Am I Like Kluivert?

"When you play until you're my age, you'll also be able to easily guess what a seventeen-year-old kid who's just made his debut is thinking. It has nothing to do with whether you're doing well or not."

Cruz laughed and chalked the problem up to experience.

After seeing the questioning look in Su Dong's eyes, he explained the issue further.

Cruz was only 1.82 meters tall. In truth, he was a little shorter than Su Dong, and his legs were not long enough either. It looked as if he was at a disadvantage, but in reality, that was not the case, because he was left-footed, and at the same time, his physical qualities were excellent and his ability in duels was very strong.

Defending a rookie like Su Dong was actually not difficult, especially for an experienced veteran like Cruz.

He could read the path of the ball one step earlier than Su Dong, anticipate the situation, and defend ahead of him.

Even if Su Dong really did get the ball, it did not matter. He had the advantage over Su Dong in physical strength and duels. He could hold him off from behind and use all kinds of little movements to harass and affect Su Dong.

"You know, you're a right-footed player, and your left foot is pretty poor. Although I can see that you've been working hard to train your left foot, it still isn't enough. You have more confidence and certainty in your right foot, so you habitually use it."

"When I'm defending you, I'll use all sorts of ways to pressure you, lure you, even directly leave space open for you to use your right foot. And I'm a left-footed player. As long as you want to turn, to turn to the right, I can defend it."

After Su Dong listened, he thought it over carefully. It really did seem to be the case.

So many opportunities he had thought were real had in fact been spaces Cruz had deliberately left open.

That also explained why he could never get the better of Cruz.

After realizing this, Su Dong felt very gloomy, with a sense of defeat.

"Don't be like that. You're only seventeen." Cruz looked at Su Dong's expression and said with a chuckle, "Actually, you've already done much better than the vast majority of players your age, even better than some center forwards around twenty years old."

Su Dong spread his hands helplessly. "But I still can't beat you, not even once."

Cruz laughed again. He rather liked the young man in front of him.

At first, there had not been much to it, but after a month of getting along and dueling, he discovered that Su Dong had actually been improving all along.

Especially when he stood here now and looked back, comparing Su Dong to when he had first joined a month ago, Cruz had to admit that the improvement was indeed quite great.

To want to close the gap in just one month was no different from a fool's dream.

But having dreams was a good thing.

"Actually, I noticed that your nickname is Little God of War. Your powerful Shooting really does have shades of Batistuta. I faced him many times in Serie A, and it really is very similar, with that same feel."

"Other than that, I think your movement is very clever, and your sense of the situation is very sharp. A lot of the time, I actually think I can seal you off, but in the end you always run along routes beyond my expectations and then receive the pass. That makes it very uncomfortable for me when I'm defending."

"Also, you should be more than 1.9 meters tall now. Your technique at your feet is very solid, and your awareness in passing, receiving, and linking up is very strong. All of these are your strengths. You should maintain them and continue to improve them."

"What about my weaknesses?" Su Dong asked with concern.

There was no one who understood him better than his own opponent. Su Dong very much wanted to know what Cruz thought of him.

"Your weaknesses are also very obvious. Of course, I have to remind you that all young players are like this. Their strengths and weaknesses are very obvious. You're like this, Rony is like this, Quaresma and Viana are also like this. It's just that some young players, in suitable situations and within suitable tactical frameworks, bring out their own strengths."

Su Dong understood this point.

"Your height is an advantage, but you're on the thin side, and your strength in duels is insufficient. Whether it's upper-body strength, core strength, or lower-body strength, you still need to strengthen all of it, because without outstanding physical strength, you can't hold off defenders. And if you can't hold off defenders, your tactical role will be greatly reduced. Even your threat inside and outside the penalty area will be greatly reduced."

The "can't hold off" Cruz spoke of did not only mean being pushed out of position. More often, it meant that although he had used his body to block the defender, while the physical contest was happening, his technical movements went out of shape, causing him to be unable to hold the ball steadily or pass accurately.

Su Dong himself had that same feeling, especially when he was facing Cruz.

"Your speed is very fast. That's a very obvious advantage, but it only allows you to be effective when you have space. That's far from enough. As a center forward, you must have the ability to hold the ball, pass the ball out, and turn around under the opponent's packed defense. Only then can you be considered a qualified center forward."

When Cruz said this, he saw the thoughtful look in Su Dong's eyes and knew that the other party really had taken in his words. He was happy inside too, and could not help asking, "You should know Kluivert, right?"

"Of course. The Netherlands' leading center forward," Su Dong replied without hesitation.

"The two of us joined AC Milan in the same year, but what was completely different was that he was regarded as a prince who could compete with Ronaldo. Yet no one expected that a year later, he would leave in such bleak fashion. It wasn't because he lacked ability, but because too many problems appeared in Milan's dressing room at the time. He is the strongest center forward I have ever seen and experienced, even more terrifying than Vieri."

Su Dong was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Cruz to rate Kluivert so highly.

One had to know that after the bleak experience at Milan, Kluivert was no longer what he had been before. Even though he had performed outstandingly at Barcelona, he had still failed to recover that momentum of development he once had.

"Do you know? Center forwards, or rather, players on the pitch in general, can be divided into two types. One type is core players, and the other type is role players. As the names imply, core players are the core of a team's attack, organization, or defense. The team builds its lineup and lays out its tactics around them, while role players are the supporting cast around the core players."

"For example, among the Netherlands' current three major center forwards, Kluivert, Van Nistelrooy, and Roy Makaay, in my view, Kluivert is a core player, while Van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay are role players. So even if Van Nistelrooy and Makaay score more goals, the one firmly holding the starting forward position for the Netherlands national team is still Kluivert."

"You may even not have noticed that fans more easily remember core players, while role players, no matter how well they perform or how many goals they score, often still can't compare to core players. The reason is very simple. Role players revolve around the center point that is the core player."

Su Dong listened with his heart full of astonishment.

No matter what, he had never expected Cruz to say so many earth-shattering things to him. These were all things he had never thought of before, and that no one had ever told him before.

Was that really so?

In truth, after thinking carefully, he knew that it was indeed so.

Even though Kluivert's performance during his time at AC Milan had been poor, Barcelona had still been willing to spend a huge sum on him and entrust him with an important role. This was not only because of Van Gaal, but even more because they valued Kluivert's worth.

"As a center forward, Kluivert has outstanding physical qualities. His techniques for taking the ball with his back to goal and turning to shake off defenders are impeccable. He can drop back to receive from midfield, and he can also pull wide to link up with the two wings. He can play a role in positional attacks, and he can also effectively attack the opponent's back line during counterattacks."

"The only thing he's slightly worse at is scoring, but you may not know that his match goal efficiency is 0.4 per game. Although that figure loses to killers like Van Nistelrooy, compared with other scorers, it's already quite high."

"Believe me, I trained with him for a year. I know that he is a nearly perfect center forward."

Su Dong could hear it. Cruz truly admired Kluivert, even respected him.

"Any team that gets Kluivert only needs to provide him with good enough partners and organize its tactics around him to bring his role and power to the maximum. He is the core of the team's attacking end."

When he said this, Cruz looked deeply at Su Dong.

"Su, I think you should learn from Kluivert. You're taller than him, faster than him, and I even think your ability to run, your insight into the situation, and your nose for timing are all far better than Kluivert's. These are all your strengths. You should work hard to grow into an all-around core player like Kluivert."

"To become a core center forward, you need to do more and do it better than a scoring center forward, because you don't just need to score goals—you also need to do more and bring out greater tactical value. But the rewards you receive will also be greater."

Su Dong had never expected that chatting with Cruz—when he had originally only wanted to hear some assessments of his opponents—would bring him such a huge shock.

Am I like Kluivert?

"Andre, don't you have a little too much faith in me?" Su Dong said with a wry smile.

"No, no, no, Su. Of course the current you is still far, far inferior to Kluivert. Your left foot is too poor. You must train it until it's as skillful as your right. Your decision-making on the pitch still isn't reasonable enough. There are still many problems with your back-to-goal ball control and your ability to turn and shake off defenders..."

"In short, in many, many areas, there is still a considerable gap between you and Kluivert. But you're only seventeen. You still have tremendous room to grow. Your speed and agility are better than his, which ensures that when it comes to individual play, you're better than Kluivert, because he rarely goes it alone."

"As for physical strength, serving as a tactical pivot, and linking up with others, those abilities can be gradually developed. You still have plenty of time to work hard and improve yourself. The premise is that you should find the right direction to work toward. Don't merely treat yourself as a role player responsible for scoring. That would be such a pity."

Su Dong sank deeply into Cruz's words.

The Brazilian center back's expectations and encouragement brought him a tremendous shock, and at the same time, a faint excitement.

When he saw the certainty in Cruz's eyes, he could not help asking himself from the heart.

Can I really do it?