The Football Under Fly Eye Surveillance: How Many Snowflakes Did It Knock Down as It Flew?
At Tang Long's home in Manchester, snow is falling outside the window.
This virtual AI Cloud Training Ground, just like in reality, experiences the changing seasons, and the field is also a vast expanse of white.
As the AI System continues to upgrade, this Cloud Training ground has been constructed in the shape of Manchester City's training ground, just as Tang Long envisioned.
Various NPC characters are interspersed throughout.
After Tang Long entered the Cloud Training ground, the landing scene was the locker room.
After he changed his clothes, the jersey manager came in, put his clothes in a basket, and took them to the laundry room.
"Good job, Johnson!"
In real life, the enthusiastic Johnson did not respond, but simply nodded expressionlessly.
Tang Long wasn't in a hurry to go to the court; instead, he headed towards the physiotherapy room inside the training field.
Sure enough, Gracie was sitting in a chair, waiting for his arrival.
However, the NPC character Gracie seems rather unconvincing.
She sat motionless in the chair with her eyes closed, not lifting her head.
Tang Long said to her, "Wake up," and then pinched her little cheek.
Like a robot, Gracie suddenly opened her eyes wide and turned to look at Tang Long.
"Hello, Master, is there anything I can do for you?"
Gracie said softly, her eyes full of ambiguous smiles, then knelt down in front of Tang Long, looking up at him with a beaming smile.
Tang Long hissed and gasped, shook his head, and gently tugged at Gracie's chestnut-colored ponytail.
"You've got the wrong system. Gracie is the team doctor. You've switched modes, you've got the wrong system!"
With a thud, Gracie's beautiful sapphire blue pupils suddenly went dark, then lit up again a few seconds later, her eyes finally returning to normal.
"Are your muscles uncomfortable anywhere? Do you need electroconvulsive therapy, or should you be placed in a cryotherapy unit?"
Seeing that Gracie had finally switched back to normal mode, Tang Long also enjoyed a pleasant half-hour massage therapy.
"You graduated from medical school, so you must be very good at biology. Tell me how the Fly Eye can be used in soccer."
In response to Tang Long's question, a circle-like image appeared in Gracie's eyes, spinning for more than ten seconds before lines of text rapidly appeared and were relayed through her mouth.
However, Gracie's explanation was rather esoteric, and he cited a lot of English medical literature and various technical terms, leaving Tang Long completely confused.
Tang Long also discovered an advantage: in the AI Cloud Training Ground, Gracie was more obedient, and her techniques did not become perfunctory as the massage progressed.
Moreover, Tang Long felt much more comfortable after his back muscles were massaged than he would in real life.
He had already rolled over and gotten out of bed, but he went back to sleep, lying on his back.
"Give me a massage on my thighs, calves, and shoulders and neck."
In the past, Gracie would only massage Tang Long's back at most, because she also had the important task of analyzing the physical data of all Manchester City players, and didn't have time to treat Tang Long alone for too long.
However, Gracie in the Cloud Training ground did whatever Tang Long asked her to do without any complaints.
The consecutive week of two matches had taken a toll on Tang Long's body;
After being massaged by Gracie's soft little hands for more than an hour, Tang Long felt much more comfortable, as if he had taken another nap, and felt completely relaxed.
After thanking Gracie, he finally headed towards the pitch.
Unlike usual, all the staff were present, but there was only one player, Tang Long.
The empty stadium was filled with falling snow, the sky a blanket of white.
Despite wearing long sleeves and trousers, Tang Long couldn't help but shiver.
"Child, I think you need a scarf."
Tang Long felt a warmth on his neck.
Chivu appeared out of nowhere and put a black training scarf around Tang Long's neck.
Looking at Chivu's friendly face, Tang Long was so moved he almost cried.
Throughout the entire Cloud Training ground, the personalities of the NPCs were somewhat disordered and differed from reality, except for Coach Chivu, whose personality remained unchanged.
My beloved teacher still cares about me so much!
Since Chivu became England national team's assistant coach, he has been busy with work, and the two have mostly communicated via mobile phone.
Tang Long played half a season in the Premier League and only saw him once, but in the AI Cloud Training Ground, he could see him every day.
Perhaps it was Chivu who left the deepest impression on Tang Long, leaving an indelible mark in his mind. With enough data provided, the AI System's construction of Chivu was more realistic.
"Mr. Chivu, I would like to train the newly enabled [Fly Eye] function."
"Okay, child, do you know what Fly Eye is? Let me explain its biological principles to you first..."
"No need, Mr. Chivu. Gracie has already explained it to me. Please tell me how this function can be applied to the stadium." Tang Long went straight to the point.
Amidst the swirling snow on the training ground, Chivu briefly explained the function to Tang Long, who nodded repeatedly as Tang Long listened.
According to Chivu's explanation, Tang Long had the real-time predictive assistance of the AI System on the field, which allowed him to judge the next move three seconds in advance.
However, the AI System analyzes the large amount of data fed to it by Tang Long.
The information he provided came from both the football match videos Tang Long watched every day and actual matches from the Premier League, the EFL Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.
Big data predictions are certainly useful, and in many cases they can help Tang Long get ahead of others;
However, the Premier League has a very tight schedule, Tang Long has to play more matches in the same amount of time than he did with Inter Milan in Serie A, so he needs to make more predictions.
Have you noticed that the predictions made by AI System are sometimes not the optimal solution?
When Tang Long heard Chivu's question, he was taken aback, and then nodded solemnly.
"That's right. There were a few times when I didn't follow the AI System's guidance and did things my own way."
Tang Long recounted an incident from a match against Swansea. After entering the attacking third, AI instructed him to pass the ball to Sterling on the wing, but Tang Long took the shot himself, and it went in – a spectacular long-range goal that drew applause from the fans.
Chivu smiled and nodded, giving Tang Long a thumbs up.
"It seems you've already grasped a principle: big data isn't omnipotent. Football is played by a group of living, breathing people, not just a bunch of data practicing together."
"Every moment you face on the court is influenced by multiple factors, including your own condition, the condition of your teammates and opponents, and the cheers of the fans."
"Of course, luck is also an indispensable factor."
"Is the judgment based on big data always more reasonable than human judgment? Many times yes, but sometimes not, especially when your AI System hasn't been upgraded to its highest level. It's still waiting for more data to be fed, or rather, no matter how good the data is, it's not as good as your own predictions sometimes. This kind of thing can happen. How should I put it, child, it's like..."
"Enough, Mr. Chivu, I understand. Let's begin training!"
Chivu and Tang Long were now fifty meters apart.
They stood on opposite sides of the court.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, making it difficult to see each other clearly.
On the other end, Chivu shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I will make a long pass to you. Don't move, don't try to stop the ball, don't make any other movements. Just keep your eyes on the ball and feel its shape change from far to near. This trains your eyes' ability to adjust focus, helping you to better understand the situation!"
Bang!
A long ball flew towards Tang Long.
Chivu, true to his background as a center-back, even played as a defensive midfielder for Ajax during his professional career;
Despite retiring for several years, his long-passing skills remain profound.
With a gentle nudge, the soccer ball drew a rainbow arc in the air.
Following Chivu's instructions, Tang Long stood still, his eyes fixed on the ball.
At first, football was just a tiny speck.
It then continued to grow larger, and by the time it reached the center circle, it had grown from a sesame seed to the size of an apple.
With a whooshing sound, the football grew larger and larger, striking the falling snowflakes in the air, and flew towards Tang Long's head.
The yellow soccer ball was approaching, and Tang Long felt a shadow looming over him. He wanted to take a step back and use his thigh to control the ball, but he kept in mind the rule of not moving until the soccer ball hit his forehead with a "thud".
Football players' heads are made of iron, so Tang Long wasn't in pain.
He understood that, given Chivu's skill, the ball must have been deliberately kicked towards his head to hit him so precisely.
"How does it feel?" Chivu ran over.
"It felt like a ball grew from small to big and then hit me on the head, making everything go black," Tang Long said.
"That's right, that's the kind of pressure we need. Your eyes should be focused on following the ball's movement."
Tang Long was somewhat dismissive.
This simple, focused perspective is something he faces constantly in every match, so there's nothing strange about it.
Normally, when playing a match, whether passing or receiving the ball, he's always moving. This time, he was standing still, so it felt a bit strange.
"Isn't this normal? If my eyes didn't follow the ball's focus, I'd be blind."
"Normal? Then tell me, when the soccer ball flies towards you through the air, how many snowflakes does it knock down?"