly and the atmosphere was quite harmonious. Many people expressed their support for my future work in person." Su Dong said with a smile, looking confident.
From Su Dong's expression, Begiristain and Guardiola could both feel that the progress was going smoothly.
This also surprised them.
Su Dong had never been a captain before, not even a vice-captain. It could be said that he had no experience in leading a team.
Because of this, Begiristain came to Carrington today specifically to support Su Dong.
Unexpectedly, Su Dong's series of combination punches surprised Begiristain, Guardiola and others.
Especially in recent days, he has met with his teammates continuously and actively communicated with them, which is undoubtedly a very powerful move.
Let me ask you, with Su Dong's current status and influence in world football, who can refuse him if he comes forward?
Not to mention a team like Manchester City that has no superstars, even in Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid which are full of superstars, if Su Dong comes forward, which superstar can refuse?
He is really a natural born leader! "This is just the beginning, the first step of a long journey. Next, you need to cooperate with me. You need to hurry up and help me implement the application I put forward. Otherwise, I will not be able to do what I promised my teammates, and I will lose face as the captain." Su Dong urged.
Begiristain and Guardiola looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
Today, Su Dong is becoming more and more like a captain, especially in handling things.
Many people think that the management wants the team captain to be on the side of the management, but that is not the case.
There is a natural gap between management and players, and between management and the managed.
The captain's task is to connect the two, rather than blindly favoring one side. At the same time, he should also pay attention to maintaining the unity of the locker room and integrating the team into a united force to perform well in the game.
This requires the captain to always firmly integrate with the players and become a channel for transmitting players' demands, while also helping the management to better control the locker room.
"Don't worry, I've asked them to do what you asked for. I guarantee it won't interfere with your business." Begiristain said with a smile.
Su Dong is also very knowledgeable and tactful. He will not raise any very difficult demands. At this stage, he only raises some demands that are of direct concern to the players but are not too serious. For Manchester City, these are just a slightly troublesome matter and nothing serious.
"Do you have any suitable candidate for the vice-captain in the new season?" Begiristain asked again.
Su Dong has temporarily established himself as the captain, but the team still needs a vice-captain, and who to choose will definitely depend on Su Dong's opinion.
"I have basically talked to them. I suggest that the number of vice-captains be increased from one to two, and that they be Sabaletta and Kompany," Su Dong proposed.
Begiristain and Guardiola were obviously a little surprised. They had previously speculated that Su Dong must also want to keep the vice-captain in his hands to further consolidate his captaincy. The most suitable candidate would be David Silva or even Pepe.
I didn't expect him to propose Zabaleta and Kompany.
This is really surprising.
(End of this chapter)
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