From coaching Real Madrid

Gao Shen has always recognized a saying.

The reason why outstanding people are outstanding is that when they, like others, encounter difficulties and face adversity, others lose confidence and choose to give up, but they can still make up their minds, overcome difficulties, get out of adversity, and achieve their goals.

.

Failure is the mother of success.

This is a very bloody but very true statement.

Because in this world, success always belongs to a few people, and failure belongs to the general public.

The success that anyone sees is often summarized and cultivated through repeated failures.

…

Gao Shen carefully chose to meet Illarramendi in Valdebebas.

It was the morning when Illarramendi signed.

The Spanish midfielder was sent directly to Valdebebas by his agent, and Gao Shen was in charge of the reception.

This flattered Illarramendi.

Gao Shen took it as a matter of course and took him to visit Real Madrid's training base, introducing him to every department, every colleague, and every space.

This was originally supposed to be the job of captain Casillas or vice-captain Ramos, and they both came, but Gao Shen took the initiative because he wanted to take this opportunity to have a good chat with Illarramendi.

After walking around, they returned to Gao Shen's head coach's office.

After closing the door, Illarramendi was somewhat reserved and sat upright, looking very uneasy.

"Don't be nervous. With me, you can talk freely, even complain and accuse. No third person will know." Gao Shen promised with a smile.

"Well, I saw it in the newspaper."

"Really?" Gao Shen was not surprised.

He found that many media and newspapers now like to magnify some of his very small and subtle things.

"They all say this is one of your secrets."

Gao Shen chuckled and put the poured water in front of Illarramendi.

The Spanish midfielder was so nervous that he wanted to stand up and stretch out his hands to catch the ball, but Gao Shen motioned for him to sit down.

Still too nervous.

"You can't be so nervous. On the court, if you are too restrained, you won't be able to perform at your best."

Ilyaramendi smiled awkwardly, how could he not be nervous?

The person sitting opposite him is very sophisticated!

The world's No. 1 top coach, a man who has won five Champions League titles, is someone who can decide whether he will stay or stay at Real Madrid with just one word.

Let me ask, who can not be nervous?

"I think we should talk about serious matters."

Illarramendi nodded hastily. He had already guessed that Gao Shen must have something to say to him.

"I have studied your performance in the past two seasons at Real Sociedad. To be honest, it was quite good."

The Spanish young man opposite was stunned for a moment by this compliment, but quickly nodded in thanks, "Thank you."

"Many people say that you look like Xabi Alonso, but I don't think so, or you are more like Xabi Alonso when he was young than now." Gao Shen expressed his judgment.

"Yes, at Real Sociedad, they told me a lot about Alonso's previous experience in the team, including the way he played, as well as some experiences and training situations. After I decided that I wanted to be a midfielder

When I was a player, he has always been my target to catch up with and someone to learn from."

This is something that many teams do when training young players. It's a bit like the media and fans like to set a template for a certain young player and say he is XXX II. It's the same truth.

It’s just that youth training will be a little more complicated.

"You will make relatively more mistakes now, but they are still acceptable. The average is 0.7 per game. The attack power is not bad. The average is one shot per game."

Relatively speaking, Xabi Alonso takes fewer shots, averaging 0.5 shots per game. This is also related to his position and responsibilities on the field. In addition, as he is older, his running ability is not as good as before.

, naturally there is no way to plug in frequently.

"Defensively, there is an obvious change. In the 11/12 season, your data were 3.4 steals, 5.2 interceptions and 1.2 clearances. Last season, these three data were 3.8, 2.3 and 1.6 respectively."

"Yes, head coach Montagnier has made some adjustments to my position and responsibilities."

Gao Shen smiled and nodded, this is actually not a problem.

From the data point of view, it is already very good, even enough to rank very high in La Liga.

Xabi Alonso's three data are 3.2, 1.9 and 1.6 respectively; Casemiro's three data are 3.1, 2 and 1.4; Barcelona's Busquets' three data are 3, 1.7 and 1.6 respectively.

1.3.

Javi Martinez, coached by Gao Shen, is known as the world's top deep-lying midfielder. His three statistics are 3, 3.8 and 2.1 respectively, but don't forget that Javi Martinez has excellent

physical fitness.

The reason why Real Madrid's technical team tried every possible means to grab this local midfielder was not just casually or because of his outstanding performance, but because he really showed a very eye-catching performance.

He has been one of the best midfielders in La Liga over the past two seasons.

But he also has very obvious shortcomings.

"Pass the ball."

Gao Shen also unceremoniously pointed out the problem with Illarramendi, which was also his concern for the Spanish young man. It can even be said that it was a key factor in his inability to adapt to Real Madrid in his previous life.

"In the past two seasons, your passing numbers at Real Sociedad have improved significantly, from 41.9 passes per game to 50.2 passes per game, and your success rate has increased from 79.8% to 80.7%.

"

"The average number of key passes per game has increased from 0.8 to 1, and the total number of assists has increased from 1 to 2. These data can clearly see your progress and growth in passing, but it is far from enough.

"

With that said, Gao Shen pushed a report in front of him, indicating that Illarramendi could take a good look at it.

It contains very detailed data analysis about him, as well as comparisons with other players of the same type, which is very intuitive.

Xabi Alonso's passing success rate remains at 90%, Casemiro's is slightly worse, but still has 87.2%, not to mention Busquets, who is famous for his passing, 92.2%

, and he also has the most passes.

Javi Martinez seems careless, but in fact, his passing is also underestimated, basically stable at 89% or even 90%.

These can clearly see Illarramendi's deficiencies in passing.

Gao Shen did not continue to say anything more, but waited silently for Iliarramendi to finish reading and digest it before he continued to analyze it for him.

"I show you these data just to give you a clearer impression. Your passing ability needs to be further improved, especially the success rate of passing. But you don't need to be too rigid about the past two or three.

season data."

Illarramendi looked at Gao Shen with some confusion, he didn't understand.

"Real Madrid, Manchester City and Barcelona all have completely different technical and tactical styles from Real Sociedad, and the strength of their teams is also different, so there is no way to make such a simple and crude direct comparison of data."

Illarramendi gets it.

Perhaps, the slightly comparable thing here is the comparison between Xabi Alonso and Casemiro.

The Brazilian midfielder seems to have excellent physical fitness, but he feels a bit reckless. He didn't expect his passing ability to be so good.

The key is that he is only 21 years old, younger than Illarramendi.

"My technical team and the data team have conducted a detailed analysis on you. We all agree that your skills are excellent and it will not be a problem to adapt to our Real Madrid tactics, so what you have to do next is

You still have to adapt and integrate, and at the same time improve yourself, and you have to have enough confidence in yourself."

With that said, Gao Shen gave a general overview of his positioning of Illarramendi.

In fact, he is Xavi Alonso's successor and is also positioned at the fourth position.

"But every player has his own characteristics and advantages. You are not Xabi Alonso, and there is no need to learn everything from him. You have to try to find your own position and role."

With the analysis just now and Gao Shen's words, Illarramendi clearly felt that Gao Shen valued him.

How can you do so much work if you don’t pay attention to it?

Being able to do so many things for him with his sophisticated and busy schedule is the best proof in itself.

"You are still young, Asir. Our positioning for you is very clear, but we will never act too hastily. We will give you enough time to slowly improve and prove your strength. At the same time, we will also give you enough

support."

"Whether it's me or the coaching staff, we actually hope that you and other players can be as free as possible on the court to perform and prove themselves. It doesn't matter even if they make mistakes."

"Only in this way can we get to know you better and see your strengths and value."

Illarramendi understood what Gao Shen meant.

"The competition at Real Madrid is fierce, and you should know very well that you are facing Xabi Alonso, the world's top midfielder, and Casemiro, a midfielder with extraordinary potential, but regardless of

I, as well as my colleagues, have full confidence and expectations in you."

"You can't be too lax, but you don't have to put too much pressure on yourself. Real Madrid signed you with such a transfer fee. This in itself is our recognition of you. And next, all of us will help you and we will give you

It takes a long time to integrate into our team and adapt to our tactics."

"I understand." Illarramendi nodded very sincerely, "Thank you, boss!"

"No need to thank me." Gao Shen smiled, "Now we just chat casually, and when we start to cooperate in the future, you will slowly understand what kind of team Real Madrid is, slowly understand the teammates around you, and slowly

Understand me."

"As I said before, after joining Real Madrid, you can come to me directly for anything, including on the court and off the court. With me, you can speak your mind without any scruples."

Gao Shen's frank and honest conversation made Illarramendi feel sincerity and realize that he was taken seriously, which dispelled many of his worries and made him feel relieved.

At the very least, he had a smile on his face when he walked out of Gao Shen's office.

And Gao Shen even "encouraged" him to do something.

This is something Illarramendi never dreamed of.