Cristiano Ronaldo Stunned! Besides Messi and Suarez, Was Tang Going to Compete with Me for the European Golden Shoe?
Two hat tricks in a row!
Tang Long's goal-scoring efficiency after transitioning from attacking midfielder to striker has shocked the football world!
Although people have witnessed Tang Long's talent as a young professional player over the past two seasons, the effect of unleashing that talent and its contribution to the team is still astonishing and intriguing.
Just how high is his ceiling as a striker?
Monday, Manchester City Football Club meeting room, 8:00 AM.
The first-team coaching staff gathered together to review yesterday's match.
This was a dominant match, with Manchester City continuing their strong performance since the start of the new season.
Following their 4-0 victory Black Cats Sunderland in the first round, they then thrashed City of the Sky Stoke City with the same score, achieving a double victory in both home and away games at the start of the new season!
"Although the lineup and tactics are still in the process of gelling, both the new signings and veteran players have shown great adaptability. The players are full of fighting spirit, and I, like everyone here, feel extremely honored to coach such a motivated team."
Guardiola's opening remarks were very brief, followed by a discussion of everyone's thoughts on the match.
He had expected his subordinates to discuss the positive impact of the new tactics on the team's overall performance, but everyone's focus was on one player— Tang Long!
Tactical coach Fred was a first-team coach at Manchester City during Pellegrini's tenure.
He was very satisfied with Tang Long's performance, claiming that he had defeated his opponent.
"Although Tang's first goal was a rather rushed header, his positioning demonstrated his exceptional understanding of how forwards should position themselves in the penalty area!"
"The moment Sane passed the ball, he suddenly darted forward and appeared in front of Badelj, leaving him no defensive hindrance to his header!"
"Whether it was the timing of his start or the route he took, he perfectly fooled Badelj. In this respect, he's just as good as Agüero!"
Shooting coach Van Bronckhorst, Netherlands, played in the Premier League for a long time;
His focus wasn't on Tang Long's positioning, but on his header.
"I think Fred missed the point. While Don's positioning is certainly unpredictable, his skillful use of headers is the key to his ability to create scoring opportunities for the team!"
"I don't even need to watch the replay; I remember it very clearly. Sane's cross from the wing was well-placed, but the height was a bit low, heading towards Tang's chest. Most players would use their chest to control the ball before shooting, but that's too slow, and there's a possibility the defender could intercept it."
"But what did Tang do? He crouched down, bent over, and just tossed his head!"
"Based on my understanding of Stoke City Given, Given's tall and has a long reach, so he's not afraid of long-range headers near the penalty spot."
"Don's powerful header, though seemingly rushed, actually caught Given. It was Given who was caught off guard, not Don!"
"The heading technique was used perfectly. The worst thing you can do with this kind of awkward header is to use brute force—last season, Bony liked to do that. Once you use brute force, it's easy to head the ball away. Only by using the opponent's force like Tang did, gently flicking it, can you find the most precise balance between power and angle!"
Tactical coach Fred believes that the key to Tang Long's goal was his positioning;
Shooting coach Van Bronckhorst believes that excellent shooting skills are the key.
Although both are coaches of the first team, they have different roles and perspectives, so they argued in front of everyone.
"It's about positioning. Without positioning, how could Tang have had that shot?"
"Then let me ask you this in return: what's the point of getting into position if you can't score?"
Guardiola touched his bald head and watched the two argue with a smile.
He is an open-minded coach, especially in post-match debriefing meetings, where he encourages coaches to discuss any opinions they may have without restraint.
They even admire creative and outlandish ideas, often talking about them for over an hour, sometimes even forgetting when training has started.
Film analyst Adams, laughing, stopped the two from arguing.
"Fred, Van Bronckhorst, you are both right and wrong."
Fred and Van Bronckhorst turned to Adams, displeased, and said, "What, then tell me, what's right?"
Adams picked up his laptop, walked onto the stage, and connected to the projector.
Everyone's eyes turned to the screen.
The video playing was of Thiago's assist to Tang Long.
After several seemingly casual yet highly threatening passes, Thiago seized the opportunity, suddenly changed the pace, and made a through pass!
Tang Long burst out from the crowd like an arrow, receiving the ball with no one within three meters of him, before chipping the ball into the net!
Why are Fred and Van Bronckhorst both right and wrong?
"Because in Tang, I see a player whose positioning and shooting skills are highly integrated!"
"In this offside trap, his positioning was extremely precise; at the moment of his start, he was almost parallel to the hair on the last defender's head."
"And look closely at his chip shot that broke the deadlock!"
As the video analyst sped up the playback to 0.3x and then paused it, he drew his colleagues' attention to Tang Long's feet.
The Manchester City coaches present then clearly saw for the first time the details they had missed during the match!
In the paused shot, Tang Long was facing goalkeeper Given. His initial touch was a horizontal strike with the instep of his foot.
"Ah, he was trying to shoot at first!" shooting coach Van Bronckhorst exclaimed in surprise.
Adams shook his head and laughed, "No, it was Don who wanted Given to initially think he was going to shoot."
Adams clicked the mouse, and Tang Long continued in 0.3x slow motion. Almost at the moment of contact with the ball, he suddenly twisted his ankle!
Even in slow motion, the ankle adjustment was extremely rapid; people with poor eyesight couldn't see it at all, let alone at normal water speeds.
Tang Long suddenly twisted his ankle, changing the point of contact with the ball from the arch of his foot to his toes.
With a light, quick touch, the ball sailed over Given's head and landed steadily in the net.
Splash splash splash--
A round of applause erupted from the audience!
Everyone cheered for Tang Long's feint!
Sitting in the main seat, Guardiola felt a chill run down his spine, secretly surprised. "So, before Tang's chip shot, he added a feint with the instep of his foot, confusing the goalkeeper to the ground, and then instantly transformed it into a finesse shot, chipping the ball into the net. I couldn't see these details at all when I was directing from the sidelines."
Guardiola exclaimed, "Excellent! Many strikers can feint before shooting, but it's rare to see one as convincing as Tang's, changing his move so suddenly at the last moment."
Everyone says that there are very few strikers in Europe who can combine positioning and shooting skills as perfectly as Tang. Only Lewandowski, Kane, Suarez, and Cristiano Ronaldo deserve this description.
Teaching assistant Chivu remained silent, simply staring at Tang Long on the screen.
He was new to the team and was still getting to know his colleagues.
Guardiola was worried that Chivu felt neglected. After all, Tang Long's opening goal, if traced back, was actually an attack initiated by Stoke City. It was Stones' successful defense against Arnautovic that intercepted the ball, which led to the subsequent passes.
Guardiola decided to let Chivu talk about Don, and then steered the conversation toward Stones.
"Christian, how would you rate Tang's positioning and shooting skills as a striker?"
Chivu turned to Guardiola and shook his head, saying, "As a striker, Dom's positioning and shooting skills are certainly impressive, but his greatest strengths are not those two. None of you have hit the nail on the head."
Upon hearing this, all the coaches turned their heads in surprise.
Film analyst Adams thought to himself, "Such a big mouth for someone new here! Does he think all of us are less perceptive than him? I'd like to hear what your point is."
Others were also discussing the matter, expressing considerable dissatisfaction.
Guardiola became interested, as he agreed with Chivu's statement and couldn't help but feel curious, anticipating Chivu's answer—would it be the same as his own?
Chivu borrowed Adams' computer and asked the video analyst, "Did you record the third goal, the rebound from that penalty kick?"
Adams paused, shook his head, and said dismissively, "That was just a penalty rebound. What's the point of reversing luck?"
Chivu frowned and said, "Then you've missed the most important thing, but it's not your fault, because you don't know Tang well enough."
Clicking on the webpage, Chivu skillfully found Agüero's penalty kick replay.
"You think this was just a simple rebound shot, oh, the ball bounced off the post and then landed right at Tang's feet, and he just scored? That's not how it works."
"Otherwise, did Tang suck the ball over?" Adams said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
Chivu looked around on the stage and noticed that there was only one person in the entire room who wasn't smiling: Guardiola.
After the laughter subsided, he slowly said, "It wasn't that Tang drew the ball in; rather, he actively moved closer to it. If I told you that as soon as Agüero kicked the ball and Given made his save, Tang Long anticipated that the ball would hit the post and bounce back, and then sprinted in the direction of the bounce, would you believe me?"
"I believe you!"
Before anyone could speak, Guardiola shouted loudly, then raised his hands high, his face beaming with joy.
Anticipation—at this morning's discussion, he finally heard this simple yet powerful word!
Madrid, Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo lives in a villa in the suburbs.
His agent, Mendes, is in talks with him about renewing his contract.
Real Madrid president Florentino intends to extend Cristiano Ronaldo's contract until 2021, when the Portugal star will be 36 years old, and he may very well retire at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"Cristiano, this is a great opportunity. You just won the UEFA European Championship, and we can use that as leverage to secure a much more lucrative contract for you than you are now."
"Cristiano?"
"Are you listening to me?"
Cristiano Ronaldo was looking down, absentmindedly fiddling with his phone.
His screen displayed a leaderboard summarizing goals scored by players from the Top Five Leagues.
In the European Golden Shoe competition, these players are awarded two points for each league goal scored.
Cristiano Ronaldo muttered, "Six! This China guy has scored six in just two Premier League. That's too easy. I've only been away from the Premier League for seven years. Has the defensive level there dropped that much?"
Although he said that, Cristiano Ronaldo knew in his heart that it was definitely not the case.
The competitiveness of the Premier League has not declined in the years since he left Manchester United for Real Madrid in La Liga; on the contrary, it has become stronger!
After Ferguson left, Manchester United's dominance of half the Premier League was gone forever, and an era of fierce competition arrived. Teams such as Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Everton have become much stronger. Even mid-to-lower-table Premier League teams like Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion can invest tens of millions of Pound Sterling in the transfer market to strengthen their squads.
Two seasons ago, in the 2014-2015 season, back when Tang Long led Inter Milan to win the UEFA Europa League, Cristiano Ronaldo had already heard of this Eastern name.
However, at that time, he was focused on his goal-scoring contest with Lionel Messi and had no time to care about any new stars emerging in Serie A.
After all, in Cristiano Ronaldo's view, Serie A is already a declining league;
The heart of Europe football is only La Liga and the Premier League!
By the end of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 48 league goals and Lionel Messi had scored 43. Although Barca ultimately won the treble and crushed Real Madrid in terms of club honors that season, Cristiano Ronaldo at least beat Lionel Messi in terms of goals, winning the La Liga Golden Boot and the European Golden Shoe that season!
Cristiano Ronaldo was very proud of his performance that season.
"Comparing me to Lionel Messi? This season, I won the La Liga Golden Boot, the European Golden Shoe, and the UEFA Champions League Golden Boot. I am the best player in the world!"
However, last season, the 2015-2016 season, Cristiano Ronaldo was very dissatisfied with his performance!
He made 36 appearances in the league, scoring 35 goals, maintaining an astonishing goal-scoring rate of one goal per game;
But who could have imagined that the European Golden Shoe would ultimately go to Suarez, not him or Lionel Messi!
With 40 goals in 35 games, he not only outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo but also broke Messi and Ronaldo and Ronaldo's six-year monopoly on the European Golden Shoe!
Cristiano Ronaldo is amazing!
"It's one thing for Lionel Messi to compete with me for the title of King of Goals, but how come Suarez has suddenly appeared in the mix?!"
However, his agent Mendes reassured him, "Don't worry, the only player in the world on your level is Lionel Messi. As for Suarez and the like, he is indeed very strong, but he's far inferior to you! This Uruguay won't be a long-term competitor for you."
Cristiano Ronaldo shares this view. Cristiano Ronaldo's brimming with confidence for the new season, having already won four European Golden Shoe, one more than Lionel Messi. This season, he's determined to win his fifth, surpassing Lionel Messi in this award and retaining the title of the world's best scorer.
When Tang Long scored a hat-trick in the first round of the Top Five Leagues, Cristiano Ronaldo was unconcerned. After all, such occasional breakouts by young players happen every day in football; what they lack is consistency, so they are nothing to fear.
He scored a goal himself, but what he was more concerned about was that Lionel Messi scored two goals in his first La Liga, one more than him!
But when both he and Lionel Messi failed to score in the second round of the Top Five Leagues, while Tang Long scored another hat-trick, Cristiano Ronaldo was shocked!
What kind of monster is this? A hat-trick in both of the first two league games?
He's only played two games, and he's already scored four more goals than me!
Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenario:
"Does this season mean that, besides Lionel Messi and Suarez, another China player is going to compete with me for the European Golden Shoe?"
(I was quite busy at work today and didn't have time to write at noon. I can only rush to write after I get off work tonight, but I still haven't finished, so I can only update one chapter of 4,000 words.)