After lunch, Tang Long said goodbye to Chivu and headed back to the dorm to sleep.
Tang Long had been in the habit of taking a nap since he was a child.
If he didn't sleep for an hour every afternoon, he'd definitely get drowsy later.
What surprised him today, though, was that he felt much less sleepy than usual. After only about twenty minutes of rest, he woke up naturally.
Tang Long immediately realized it had something to do with what he'd eaten at lunch.
A low-carb meal with little oil or sugar put less strain on his stomach, so his brain didn't need to divert as much blood to digest it. Naturally, he felt less sleepy.
"Great! Chivu's dietary advice means I can get at least forty extra minutes out of my afternoon by cutting my nap short!"
Tang Long happily entered the AI Cloud Training Ground.
Since his passing stats had hit a bottleneck, he wanted to work on his stamina and physicality, especially since Chivu had stressed those areas that morning.
If he wanted to start in Serie A and play the full ninety minutes, physical fitness was key!
But as soon as Tang Long entered, before he even had a chance to select a training exercise, he was astonished to see Chivu standing on the field!
He wore Inter Milan's home kit from the 2009–2010 season and stood motionless like a wooden post.
Tang Long walked over and pinched Chivu's cheek. It felt soft~
Chivu's expression was blank. He looked like a robot.
"Haha, Mr. Chivu, I didn't expect you to show up here too!" Tang Long laughed.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have unlocked a hidden reward—guidance from an Inter Milan Treble-winning legend!"
"Training partner activated: Chivu!"
"Special effect: Break through the Host's bottleneck in one stat. Stat cap: Unknown."
Whoosh—
Chivu, who had been standing motionless, began to move.
He stared blankly at Tang Long and spoke in a mechanical tone, one word at a time:
"Hello, I am your training partner, Chivu. I was born in Romania in 1980 and began my professional career at Romanian powerhouse Universitatea Craiova. In 1999, I transferred to Eredivisie club Ajax for 2.5 million euros. In 2003, I transferred to Serie A club Roma for 18 million euros. In 2007, I transferred to Inter Milan for 16 million euros. I retired in March 2014."
"My club career stats: 437 appearances, 21 goals, 17 assists."
"My international career stats: 75 appearances, 3 goals, 8 assists."
A glowing yellow card hovered over Chivu's head.
Tang Long tapped it, and a line of text appeared.
[Training Partner: Chivu]
[Attacking strengths: Playing the ball from center back; orchestrating play in midfield]
[Defensive strengths: Aggressive tackling, excellent stamina, outstanding positional sense]
Chivu's appearance in the Cloud Training Ground thrilled Tang Long!
Although Chivu wasn't a world-class superstar by any means,
he was still a far cry from Tang Long's previous training dummy, Iniesta.
But according to the system, training with this Inter Milan Treble-winning legend could break through his stats bottleneck!
Tang Long's passing had been stuck at 70 for a long time.
For a while, he'd wondered if Iniesta was the problem.
But even after switching to other training dummies like Pirlo and Ronaldinho, he'd made no progress.
Now Chivu's arrival had solved the problem.
As a player, Chivu had been a defender, but his passing skills were exceptionally strong!
In fact, Mancini had spent 16 million euros to bring him from Roma to Inter Milan in 2007 because he recognized Chivu's solid technical ability.
Mancini had once described him this way:
"Chivu combines exquisite left-footed technique with tough defending. He can play left back, center back, or defensive midfielder. He's an outstanding utility player. Whoever gets Chivu gets three players in one."
Tang Long immediately began passing drills with Chivu.
"Exit AI Cloud Training Ground!"
"Short passing stat increased!"
"70–71!"
Just as he'd expected!
Tang Long opened his eyes and sat in the chair, stretching contentedly.
It was the most satisfying afternoon stretch he'd had in days.
Although he didn't know how high Chivu could take his passing, he was sure the predicted cap would be above 80.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Someone knocked at the door.
Who would come looking for him at this hour? Bonazzoli was probably still fast asleep.
Tang Long opened the door and saw Chivu.
"Haha, Mr. Chivu, you look much more natural like this!"
Chivu paused, puzzled. What did he mean?
"Tang, come on out. Let's get back to training!"
"Are we training again this afternoon?"
"Of course. Your intensive training period is very short—only three months—but there's a lot to improve, so we have to make the most of every minute. Let's go to the gym!"
Chivu had already changed into his training clothes and sneakers. Tang Long didn't have time to think about it; he quickly changed and went out.
At the Inter Milan training ground's gym,
Chivu unlocked the door.
It was two thirty in the afternoon, and the place was empty.
"Tang, you need to ramp up your strength training. Diet optimization alone won't be nearly enough to build a strong body. You have to put in extra work!"
"But, Mr. Chivu, I've noticed that the strong players on Inter Milan's first team hardly ever come to the gym."
Tang Long brought up Guarin.
As the strongest player on the team,
Guarin really did rarely come to the gym.
To be exact, he didn't even go once a month!
Tang Long found it baffling and had even gone out of his way to ask Guarin about it.
Of course, all he'd gotten in return was a disdainful look.
Guarin had even mocked him, saying, "Are all Chinese players this weak?"
Chivu understood what Tang Long meant.
He sat down on the bench press and shared an old experience with Tang Long.
"When I first joined Inter Milan as a player in 2007, there was a guy on the team called Ibrahimovic. He wasn't just tall; he was incredibly strong, and even more frighteningly, he was nimble on the ball! In every practice match, the player I least wanted to mark was Ibrahimovic!
"I once asked him how he trained and whether he had any secrets he could share with me.
"To my surprise, Ibrahimovic looked confused and said he didn't have any secrets. He trained just like the rest of us.
"At first, I didn't believe him. I thought he was deliberately keeping it from me. But then I saw a video online of him playing for Malmo in Sweden when he was seventeen, and I was astonished to see that he was already that strong!"
Chivu looked meaningfully at Tang Long.
"Talent. It comes down to talent! Ibrahimovic and Guarin both have far greater physical gifts than you!
"But don't be discouraged. You have your own talents too. Your vision is every bit as exceptional.
"Besides, you can make up for physical shortcomings through training, but talent like yours is hard to develop later in life."
Huff—
Huff—
Tang Long lay on the bench, pushing the barbell.
Sweat poured off him like rain, pattering onto the floor.
"Come on, put your back into it! Your bench press is only 68 kilos. Any starting defender in Serie A could knock you over. Keep going! In three months, I want you at 100 kilos! Come on!"
"C-Coach, is th-three months really enough?"
Tang Long's face was flushed, the veins in his neck bulging as his arms trembled slightly.
Chivu couldn't bring himself to tell him the truth.
In reality, his plan to transform Tang Long would take at least a year.
The physical conditioning alone would take more than six months.
But he was worried that a young guy like Tang Long might be impatient and not have the patience to stick with such a long program.
"Absolutely. Would I lie to you? Give me three months, and I'll have you knocking Guarin flying in practice. Believe me!"
Tang Long's cheeks puffed out like a frog's, and his eyes looked ready to pop.
As he imagined himself smashing into the Colombian and sending him flying during training,
his fighting spirit flared.
"Haah!"
With a bang, Tang Long pushed up the 70-kilogram barbell and set it steadily back on the rack.
Chivu's eyes lit up.
"Good. You're nowhere near your limit yet. Keep adding weight. I'm here to spot you, so don't be afraid of getting hurt!"
Before you continue