More than a month had not allowed Su Dong and Rony to fully integrate into the First Team, nor had they completely adapted to the First Team's training intensity, but at least they could just about keep up with the team's training now.
In a sense, that meant they had been improving all along.
According to Pontes's assessment, their progress had been much smoother than Marcelino's back then, but not as good as Quaresma's.
However, that had nothing to do with ability or the individual. It was purely a difference in the preparation environment.
The summer training camp was longer, and the team had only just been put together, so the head coach was still more focused on rehearsing and polishing the side. That made it easier for new players to blend into the team, which was why Quaresma had needed only two months to settle in, then shone brilliantly in the opening-round match against Porto.
But the Winter Break training camp lasted only one week, and the overall tactics and playing style had basically taken shape. Asking Su Dong and Rony to quickly integrate into the team at this point was basically unrealistic. This was also why many players disliked Winter Break signings.
Although they had been improving all along, within the First Team, the two of them were still among the poorer performers.
Su Dong could only barely keep up with his two competitors, Gisvi and Lourenço, but ahead of him in the team pecking order were the injured Niculae and Nalitzis, not to mention Jardel, whose scoring form had recently been scorching hot.
Rony, meanwhile, had no choice but to sit below Quaresma, while the other flank was usually occupied by veteran Sá Pinto or João Pinto, or the twenty-two-year-old Chilean attacking midfielder Rodrigo Tello.
All three