To see whether a player is a top player or has the potential to be a top player, we usually look at three key points: positioning, passing, and finishing.
Capello's request to Ivan was concise: "Please impress me in each of these three aspects, sir."
He asked Alvin to do a simple warm-up first.
It is already March, and the England national team's call-ups are becoming more and more frequent. Today at Wembley Stadium, there were many players familiar to Ivan training.
Seeing the person mentioned every day in the media finally appear, many players looked over curiously. Among them, they met old acquaintances and had a lot of enthusiasm to express.
Rooney was the first to see Irving. To some extent, they were truly in love. Rooney has always been proud of the fact that he predicted on Twitter two years ago that Irving would return to the national team today.
There were assistant coaches supervising the training, so Rooney didn't say much. But Rooney was a fat guy in society, and he didn't need to talk much. His greeting was very sharp: "Ivan, I heard that it was a blessing to be your teammate in the past. Now it seems that I have the opportunity to experience it. Please give me happiness without reservation."
As soon as he finished speaking, his teammates next to him heard it. Defoe and Heskey chuckled, and their movement attracted the attention of Gerrard and Lampard.
Gerrard smiled at Alvin in a friendly manner, and Lampard's reaction was even greater. He first widened his eyes in surprise, and then wanted to run over to reminisce with Alvin.
It is rare that a calm Lampard can lose his composure. Chelsea captain Terry also turned his head to look. He was even more uncalm than Lampard.
Alvin! Ivan is back!
Little teammate, little team pet, he is really back!
Ivan waved and smiled at them. Now was obviously not the time to reminisce. The assistant coach was already urging the players not to be distracted.
Ivan turned to Rooney and replied: "Okay, I will give you happiness."
Everyone who heard their mysterious conversation: "..."
The emotion of the reunion was suddenly weakened, and they did not know whether to laugh or cry.
On the sidelines, Capello, who was watching this scene, asked the assistant coach who brought Ivan over: "Do you think he can achieve the effect David said?"
The assistant coach thought for a moment and said to Capello, "I think it's very likely, sir. Irving is familiar with many people in the England team. He has played in the Premier League. You have also watched his previous games. At least it will be easier for him to get along well with several Chelsea players in a short period of time than for those players from different clubs on the field. I know you are worried about his condition. Here is the examination report."
The assistant coach handed the medical report to Capello: "The report shows that his physical condition has passed the test. Although there are still some shortcomings compared to the previous medical report, this is enough. As long as he can prove himself, with his previous ability to control the game, even if he recovers halfway, he is better than many players on the field."
Capello nodded but said nothing. In fact, he didn't care much about Ivan's personal ability. What he really cared about was Ivan's tactical role.
Capello is a coach who requires his players to strictly abide by his tactics. If a player cannot perform the task as he requires, then he will not employ him no matter how strong his personal ability is.
This can be seen from the fact that Capello constantly has Rooney and Heskey train together. As a striker, Heskey's career goal tally is lower than that of Higuita, who was once a goalkeeper.
Higuita is the goalkeeper who saves the ball with a scorpion kick and likes to wander out of the penalty area for no reason.
Although Heskey is not good at shooting, he is strong and can play containment and disrupt the opponent's defense, so even if Heskey can spit out the cake that comes to his mouth, Capello still recognizes his role in the team.
After Ivan finished warming up, he walked onto the lawn, waiting to see what the assistant coach would do.
The England players were conducting group training within the team. The ball was saved by substitute goalkeeper Joe Hart in front of the goal. There was an opening, and the ball passed through the crowd and rolled towards Ivan.
Ivan's movements were faster than his brain. The moment the ball came towards him, he moved forward a few steps, accurately judged the landing point of the ball, and kicked the ball back.
Joe Hart, who had just cleared the ball, was quite satisfied with his saving technique, but then he was stunned. What the hell, what happened? ! How did the ball come back? !
He clearly saw that there were no attacking players there before he rushed there!
He didn't have time to think too much and rushed forward again based on his judgment.
But the ball just brushed past his fingertips, and try as he might, he couldn't touch it.
Looking at the ball bouncing in the net, Hart was still frightened.
My god, who could have kicked such a sudden corner kick? !
The players all had the same idea. They turned back and looked at the person who made the ball.
"Hey! Alvin! Well done!!!" Rooney led the cheering, and then the players who were not familiar with Alvin knew who he was, it turned out to be the magical Alvin.
Irving never hesitates to smile at his teammates. The sincerity and friendliness on his face makes London in March look like spring flowers in bloom.
Capello stood not far away and nodded almost imperceptibly.
Obviously, he had something in mind.
The assistant coach knew Capello well enough. He knew he was halfway there when he saw him like this. He then flipped through a page of data and said, "This is his speed. He runs very fast. He takes less than 11 seconds to run 100 meters. This is close to the level of a track and field athlete."
Capello said: "I will know what it looks like only when I add the ball."
So, next, the players training on the field welcomed a new member, who was handsome, tall and confident, with a sincere smile on his face and polite in his actions.
Different from the golden hair color of native English people, his hair color is more low-key, not too dazzling, and appears quite submissive.
But soon, no one ignored his presence anymore.
Capello deliberately put Ivan in the same team with Gerrard and Lampard, and he immediately noticed a different effect.
Ivan’s passing is very smart!
At the beginning, Gerrard played on the wing as Capello had assigned him in the past, leaving the midfield to Lampard. As the game went on, he found that he was already a long way from being a defensive midfielder.
He and Lampard seemed to live in front of the door, with me going up and you going down, and they had a very rhythmic movement.
The goal guarded by Joe Hart has been blooming frequently, and it is just a matter of time before it bears fruit.
In fact, both D'Antoni and De Bruyne are not good at forward runs, but Ivan's long passes can always accurately get them to the most comfortable positions. With such assists, any qualified forward would score a goal.
Poor Joe Hart successfully became a background board. He conceded goals all over the place. Looking at Ivan who was attacking like a game, he felt like crying but had no tears.
He could only comfort himself that fortunately this person was a teammate...
Fortunately, he was a referee before...
I have heard many seniors mention the fear of being dominated by Ivan in the 2007-08 season. At that time, all the Premier League teams fell into a vicious circle of not being able to win against Chelsea.
Ivan's legendary life experience can only be said to be a result of God's envy of his talent.
The other players opposite Ivan were even more miserable. England already lacked midfielders, and now Ivan was on the opposite side, the teammates on the other side seemed to have their waists strangled. Rooney couldn't receive the ball at all, and had to stand on the opposite side with his hands on his hips, watching the chaos in the backcourt.
While appreciating the game, he even had the leisure to chat with Heskey and Lennon: "When will the head coach change sides? Let Ivan come to our side. Hehehe, I want to try the spring of scoring goals."
Lennon glanced at him: "There's always a chance." So you just stand there? Capello is watching you! Passive work slacking will result in salary deduction!
Goalkeeper Green on Ivan's side was even more idle. He was so bored that he leaned against the goalpost and watched the performance in the frontcourt with a smile.
Although weak teams have goalkeepers, which goalkeeper wants to be bombarded by the opponent every day? With awesome teammates, winning comfortably is one of the greatest pleasures in life!
Capello watched carefully, occasionally lowering his head to write something in his notebook.
After a while, he waved and called Ivan over.
Ivan touched his sweaty hair and ran over here.
"Coach, what's wrong?"
Capello looked at him and said, "Now I'll give you a task. I want you to run faster. Don't just pass the ball. Try to get forward and break through yourself."
Ivan nodded, took the ball thrown to him by the physical trainer next to him, and ran back quickly.
Capello quickly saw what he wanted to see.
With the ball at his feet, Ivan ran all the way from the midfield to the penalty area. The interception of the opposing players failed to cause him more substantial damage. He protected the ball and successfully broke into the penalty area.
Two opposing players trapped him, trying to stop Irvin by closing the door, so Irvin fulfilled their wish. Without even rolling his eyes, he kicked the ball with the inside of his foot, and the ball seemed to have eyes. It passed through the opponent's open legs and went straight to Gerrard who had started to move.
The Liverpool captain made the final kick and the ball went in easily.
Capello lowered his head and wrote down in his notebook:
[Good at vertical breakthroughs and tearing through defenses.] 】
The confrontational training ended quickly and the assistant coach asked the players to go off the court to drink water.
After receiving the order to rest, the players immediately began the ritual of teasing the new members that they had been eager to do for a long time. Lampard changed his usual calmness and went straight forward to pick up Ivan.
That’s right, I lifted him up with both feet off the ground.
Ivan put his hands on Lampard's shoulders, as if he couldn't believe that he was almost lifted up by Chelsea's big brother Lampard.
Terry was even more unstable. Not only did he not stop Lampard, he also helped him. He supported Ivan's thighs with both hands so that Lampard would not be unable to hold Ivan, and gave support to his teammates with practical actions.
"Welcome back, Alvin!" The two Chelsea teammates laughed and hugged Alvin tightly.
Rooney came running over. He was mysteriously confident that Alvin's entry into the national team was definitely due to his contribution. He put aside his dignity as the big brother of Manchester United and opened his arms to give Alvin a bear hug.
Gerrard ruffled the hair on the back of Irving's head to express his admiration for Irving's assist.
This group of players were shouting and venting wildly, and if you didn't know, you would think they had just won a thrilling World Cup match.
It's really refreshing!
In just over 20 minutes, this half of the England team seemed to have their Ren and Du meridians opened up. Everyone is now full of confidence. They just feel that they are invincible and England will be successful in everything!
It's no wonder they are venting like this. In fact, at least before today, their career in the national team did not bring them too many happy memories. Head coach Capello was absolutely decisive. His tactics were monotonous and dull, and he always wanted to limit the players' flashes of inspiration and creativity.
England has extremely high expectations for this team, and every player is under great pressure. The domestic media does not sympathize with them. They are watching closely from the sidelines, and will immediately make a big fuss about any mistake made by a member of the national team.
Irwin smiled, accepting the uncharacteristically enthusiastic gesture of affection expressed by his teammates.
In all his performances just now, he relied entirely on his past experience and his still existing sense of the ball. His ability to read the game may fade, but it is relatively easy for Alvin to pick it up again.
【bite! It has been detected that the host has temporarily changed his profession. Some functions of the VAR dynamic vision system are disabled, and primary repair potions cannot be used during the World Cup, including for the host himself and others. 】
It’s the same whether there is a system or not. It was like this in the past and it is like this now. So Alvin doesn't care what specific functions the system shuts down.
At the same time, the results of this year's postponed World Cup draw were released.
England was placed in the lower half of the draw. In this year's World Cup, England was particularly unlucky. They were in Group H in the lower half, the last group. This was not a problem. The problem was that the seeded teams in the other three groups in the lower half were Argentina, the Netherlands and Brazil.
Portugal and Brazil form the group of death. They are in Group G, right next to England.
England fans: “…”
In other words, no matter whether England advances as the first or second in the group, their opponent in the round of 16 will be either Brazil or Portugal.
All England people: crying.jpg
Let’s take a look at what happens next. If England continues to move forward, according to the World Cup rules, they will face Argentina, the leader of Group F.
England fans: biting the handkerchief and crying.jpg
What if we successfully eliminate Argentina? !
Who will we meet? !
Forget it, if it really comes to that, we will be very good already. Our opponents in the semi-finals will not be easy to deal with. The upper half is also a group of veteran strong teams, they are France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
England fans are crying with laughter: Just be happy.jpg
But it doesn’t matter! Our baby Alvin is back!
England's thighs! The mascot of the people of England! The sweetheart of England’s female fans!
He successfully entered the national team, which means his form is definitely still there!
The major media in England were hyping up the incident, and his England teammates were a little worried that Ivan was under too much psychological pressure, so they all came to communicate with him.
Fat Lu pulled Ivan and said, "Ivan, remember to pass the ball to me like crazy when the time comes. Don't be too stressed, leave the goal to us."
As a result, those who were comforting were comforted in turn.
Irving acted as if nothing had happened. He said to Rooney, "Don't be nervous Wayne. There are still three months until the World Cup."
“…”
A player who can remain calm at this level really has a big heart. Stand in awe.jpg
In the friendly match against Brazil a week later, both coaches did not field too many main players for tactical reasons, and they let more substitute players play.
The Brazilian team led by Dunga rarely called up too many big-name stars this year. Players like Adriano and Ronaldinho were not on the Brazilian roster this year, and Kaka became the most famous player in the team. The Brazilian coach's move has caused dissatisfaction among the Brazilian people, but I believe he must have his own considerations for doing so.
The Brazilian team accepted the invitation to this friendly match because they actually wanted to see the strength of England's surprise player Ivan. Unfortunately, the two teams were grouped too closely, and the two experienced coaches chose to be conservative. Brazil's Kaka came on as a substitute for only a few minutes, and on the England side, Capello did not put Ivan on the field for even a second.
English fans were very disappointed and they were eager to see Ivan's performance. So in response to such calls, the English Football Association accepted the invitation from the last year's new champion Italy to feel the strength of the championship team.
The choice of opponents for the friendly match is very meaningful. England chose Italy, the 2006 World Cup champion, as it had no other choice.
Their lineup has basically not changed, it's still the same group of people, even the coach has not changed, it's still the famous Italian coach Lippi.
It is said that Capello came to coach England after seeing the success of his compatriots in the Italian national team. His original words to the media were that he hoped to lead England to win the World Cup as the first foreign coach.
Capello is certainly a capable coach, and his bold words have given many English people a reassurance, so the fans' expectations are unprecedentedly high.
In Capello's opinion, Italy's squad is seriously aging. To a certain extent, they only have experience but no physical strength, so they are not worth worrying about.
Most importantly, Italy lacks super attackers. They are no longer the golden players of Baggio, Inzaghi and Pirlo.
How will Italy, which is known for its reinforced concrete defense, face the combination of D'Antoni, Rooney, Ivin and others?
Anyway, the groups are far apart, so it’s not certain whether we can meet in the World Cup.
This international friendly match was held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy, which can accommodate more than 80,000 people. Today, the place was packed. It is rare to see such a high volume of tickets for a friendly match.
England also paid close attention to this game. Capello finally gave in to an interview with English reporters before the game and said that he would let Ivan play.
Britney Spears, a frequent headline guest, has once again captured the attention of everyone in England.
The author has something to say: For the needs of the plot, the order of the World Cup groups has been modified.
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group C: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group G: Brazil, Portugal, North Korea, Ivory Coast
Group H: England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia
Seeing this grouping, you should understand something hehehe
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