The One and Only Su Dong

Andre Cruz's words left Su Dong deeply surprised.

So much so that when he got home that night, he actually suffered from insomnia.

For Su Dong, who had always loved sleep and slept soundly, this was truly unusual.

He lay in bed all night, on his side, gazing through the open curtains at the Tagus River outside.

Cruz's analysis of players made sense. Some players were natural cores, such as Zidane. He had been born with that core-player style of play, while some players, no matter how well they performed, were destined by their traits to be supporting pieces.

Generally speaking, core players were usually in the middle.

Although Zidane was said to be on the left, in reality he was playing the role of an attacking midfielder from the left.

Kluivert was indeed one of the best center forwards in the world, as were players like Vieri, Crespo, Trezeguet, Van Nistelrooy, and Makay. But on closer analysis, it was not hard to discover that Kluivert's style was completely different from theirs.

From Ajax to the Netherlands National Team, he was like the center of the circle in the team's front line. All the players around him revolved around him. He was like a key node, and everyone used his movements and intentions as their reference point.

Of course, the premise was that he possessed such comprehensive ability and outstanding physical qualities.

Then had he possessed that ability first, or had Ajax specifically developed him according to the team's tactical needs?

That was probably a question with no answer.

But what could be certain was that Kluivert was indeed a nearly perfect center forward.

Cruz had suggested that Su Dong learn from Kluivert. That was a kind of affirmation of him, and also encouragement.

The Brazilian veteran was already thirty-three. At the end of their conversation, he told Su Dong that after this season ended, he would leave Sporting Lisbon, leave European football, and return to his hometown in Brazil.

The reason he had said so much to Su Dong was because he felt Su Dong had that kind of potential and aptitude.

This made Su Dong feel somewhat flattered, but also very confused.

He was only a rookie professional who had just debuted. Some people said he resembled Batistuta, while Cruz said he resembled Kluivert. Then who exactly did he resemble?

Or perhaps, he resembled no one at all?

The next morning, Su Dong did something exceedingly rare: he stayed in bed.

This left Rony and Semedo extremely surprised, especially when they saw Su Dong's bloodshot eyes. They were both stunned.

"You'd better show some restraint. Doing too much of that kind of thing hurts the body," Semedo reminded him very "righteously."

Faced with the joke, Su Dong could not even be bothered to respond.

After washing up and changing clothes, Pontes's car arrived.

They reached Alcochete without a word along the way.

Rony and Semedo scrambled to get out of the car, while Su Dong called Pontes back in the parking lot and told him about his confusion.

"Cruz's career wasn't all that successful, but I didn't expect him to be such a smart player," Pontes said, somewhat surprised.

Cruz was a white Brazilian player, but his style of play did not seem particularly smart.

At least at AC Milan, Cruz had never been a starter. He had always been held down by seniors like Maldini and Costacurta, to the point that in his two-year Rossoneri journey, he had not played many matches at all. In the end, he transferred to Standard Liège before regaining some of his form.

"Actually, what he said is very right. Core players, whether in terms of tactical value or historical status, are far higher than role players. But you have to understand, wanting to become a core player is not that easy."

"Take Kluivert, for example. He could be the core at Ajax, but once he got to AC Milan, Capello couldn't give him that status. Add the chaos in the dressing room, and he became far worse than before. Now that he's at Barcelona, his situation isn't wonderful either. Van Gaal trusts him, but after Van Gaal was sacked, his situation has only gone from bad to worse."

Su Dong understood what Pontes meant.

Top clubs had especially high requirements for core players. Only the very best stars in the world were qualified to serve as the core at a giant club, especially as the attacking core in the front line.

Even someone as strong as Kluivert could not receive enough trust at Barcelona.

"I understand. That's too far away." Su Dong was not stupid. He was not aiming unrealistically high; it was just that Sporting Lisbon's traditional formation was also 4-3-3, and they also needed a center forward, just like Ajax.

Pontes smiled. "Do you know why Boloni doesn't like Jardel?"

Su Dong shook his head. He also found it very strange.

Jardel was the team's top scorer, his scoring efficiency was high, and he was very familiar with the Portuguese Super League. In order to get him, Sporting Lisbon had even been willing to exchange three main players, including Mbo Mpenza. Why would a player like that not be liked by Boloni?

"Just like Cruz said, he can only score goals."

Su Dong was somewhat stunned, but he quickly figured it out.

"Actually, as early as when Jardel played for Porto, many giant clubs were already paying attention to him. His scoring efficiency was very high, but gradually, everyone discovered that he could only score goals. Apart from scoring, he couldn't do anything else well—he even couldn't do anything else at all."

Su Dong felt that this was probably why, after Jardel left Porto, he had gone to Turkey instead of entering the Big Four Leagues. After he went to Turkey, he wanted to return to a mainstream league, but as it turned out, no team from the Big Four Leagues was willing to take him. In the end, he could only return to Sporting Lisbon.

Age, salary, and transfer fee were all reasons, but they were only part of the reason.

At the end of the day, it was because he did not carry enough weight.

That weight included the player's strength and tactical value.

Even when the Winter Break came and he was scoring goals like mad, in the end, no team was still willing to bid for him and take him away from the Portuguese Super League.

It was not that the other teams were blind and could not recognize quality, but because there were many, many players who could replace Jardel.

Core players were irreplaceable. Role players could be found by the handful.

Of the clubs rumored to be closest to him, Inter Milan had Ronaldo, Vieri, Recoba, Ventola, Pandev, Martins, Adriano, and Kallon. Their front line was packed with talent. Did they need Jardel?

"If you ask my opinion, all I can say is that different head coaches have different views of players. They use players according to their own preferences, even reshape them. But players should also have their own ideas in their hearts, and that is: what kind of player do you want to become?"

"Pele scored in waves, but that wasn't the main reason he became the King of Football. Maradona didn't become the King of Football by scoring a lot of goals either. Neither did Ronaldo or Zidane."

"On a football pitch, it all comes down to strength in the end. Whether you want to become a role player or a core player, ultimately, only when you have the strength will you have the chance to prove your worth."

"It's like boiling an egg. First, you have to be clear that you want to boil an egg. Then you need to have an egg, a pot, water, a gas stove, and so on. Once you have all that, you put the ingredients in and start cooking. But you need to wait—for the water temperature to rise, for the water to boil—before the egg can slowly cook through."

"Not a single step in the whole process can be missing, but in the end, it still comes down to the very beginning: you had an idea. You wanted to boil an egg."

Su Dong understood a little.

What Pontes was really telling him was that he was no one else.

He was neither Batistuta nor Kluivert. He was Su Dong, the one and only Su Dong.

Anyone who wanted to become someone else was destined only to become a failure.

Once he had made that clear, Su Dong needed to figure out what kind of player he wanted to become.

After figuring that out, only then could he work in that direction, perfecting and improving himself.

As for when the egg would be fully cooked, that would depend on when Su Dong got all the materials ready, when he put them into the pot, and when he brought it to a boil.

Every step had to be taken one at a time. None of it could be rushed.

Rony was in a hurry. Every day, he was looking for opportunities, wanting to show his face in front of the coaching staff. He couldn't wait to become a First Team player who got on the pitch, but that might not necessarily be a good thing.

From his conversation with Pontes, Su Dong also sensed that Boloni's demands of a center forward were not limited to scoring goals.

That was probably why, at the very start of the season, he had suppressed Jardel and relied heavily on Niculae. Later, after results went poorly, he had even changed formation to use two strikers rather than easily let Jardel play as the lone striker.

He vaguely sensed that this might become his opportunity.

"Thank you, Lionel." Su Dong felt the knot in his heart loosen.

Pontes smiled. "No need to thank me. Actually, you already had the answer long ago."

"How do you mean?" Su Dong was very curious.

"The reason Virgos get tangled up so easily is that you want everything."

Su Dong laughed somewhat awkwardly.

Virgo men were just that plain, unpretentious, and boring.

After Su Dong clarified his thinking, the special training plan Pontes had tailor-made for him had to be adjusted as well.

For example, the intensity of his physical training was raised from the original two sessions a week to four sessions a week.

Su Dong had originally wanted to train every day, but Pontes rejected his proposal on the grounds of physical fatigue.

There was also the training for his abilities as a center forward, and Cruz agreed to help with that.

The veteran Brazilian center back promised that if Su Dong was willing, he could stay behind after training every afternoon to do extra drills with him. That was absolutely super-VIP treatment, and Pontes needed to arrange some training items and equipment.

The training content mainly focused on using his body, receiving the ball with his back to goal under high pressure, turning after receiving the ball, breaking free, and so on.

A center forward always operated in the area where the opponent's defense was most crowded. He was like a thick rivet, one that had to be firmly driven into the most lethal position in the opponent's defensive line and pose a threat.

It was the hardest position to play on the pitch, and at the same time the one with the highest demands on a player's abilities.

Aside from that, Pontes also suggested that Su Dong read the First Team's scouting reports every week, as well as the reports the scouts provided for forwards on the opponents' defensive players, along with some match footage. This would allow him to understand opponents better and improve his tactical awareness and match-analysis ability.

But Su Dong felt that these things alone were still far from enough.

So he entered the System Store in Path to the King of Football and began searching for a Star Ability Card suitable for himself.