"I think this is a waste of time! This team called San Remo cannot reach the point of consuming or testing AC Milan." Several professionals were whispering in the stands.
They come from Liverpool, and some of them are members of the coaching staff of the Liverpool team, as well as Liverpool scouts and some peripheral technical people.
Any top football match is no less than a war.
Regarding Champions League's overt and covert fighting, what happened is definitely not just some tricks in the lottery.
It doesn't just include manipulation in the visiting team's locker room, manipulation in the visiting team's hotel, etc.
Those are all behind-the-scenes operations that cannot be seen in the light and are not worth promoting.
What can truly reflect the relationship between football and war lies in the preparations before the game and the study of each other.
AC Milan There is such a Italian Cup final before the Champions League final. Although it may allow them to win the title of double cup champion, it may also cause them to be studied by their opponents in advance.
The ultimate purpose of Liverpool and his team's visit this time is to provide effective information to the coaching staff behind them.
Some people may think that for tactical matters, wouldn't watching previous game videos be enough?
Why go to the site to see it in person?
What's more, AC Milan's opponent in this game is pitifully weak, and there is nothing to gain from watching it.
But the state is continuous, and the research value of the latest game is extremely great.
On-the-spot inspections allow investigators to see many things beyond the lens.
"Calm down, what we want to see is never how AC Milan will play after San Remo takes the lead." The man leading the group said, "Although it hurts to say this, I feel that facing the real AC Milan, we may not be able to do better than this San Remo!"
"There is a huge gap in strength between us and AC Milan. I hope everyone can face this fact!"
"Of course, we are far better than San Remo, but facing AC Milan, believe me, we will most likely play the role of San Remo."
"The first half of the game is coming to an end, and I need all the detailed information of the first half. With the situation having a huge advantage, whether AC Milan will reveal any flaws, this is the meaning of our coming here."
"Otherwise... it's just a tactical analysis. Do you think the head coach can't do his job well?"
The man's name is Karabeko Laird, and he is the chief assistant coach of Liverpool.
And unlike the others, he is not a member of the original team of Liverpool's current head coach. He is a coaching talent trained by Liverpool himself, and is nicknamed the Liverpool Prince.
Previously served as the head coach of the Liverpool youth training team.
This year, Liverpool coach was airborne. Laird is mainly to help him quickly master the Liverpool locker room and coordinate the various relationships between the head coach, players, teams, and senior management.
It can be seen that Laird did a very good job. Without affecting the authority of the head coach, he helped the head coach stabilize Liverpool's situation, allowing Liverpool to reach the Champions League finals with a not-so-strong lineup.
Although the achievement of reaching the finals, on the surface everyone thinks it is the credit of the current coach Liverpool.
But privately, Liverpool insiders know that 40% of the credit belongs to Laird.
After Leder finished speaking, the people next to him immediately compiled some data reports and reported to him.
During the ten-minute intermission, while others were resting, Laird was firing on all cylinders.
Pieces of seemingly useless information flowed at his fingertips.
"AC Milan's players have a strong sense of winning, or in other words, a sense of abuse. They did not shrink their offensive after scoring 3-0 early!"
"They increased their offensive intensity and made full use of the width of the court. There were a lot of switching arrangements on the left and right wings, and the effect was quite obvious!"
"Plasedes has become their offensive engine on the left. Even though he is a left back, he has already done part of the work of the left winger. This puts huge pressure on San Remo, but at the same time it also exposes the gap behind him."
"Izelet can accurately hit the ball and cooperate in a small area, but when attacking with him as the core, he often prefers simple offensive methods. Many of his advantages are achieved by his amazing speed and enviable man-ball dribbling, which is efficient and direct."
"But at the same time, this also means that in order to match the characteristics of Izelet, AC Milan's midfielder's choices when launching an attack will not be too complicated. They do not often use dazzling combinations."
"If the opponent has an interception master, the football passed to Izelet will be more likely to be intercepted by the opponent, unless Izelet retreats deeper. Of course, Izelet has a strong propulsion ability, and he is not afraid of retreating, but this will make AC Milan's offense less smooth and suppressive."
"San Remo has a Latuidi, and he has completed two interceptions so far, for this reason. But one Latuidi is not enough, unless he is five years younger. Or... there is someone who is good at interception who can cooperate defensively with him."
"It's a pity that such ability... Versace does not have it. Moric seems to be able to see this, but he cannot bear the core tasks of both offense and defense at the same time. No one can do this."
"Do we Liverpool have more than two good defensive players in the midfield and frontcourt? There seems to be an elderly defensive expert in the substitute lineup. He usually doesn't get many playing opportunities, but..."
Laird is addicted to the ocean of data and cannot extricate himself.
During the halftime break, the air pressure in the San Remo locker room was very low.
All players are frustrated.
Because they know that this time they are really going to lose.
AC Milan is too strong!
The unparalleled suppression and the relaxed demeanor of the opposing players completely let everyone feel the true strength of top league players.
Izelet didn't use any effort at all and got two goals and one assist.
Eighty percent of the one-on-one duels between Becherci and Plasedes ended in failure. The only times they passed were when they deliberately let him pass, luring the enemy deep into a tactical "pass".
But that doesn't mean AC Milan is invincible.
At least after half the ball was kicked, Moric felt that AC Milan's midfield ability was relatively mediocre. Compared with Roma's distinctive steel midfielder, it was three points behind.
This may be related to the strength of Izelet.
Giving the ball to Izelet is the best way if AC Milan cannot open the situation.
Even if the midfielder throws a slightly too big overhead pass, Izelet can use his clever header to hit the ball into the goal.
With Izelet and AC Milan like this, there is often no need to compete with the opponent's midfield for operations and situations.
The team has no requirements, and their midfielder will naturally not develop some playing methods that are not helpful to the team's tactics. Therefore, AC Milan's midfielder gradually becomes mediocre and only gives babysitters the ball.
This phenomenon was naturally noticed by AC Milan, so they introduced Portugal national team midfielder core player Rui Andres last year!
The 24-year-old Andres came to AC Milan with the only goal of becoming the core midfielder of AC Milan.
However... when he arrived, everyone was surprised to find that he was incompatible with Izelet!
Andres is the core of the midfield and the core of the frontcourt attack. He is used to dribbling a lot and closely cooperating with his teammates.
And this is the missing part of AC Milan.
Therefore, his cooperation with his teammates often makes mistakes and there is no tacit understanding.
At the same time, Izelet's playing style requires him to dribble a lot and require a large space, which conflicts with the tight positioning requirements behind Andres's precise and coordinated playing style.
Therefore, Andres's reform of AC Milan's midfield failed. A talented national team main force or even core midfielder could only sit on the bench in Milan.
Even though he got a lot of playing opportunities, it was obvious that in order to play, he gave up his own style of play to meet the needs of Izelet, and became mediocre.
Now, Andres is seeking a transfer. He is not suitable for AC Milan. He cannot put his mark on AC Milan's midfield and frontcourt while Izelet is still there.
"If nothing else, Izelet will not play in the second half." Soto and Maniero came in and brought some very crucial news from the outside. "Andres is warming up. He will probably replace Izelet and serve as AC Milan's midfielder."
"In addition, AC Milan's defense and backcourt organizer Plasedes will also be off the field. Their only task in this game is to keep their feet feeling and warm up..."
It hurts to say it, but the fact is that the two core players who performed best at AC Milan were just here to "play".
"Of course, the good news is that the replacement for Plasedes is Harwood Chalobah, who was trained by AC Milan's own youth academy. He is 1.89 meters tall and can play multiple positions such as center back and full back." Soto continued, "Soguer should be very familiar with him."
Soguer nodded. "He and I are old rivals. He is from England. His physical fitness is very good and he is fast. In our confrontations, I always lose more than I win."
Everyone in the locker room couldn't help but sigh.
Their youth training is better than Soguer.
You know, although San Remo Soguer is not the strongest, his role is irreplaceable. The powerful defender that he can't even handle is actually the weakest on AC Milan's side.
"Of course, Chalobah's concentration is not very concentrated. This is an important reason why I was able to often steal goals in front of him in the past." Soguer still provided some useful information. "Otherwise, with his abnormal physical fitness and defensive ability, he should have established a foothold in the AC Milan first team long ago."
Moric kept records in his little notebook, but he paid more attention to Lu Yang, who was silent in the corner of the locker room.
"Otherwise, you won't go up?" Moric walked up to Lu Yang and asked in a low voice, "It's already three to zero anyway. We can't win if you come up, so why don't you take a good rest."
"So this is the situation you created to prevent me from going to the venue?" Lu Yang looked at Moric and said, "Don't flatter yourself, kid. This is no longer a matter of winning or not. Don't you understand?"
"The players of AC Milan have no intention of giving up. They really hope to cause a tragedy on their own court in a relatively important game, so as to win the favor of the fans and be recorded in the history of AC Milan."
"Five to zero, six to one, eight to two... I don't want to be so embarrassed!"
"What we have to do in the second half is not to chase three goals, but not to let AC Milan turn the score into a basketball score!"
Lu Yang The last sentence was said very strongly and loudly.
Many people in the locker room looked over immediately.
"Guys, we have been heroes for a whole season, but I will never accept that we turned into pitiful ghosts and jokes in everyone's eyes at the last moment!" Lu Yang glanced at the eyes of all the players and then called them by name, "Latuidi, Palacios, Nagy, Jarrad, can you not concede the ball in the second half?"
Latuidi swallowed and said nothing.
He wasn't sure.
"Okay!" Under the pressure of Lu Yang's eyes, Nagy said the answer Brother Lu wanted without any disappointment.
"Didn't you eat? Tell me, can you not concede a goal in the second half?" Lu Yang yelled.
"Okay!" San Remo All the players responded Lu Yang.
"Okay! We only have two goals in the second half. The first is not to concede any more goals! If we do, then we must not concede more goals!" Lu Yang said. "The second goal is that we must find a way to score at least one goal and win respect for San Remo!"
"No matter how I score, even if I throw the football in with my hands, we must score at least one goal!"
"Tell me if it's okay!"
"Okay!" San Remo All the soldiers were excited.
Their bloody nature was completely aroused by Lu Yang at this moment.
Spiritual Leader is playing its due role.
Don't concede the ball, or concede more goals.
Score a goal, no matter what method you use.
Neither of these two requirements are absolutely harsh, especially the former, which sounds bluffing but actually puts no pressure on the defenders at all.
"I know that AC Milan is very strong, and I also know that we have no chance of winning. But I have to tell everyone that in my opinion, the one who really has the initiative in this game should be us!"
"This, Mr. Soto, everyone should be familiar with him. What is he best at?"
Nagy subconsciously wanted to say that he was a fan, but luckily he held back, otherwise he felt that he would probably miss the second half of the game due to excessive injuries.
"Destroy!" Fernandez said.
"Yes, it's destruction!" Lu Yang said, "Are you frightened by the fact that AC Milan's team value is close to over 100 million euros? Brothers, they are the ones who will play the Champions League finals next week, not us!"
"Even if their core players will be replaced, they still have at least four or five main players on the field, as well as several important substitutes. They should have played more carefully than us!"
"But what are you doing? After they led 3-0 in the first half, they continued to press forward and attack aggressively. Why didn't I see San Remo someone knocking down their ball carrier in anger? Why didn't they make bold tackles and fierce fights?"
"Have you all forgotten that we are just a group of grassroots players because we are used to playing with the wind in Serie C? Apart from fighting spirit and attitude, what else can we do to outshine others?"
"Mathias, don't blame me for speaking harshly. Don't you have any desire in your heart to defeat a player whose worth is more than ten times your AC Milan?"
"Camihon! I know you are good at tackling, can you let me see it in the second half?"
"And Versace, your physical fitness is considered good among midfielders. If nothing else happens, I will replace you in about sixty minutes. Before that, please squander your physical strength!"
Soto was stunned.
Why is there no accident?
If nothing else, I won't let you play at all!
"Of course, our target has never been the AC Milan players' bodies, but if they are ungrateful and want to cause a massacre, then we will let them taste the bitter consequences before the end of the game!" Lu Yang seemed not to see Soto's surprise and continued, "San Remo is definitely not someone to be bullied! Understand!"
Subsequently, a shocking noise came from the San Remo locker room:
"Understood! San Remo is definitely not someone to be bullied!"
Just looking at the morale of the team players, Maniero has to admit that Lu Yang's agitation was very successful.
"Lu Yang, come with me." Maniero said, and then left the dressing room first.
Not long after, Lu Yang also came out, and the two stood side by side in the aisle, looking at the dark but endless front.
"You just said that if nothing else happens, you will play?" Maniero said, and he also noticed the wording of Lu Yang.
"Yeah." Lu Yang nodded.
Don't ask what Lu Yang would do if Soto didn't do this. Anyone who knows Lu Yang knows that what he said will definitely be fulfilled.
If he said he would appear on the court, he would definitely appear.
It doesn't matter what the method is, and it doesn't matter who it hurts.
This is Lu Yang.
In a sense, Lu Yang's actions violated Soto's absolute authority as the head coach.
But... no head coach of any club can hate and reject a player who always pursues victory.
Football is not basketball, there is a saying that it is bad.
Football only pursues victory, which is why the extreme and ugly one-to-zero doctrine was born. But to put it unbelievably, the ultimate goal of the Bus team is also to win.
Therefore, a big bus and a rickety bus are fundamentally different. The latter is not qualified to be compared with the former.
"In my last European Championship, I was injured during the group stage. That was an injury that would affect my career. My personal doctor recommended that I undergo surgery as soon as possible." Maniero said, "But I only lack one European Championship in my life! So I fought with my injuries, and in the end..."
The final result was that Maniero and Soto, who had received the blocking injection, fell in despair in front of Delaunay Trophy. They could only watch helplessly as their enemies lifted the trophy, and they left the field with regret.
Maniero also suffered from secondary and third aggravation of his injuries due to continuous injections.
"Some things have to be experienced sooner or later. Some failures will come sooner or later. Some regrets will always exist. This is football, this is life." Maniero said, "So... I strongly don't recommend that you play with injuries, because even if you play with injuries, you won't get the results you want. The results of some things are destined long ago and will not be changed artificially."
"This is God's will, you have to learn to accept it, Lu!"
A few seconds later, Lu Yang spoke, "In my hometown, there are many inspiring chicken soups. There is a short story like this. During the flood, a man was trapped on the roof of his house. The flood was about to flood his roof, but he began to pray to God to save him."
"During this period, boats, assault boats, and helicopters came to rescue him, but he refused to leave. He believed that God would save him."
Maniero laughed, "This man is really stupid! If my guess is correct, after he dies, he will ask God why he didn't save him, and God will tell him that those boats, assault boats, and helicopters were all sent by me to save you, right?"
Bang!
The door to the locker room was opened, and it was halftime.
"Perhaps God has saved you before?" Lu Yang looked at Maniero.
Maniero frowned, as if he had some self-doubt, and shook his head. "I am different from the person who was waiting for rescue. I believe in myself, and that man can conquer nature. I try hard to save myself, and I even risk everything! But in the end, everything I have experienced tells me that God did not save me, and he even cruelly overturned the small wooden boat I was on!"
"I gave it all and all I got was a runner-up medal and a lot of injuries!"
As Lu Yang left with his teammates, he turned his back to Maniero who was complaining about God in dissatisfaction and waved. "God will not be absent, but he may be late... And if your God really has not saved you, then I am willing to let you see the light of this world!"
Lu Yang's voice faded away.
This was followed by the hurried voice of the team doctor who pulled Soto in the corridor. "Oh no, my colleagues in the medical system told me that Lu Yang had a blocking injection this afternoon!"
Soto was stunned, no wonder this kid didn't walk with much limp in the evening.
What the hell!
Sealing needles have many side effects, but with the development of modern technology and the strong physical fitness of professional players, it can be said that for professional players, its biggest effect is equivalent to an anesthetic.
Pain is the body's self-protection mechanism.
When the muscles, ligaments, and even bones around your knee are damaged, the pain may cause you to stop using them.
The biggest role of the blocking needle is to turn off this early warning.
Simply put, you no longer feel pain.
This will allow players to confidently use any movement without being interrupted by sudden pain.
Lu Yang has tried it before in training matches. He couldn't fire at all because the pain would make him subconsciously stop any risky behavior.
That is a physiological reaction, a subconscious behavior that is not controlled by the mind.
Even if he endured the pain, he could at most withstand one shot.
But a football game is much more than just a shot.
So Lu Yang chose to have a closed injection.
Since side effects such as weight gain, infection and other side effects of occlusive injections are of little significance to professional players, why do people still talk about occlusive discoloration?
It's because of secondary injury!
If you have problems with your body, it is because your exercise exceeds the maximum load your body can bear.
After being blocked, you will completely lose control of your body's ability to withstand it.
You can make greater changes than before, and you can ruthlessly squeeze every drop of energy from your body.
But instead, there are scars inside your body that are becoming more and more serious.
Repeated tearing and cracking can completely destroy your muscles and ligaments, making an originally serious injury even more serious.
"This bastard!" Soto yelled angrily. He wanted to rush out and argue with Lu Yang, but was held back by Maniero behind him.
"What we haven't been able to do, maybe... he can?"
Maniero looked at Soto.
The two of them dreamed back to the past.
"But this will affect his career! This is a lifelong matter, not just a game!" Soto still found it difficult to accept.
"I don't regret it!" Maniero said.
Soto lost his voice instantly.
Soto was obviously worried about Lu Yang, but when Maniero said "I don't regret it", he couldn't hold it any longer.
The two old men hugged each other and cried silently.
These four words, Soto and Maniero, have been waiting for a lifetime.
If it weren't for Lu Yang, they would never be able to let go of the fact that European Championship was not destined for them in this life.
It's not because they only lack one honor: European Championship.
It's because there is only European Championship. They gave everything and gambled everything, but they never got a matching successful event.
The most difficult thing for people to let go is that it is never "belonging to me" but "should have been mine".
What people regret most is never the passing of success. It is the lack of response after giving everything, asking but not getting, loving but not being able; the tree wanting to be quiet but the wind does not stop; the child wanting to be raised but not being loved...