Chapter 898 Habitual Group Wipeout

This was Richard Scudmore’s first visit to Staplewood in Southampton.

Take the highway exit, head south, bypass the Test River, and you’ll arrive soon.

Adjacent to the residential area, the road is a brand new and shiny asphalt road, and the roadside is planted with emerald green English holly, which is more than two meters high, neatly trimmed and airtight.

Arriving at the gate of the training base, Scudmore was immediately attracted by the unique modern style of the security room.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

The security guard in a neat police uniform walked over briskly, saluted politely but majestically, and then asked forcefully.

Scudmore rolled down the window. "Hello, I am Richard Scudmore, the chief executive of the British Alliance."

The security guard had obviously received the message long ago. After listening to it, he immediately saluted again, but this time he seemed much more friendly, at least not as unfamiliar as before.

"Hello, Mr. Scudmore, please come this way. Turn right at the next intersection and you will reach the first team training area."

"Yes, thank you, conscientious sir."

After saying this, the security guard stepped back and the electric remote control opened the gate, allowing Scudmore's car to pass.

The roads at Staplewood were so clean that they looked as if they had just been washed with water, and there was not even a trace of wheel marks.

Each training area and both sides of the road are separated by two-meter-high English holly trees and connected to the outer wall. Once people come in, it feels like they have walked into a maze.

But don't worry about getting lost, because the road signs are very conspicuous, and it is clearly marked which intersection leads to which place.

This made Scudmore feel very comfortable. Compared with the training bases of most British clubs, Staplewood was simply much better.

"Hello, Richard, welcome, welcome!"

As soon as the car stopped at the gate, Nicholas Cortes came out from the gate with a smile on his face.

As soon as Scudmore got out of the car, the Saints' executive chairman extended his hand in front of him.

"Hello, Nikolai, I'm so sorry to bother you."

"What are you talking about, Richard? You're always welcome!"

After the two men shook hands vigorously, Nicola Cortes continued.

"I'm sorry, Richard. Master Huan went back to China for vacation. You know, their Spring Festival is very, very important. He just came back yesterday, so..."

"Yeah, I understand!" Richard Scudmore nodded.

This really couldn't be blamed on Yang Huan, since he had come in too haste.

If I didn't have a good relationship with Young Master Huan, this kind of meeting without an appointment would probably be impossible.

This Young Master Huan is a very busy man now!

"Master Huan called just now. He's on his way. He asked me to receive you first!"

Richard Scudmore nodded, then looked around, "Well, why not just walk around?"

"Yes, please!" Nicola Cortes said with a smile.

The two walked on the road of Staplewood Training Base. Scudmore didn't seem to want to visit the various venues and facilities, and Nicola Cortes didn't actively recommend it. They just walked aimlessly.

Because they just played a league game yesterday, in which Southampton beat Crystal Palace 4-0, the team's training today will be postponed to the afternoon to give the players plenty of rest time.

Therefore, the training base was a bit empty. There were no players to be seen. The staff were just leisurely setting up the training ground.

However, after walking around for a while, Scudmore still stopped outside a training ground.

There was a coach in the training ground, pointing and gesticulating at several players in front of him. What he was talking about was vaguely heard from outside the training ground.

When you see him occasionally demonstrating moves and explaining some techniques, you can guess that it should be about defense.

But what really attracted Scudmore was not these, nor the Southampton players on the field.

Although these players now have big names, such as Varane, Nastasic, Laporte, Luke Shaw, David Alaba and Chambers, the first-team defensive players are all there.

However, Scudmore's eyes were always fixed on the coach.

Soon, he recognized it.

"That's Stam?" Scudmore was surprised.

Stam?

The main central defender during Manchester United's treble-winning period, the only mistake Ferguson admitted in his life, and the once world-recognized top central defender.

How did he become a coach at Southampton?

I hadn't heard any news about it before!

"Do you know him?" Nicholas Cortes laughed.

"Of course!" Scudmore walked to the side of the training ground. After Stam finished his explanation, he asked his assistant to lead the players in training. He called out softly, "Yap!"

When Stam heard someone calling him, he looked over immediately, but he was obviously a stranger to the person outside the barbed wire.

But he still came over.

When he got closer, I suddenly remembered, "Hey, hello, Mr. Scudmore!"

The two met and communicated several times during Stam's time at Manchester United.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you here!" Scudmore was a little surprised, "Why are you..."

"Yeah, it's been almost a year."

"Almost a year?" Scudmore was a little surprised. They had not received any news at all.

The all-pervasive British media didn't even know about this?

The Dutch bald Qiang laughed, completely lacking the ruthlessness he had on the football field. His smile seemed particularly kind, "Yeah, I don't want to be harassed."

"Then why did you..." Scudmore really wanted to say, why didn't you go to Manchester United, or Milan, or if that doesn't work, why did you go to a Dutch team? Why did you come to Southampton?

"Actually, after I retired, I worked as a scout, then as an assistant coach at Zwolle, and later as a technician at Ajax, specializing in coaching players on defense. Maybe they thought I was doing well at Ajax, so..."

At this point, Stam smiled again and looked back. "Actually, Southampton is very good. This group of players has great potential. Moreover, this club has a unique culture that attracts me. I can learn a lot from working with the best professional technical team in the world."

Oh, that's it!

Schudmore understood that Stam's current goal was to learn things, and he would definitely hope to coach alone in the future.

"So what are you mainly responsible for now?"

Stam turned back and pointed to the pitch. "I will provide one-on-one coaching to some players. I will also be responsible for a defensive training course of about 30 minutes for both the first team and the youth team. In addition, I will work with the coaching staff as a team."

Scudmore was quite surprised.

Stam was undoubtedly the best central defender in the world at that time, and was not inferior to Nesta, Cannavaro and others.

Such players naturally have their own unique understanding and knowledge of defense and football.

It is undoubtedly the most appropriate person for him to coach young players and strengthen defensive training.

However, can Stam's experience still adapt to the current football situation?

You know, today's football tactics are completely different from the era he lived in.

The most typical example is tackle. In order to encourage offense, all leagues and referees are making increasingly severe penalties for tackles.

As if seeing the doubt in Skudmore's eyes, Stam laughed again.

"In fact, I once had such concerns, but after coming to Southampton, I found that this team, which is famous for its crazy offense on the football field, also attaches great importance to defense, especially the organization of defense, the details of defense, and the reading and analysis of the game."

At this point, Stam revealed an expression as if he had also suddenly realized something. "You know, a lot of things have changed, and even become completely different, but football is still football, and it still requires offense and defense, so a lot of things have only changed in a different form or angle, but the essence of things has not changed."

Skudmore frowned. This was too profound. What did it mean?

But Stam had no intention of further analysis, especially when he heard the shouts of his assistants behind him. He apologized to Skudmore and Nicola Cortes, turned around and ran back to the training ground.

On the contrary, Nicola Cortes smiled slightly after seeing Stam leave and said: "The current tactics have very high requirements for defenders. To some extent, they are even higher than those for frontcourt players. Therefore, changes must be made in the way of training players."

"Defenders used to start from the youth team and build up bit by bit, but now, many of them started out as midfielders, and some even started out as strikers, and then got converted to defenders. So, their understanding of tactics and defense is naturally different from that of traditional defenders who have received defensive training since childhood."

"However, on the football field, they are still needed to disrupt the opponent's attack and prevent the opponent from scoring goals, so the experience of traditional defenders like Stam can still play an important role."

Scudmore kept nodding his head. Although he didn't understand, he felt that it seemed very powerful.

No matter how simple Stam and Nikolaou Cortes make it sound, if you look deeper, you will find that it is definitely very complicated.

It is even possible that Southampton has a whole team of people specializing in this area, and among them may be many former legendary stars like Stam.

Looking at the training ground, Stam was even demonstrating some very simple defensive moves himself, including how and when to kick. He even saw Stam personally demonstrating an indecent move of lifting the hips.

Could it be that the hips also affect defense?

If so, then Neuer's fat ass...

Well, maybe, in the eyes of some weird researchers, Neuer's ability to become the world's top goalkeeper may be related to his fat buttocks. Who knows?

Just as Scudmore was thinking about Neuer's fat ass, Nikola Cortes' phone rang.

After answering the phone, Nicola Cortes said with a smile, "Master Huan is here!"

When the two walked from the training ground to the training building, they saw Yang Huan already waiting for them in the lobby on the first floor.

After some polite greetings, we went straight to the meeting room on the second floor.

As the saying goes, one does not visit someone without a reason. There must be a reason for Scudmore's sudden visit without any reason.

So, after having the coffee served, Yang Huan asked straight to the point.

"Richard, I wonder what brings you here today?"

Scudmore sighed and nodded, "Yes, Master Huan, I am here today for a very important matter. I hope to hear your thoughts."

"Oh?" Yang Huan found it a little funny. A very important matter?

His first reaction was that, except for Southampton, Manchester City and Arsenal were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League, which was ridiculed by the British media as a habitual group wipeout.

But what does this have to do with us in Southampton?

Yang Huan was very puzzled.