Fox in the Penalty Area

"Fox in the Forbidden Zone"

Fortunately, Hu Lai's behavior of warming up before the start of training only lasted for one day. Although the coaches appreciated his enthusiasm, they did not want him to adjust the start time of training without authorization, which would make it difficult for the whole team.

But everyone also understands why Hu Lai does this.

Due to the transfer, he missed all the physical training of Madrid Pirates, part of the tactical training, and several important warm-up matches in the United States from late July to early August.

Therefore, Hu Lai was able to show a proactive attitude in training and train more seriously, making everyone have a very good impression of him.

Whether it's a coach or a player.

Coaches naturally like players who train hard and are proactive.

And none of the players want the important signing who spent so much money from the club to be an arrogant person who is lazy and rests on his past achievements.

They are Madrid Pirates, one of the three super giants in La Liga. The goal of this team is not just to qualify for the Champions League every year. If possible, they will naturally pursue the league championship and slap the King of Madrid in the face.

Therefore, they hope that every teammate who joins the team is a powerful person. Only in this way can the team's strength be improved.

Everyone has seen Maxi Carey's performance since his injury.

Although Kyrie has made great contributions to the team in the past six seasons, it is also true that his condition and ability have declined after his injury.

At this time, everyone knew why the club spent a lot of money to buy Hu Lai.

Maxi Carey's interests will certainly be damaged, and his status may not be preserved.

But the interests of more people and the interests of the team will be protected.

We are all professional players, and it is impossible to exclude strong players just because of our long-term teammate friendship with Kyrie.

The Pirates of Madrid are a wealthy club, but compared to the Kings of Madrid, they are still a little behind.

In some cases, this is almost a disadvantage.

But at other times, this almost becomes an advantage.

They are not as faction-ridden and intricate as the King of Madrid.

Relatively simple.

After all, the Pirates still put themselves in the position of challenger.

From ancient times to the present, whether it is a team, a person, a community, a country, an organization... it is easier to be a challenger than to be challenged, and it is easier to unite.

Because they still have something they haven’t gotten, and this thing will keep them high-spirited and fighting spirit.

For the Madrid Pirates, what they didn't get was to pull the King of Madrid from his throne and hack him to death.

Currently, in terms of team honors, Madrid Pirates has twenty La Liga titles, fifteen King's Cups, two Champions League titles, three Europa League titles, five European Association Cup titles, one European Super Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup.

The main honors of the Madrid King are thirty-five league titles, thirteen King's Cup titles, eleven Champions League titles, five European Super Cup titles, and six Intercontinental Cup titles.

Neither the Europa League champion nor the European Association Cup champion.

Fans of the King of Madrid will say that it is because the King did not bother to win it, but in fact the King of Madrid also participated in the Europa League and the European Association Cup, but did not win the championship due to insufficient attention or lack of strength.

Of course, this was all very early, forty or fifty years ago. Since the restructuring of the Champions League, not only the league champions can participate in the Champions League, the King of Madrid has never participated in the Europa League...

In terms of honor, the Pirates of Madrid are still far away from the King of Madrid. But it doesn't matter, this means that the Madrid Pirates will continue to struggle with such motivation and fighting spirit.

The feud between the two teams has lasted for a hundred years, and they don't mind continuing for another hundred years.

※※※

Hu Lai has been training with the team for a week.

Although it was only a week, he could see the difference between this team and Leeds City.

Leeds City attaches great importance to offense and the speed of offense in training, and does not want players to waste time passing back and forth in the midfield and backfield. When you have the ball, you have to hit it forward as much as possible. Even if you make a mistake, it doesn't matter. The key is to increase your speed. Use speed to create chaos and create opportunities.

This tactic is very useful for weak teams.

The offensive training of the Madrid Pirates attaches great importance to passing and running: passing and running.

In Parotti's tactical thinking, it's not about speed but about control.

So there are a lot of various passing and running drills in Madrid Pirates' training.

For example, three sign poles are placed in the middle of a circle about ten meters in diameter to form three small gates. There are seven people standing outside the circle and two people standing inside the circle.

Pass the ball to each other outside the circle, causing the defensive players to lose their position, and then score the football into any of the three wickets.

The two players in the circle have to run hard to intercept and prevent players from passing the ball, preventing them from entering the goal.

Another example is that on the basis of the ordinary ring training rules, players outside the circle must change positions with teammates on either side after passing the ball.

It sounds simple, but this kind of random change of positions can easily cause confusion, and eventually a passing error will occur and the ball will be grabbed by the defensive player.

These additional requirements actually increase the difficulty of training and try to simulate actual combat during training. This allows the Pirates players to achieve stable and effective passing and control in the face of various complex situations during the game.

This kind of training is exactly what Hu Lai needs today.

Because it can greatly increase his passing and receiving ability.

Hulay's passing and receiving ability is actually not bad, but there is still some distance to meet the requirements of Madrid Pirates.

Because when he was in Leeds City, his ability to grab points and shoot was taken to the extreme by Clark. Clark does not need him to pass and receive frequently, but requires Hu Lai to grab more points and score more points.

In line with Leeds City's fast-attack tactics, Hu Lai does not need to have good passing and receiving skills in the midfield and frontcourt, it is enough. He is not the initiator or organizer of Leeds City's offense, he is the terminator. .

He just needs to continue to hone his shooting skills and ability to grab points and become the sharpest knife in Leeds City's formation.

In fact he did.

He only needs to specialize in one thing and make full use of his advantages.

With his super efficient scoring ability, Leeds City is proud of the Premier League and has won consecutive Premier League championships and Europa League championships. He himself also became the Premier League Golden Boot and the Europa League Golden Boot.

Some people criticize Clark for his single-minded tactics and his heavy reliance on Hu Lai.

Leeds City seems to be a team with strong offensive firepower, but in fact its offensive strength is very weak, relying entirely on Hu Lai.

If Hu Lai is in good condition, they can score a lot of goals and win.

If Hu Lai is not in good condition, then they will lose the game.

So those people's criticisms are not unreasonable.

But how can the small team Leeds City have the right to be picky?

You have a handy weapon in your hand that you don’t need to use to the extreme, what else do you want?

Do I have to throw away the weapon and tell my opponent that I will fight you again after I have mastered my boxing and kicking skills and laid a solid foundation?

I'm afraid that before the magic skill is perfected, he will be dead long ago...

However, Clark does not need to develop Hulay's abilities other than scoring goals, and it does not mean that Hulay himself does not need to improve.

A center who can only score goals is certainly very powerful.

However, in the Premier League last season, after being targeted by opponents, he relied too much on his teammates, and the problem of a single offensive method was also exposed. He only scored 21 goals in the league. Judging from the statistics, his performance has indeed declined.

If Hulay is content to be his Leeds City self, a sharp knife.

It's not really a big problem.

But Hu Lai was not satisfied.

He hopes to continue improving.

Why else would he leave Leeds City, where he was comfortable in all aspects?

He could stay there forever if he could. Until... As the team's strength declined, his number of goals also began to decline. If he wants to make progress by then, it will be hard to make any progress since it has already been finalized.

In the end, everyone disappeared.

So he wanted to come out. As for where to go, he had not thought about it. Anyway, as long as you come out, it is better than staying.

As a result, the Madrid Pirates came and trained with Parotti for a few days. He realized that he should have come to the right place.

Each wealthy club has its own style, and their tactics are not exactly the same.

Madrid Pirates can indeed improve themselves.

Parotti's Madrid Pirates pay attention to passing and control. Speed ​​is important, but it does not mean speeding up blindly.

This means that Hu Lai cannot either charge forward or ambush next to the center as before. He needs to be more deeply integrated into the team's overall tactical system.

He needs to constantly establish contact with his teammates by passing the ball, and he even needs to become a part of the overall tactical system.

This puts higher demands on his passing ability.

It is no longer just as simple as being able to pass the football accurately, but to quickly and accurately pass the football to teammates when being pressed near the penalty area with almost no space to control the ball.

It sounds simple but is difficult to do.

Because everyone knows that the success rate of passing a ball is higher when there is no interference.

Therefore, the success rate of passing in the midfield and backfield is very high, but once the offense advances to the offensive third zone, the success rate will drop rapidly.

If there is a goal approaching the defensive side, the defensive side will inevitably defend it tightly and not give the attacking players more space to pass and receive the ball.

To put it bluntly in football, the twenty-two people on both sides of the field seem to be competing for the football, which is about 22 centimeters in diameter, but in fact they are competing for the space that is 105 meters long and 68 meters wide. Competing for space requires time, so football is a sport that competes for space and time.

If Hulay is a player who cannot get the ball near the opponent's penalty area, then his future will always be limited.

Because if he loses the ball when facing a strong opponent, over time no one will pass the ball to him again.

He can't always expect to face the goal and score a goal.

Such good opportunities are too rare in the game.

After a ninety-minute game, what forwards do most is actually running around, catching and passing, especially retreating.

It's a rare occasion to be able to receive the ball facing the goal. Most of the time, they receive the ball with their backs to the attacking direction.

The test at this time is not the shooting ability, but the ability to pass, receive and hold the ball.

Because they are surrounded by defensive players, if they cannot get the ball, their team's offense will be abandoned halfway.

Hulay didn't have to care about these things when he was playing in Leeds City.

When Leeds City's overall strength was still weak, they often faced opponents stronger than themselves. They played counterattacks and fast breaks. Hu Lai always faced the opponent's goal.

Come to Madrid Pirates, the wealthy team is strong, but the opponents are all defensive and counterattack. Coupled with the passing and controlling style of coach Parotti, as a forward, he must be able to control the ball and be able to catch and pass the ball well when facing pressure.

※※※

Six Madrid Pirates players surround a hexagonal training area, three of them wearing red training vests and three wearing yellow training vests. Each person occupies one side of the hexagon and stands on the line, with different colors separated from each other. One side is a red vest, and the left and right sides are yellow vests, and vice versa.

In addition, there are six players in the hexagonal circle, three wearing red vests and three wearing yellow vests.

This is a slightly more complicated lap training.

It's not like a normal circle grab, where people inside the circle steal the ball from people outside the circle.

Instead, the red team steals the ball from the yellow team, and the yellow team steals the ball from the red team.

Both sides rob each other.

In fact, it is some kind of deformed 6v6 confrontation training.

People outside the circle can pass the ball directly to teammates outside the opposite circle, or they can pass the ball to teammates inside the circle and pass it through them.

At the same time, players from the other team can directly grab the ball in the circle.

After snatching it, you must move it out quickly, otherwise it may be snatched back.

This is training that is very close to actual combat.

In particular, it can help players move the football out of a narrow area when facing a small-scale press - the six sides of the hexagon can be regarded as the sidelines or bottom line on the court.

The football cannot go out of bounds - that is, it cannot cross the line. The football can only turn within the hexagon from beginning to end. As long as it goes out of the sideline, whichever team it is on will lose.

This is a very helpful training method for those who are fighting for the ball near the baseline and sidelines during the game.

There were several coaches gathered outside the circle, each occupying one side and observing the training.

A little further away, head coach Parotti and first assistant coach Valentin stood. They were also observing the training, but not just observing this place.

Because of this kind of circle grabbing training, there is another point.

A total of two places were trained at the same time.

Two people patrolled both sides.

Hu Lai lost the ball under the defense of two people, causing their side to lose one point.

Although the performance was not good, neither coach was dissatisfied and did not even frown.

What he said was praising Hu Lai:

"It's really unbelievable. In just one week, Hu's progress can be seen with the naked eye..."

This is the sentiment sent by Valentine.

As the first assistant coach, he must know every detail of the team's training.

Hu Lai's progress was naturally noticed by him.

At first, he thought it was just Hu Lai who was in good condition during training today.

But when he looked at it later, he realized that Hu Lai was really making progress every day.

Although the improvement is not large, it is very stable... No, it should not be said that the improvement is not large. If you consider that it has only been a week, the improvement is huge!

And this improvement also has a very important prerequisite, that is, Hu Lai consciously tries to use only his left foot to pass and receive the ball during training.

For a player with an inverse left foot, this further increases the difficulty of training.

He lost the ball just now because he tried to pass the ball with his left foot, but failed to kick it well and was intercepted halfway.

For this reason, Parotti persuaded Hu Lai, knowing that he wanted to practice his left foot as soon as possible, but there was no need to be in such a hurry.

In the end, Hu Lai persuaded him with some convincing words.

For the sake of the team, I hope that I can practice my left foot as soon as possible and provide a huge boost to the team. At the same time, he only uses his left foot during passing and receiving training and shooting training. At other times, he kicks as he should.

In addition, we can see that Hu Lai's left foot ability is indeed improving.

Parotti did not stop Hu Lai from doing this.

Fortunately, Parotti is known as a "good guy" who is easy to talk to. If it were his predecessor Bjorn Hantcek, it would not be feasible for Hu Lai to do this.

There is a reason why Hu Lai is so persistent.

The reason is simple - he found that the training scroll was really useful for improving his left foot! But it is only useful during formal training sessions. It is useless for him to practice by himself when he goes home, or to practice with Li Qingqing and his wife.

Therefore, in order to maximize the effect of the training scroll, he was forced to set rules for himself during training - try to only use his left foot to handle the ball.

As for how this scroll works, Hu Lai guessed that it might be because the training scroll can improve the effect of his corresponding training program. For example, the catching training scroll will improve the user's catching ability, but it does not limit which foot.

When you use your right foot to catch the ball, what you are improving is your right foot's ability to catch the ball.

But if you switch to your left foot... what will naturally improve is your left foot's ability to catch the ball.

As for improving the ability of the left foot to catch the ball, does it mean that the ability of the left foot has been improved...isn't this natural?

What does inverse foot ability mean?

It refers to the ability to control the ball using the inverse foot to pass, catch, and shoot.

Improving a single ability will naturally improve your left foot ability.

After Hu Lai improves the passing, catching and shooting abilities of his left foot, doesn't it mean that the ability of his left foot has been improved?

"Maxi's training effect is also very good... I feel that he is competing with Hu. But this is a good thing for us, ha!" Valentin laughed as he said it.

Maxi Carey's character can be annoying at times, but also endearing at other times... like this.

Parotti was very pleased: "I don't need them to love like brothers, I just need them to be able to show their abilities and characteristics in the game. This season, our primary goal is the league championship. We It’s been four years since we lost the La Liga title and something has to be done!”

Valentine nodded in agreement.

The club spent 120 million euros to buy Hulay, naturally not to allow the team to continue to compete for a Champions League spot in the new season.

Last season, they were completely defeated in the league, Copa del Rey and Champions League, with no results.

For a club as big as Madrid Pirates, this cannot become the norm.

Something had to be done to change the situation.

It was under such circumstances that Hulay came to Madrid with great hopes placed on him by the club.

People were dazzled by his sparkling resume and honors, and hoped that he could continue his magical performance in English football to La Liga.