Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

After arriving in Los Angeles, Li Ang finally received what may be the worst news for him yet.

Las Diarra confirmed that he will be injured for at least two months. It is still unknown whether he can return healthy after two months.

Therefore, Li Ang is indeed unable to report to Real Betis before the start of the new La Liga season.

He felt fucked up, but his old buddy Nacho, who was assigned to the same room as him, expressed 100% envy of him.

There are currently five players in the Real Madrid team who can play central defender.

Among them, Carvalho and Pepe's positions are basically stable.

The third central defender Albiol has not been reused by Mourinho for the time being, but his strength is actually very strong.

At least much better than the current Nacho.

Ramos will mainly play right back at this time, but if Real Madrid really needs to rescue the central defender, Mourinho will give priority to Ramos instead of Nacho.

Finally, there is Garay who is sitting on the bench waiting for an opportunity and is more experienced and capable than him.

Nacho really can't see the possibility of getting too many playing opportunities in the Real Madrid first team this season.

Maybe after the pre-season preparations are over, he will have to return to Castilla as a sparring partner and continue competing in Segunda B in the new season.

"As soon as Ras Diarra is injured, your chances are greatly increased, little lion. I heard that Mr. Mourinho is not very fond of Mohamed and Gago, who can hold up the midfield before Khedira comes to report." You and Alonso are basically the only ones defending, why don’t you try harder?”

"Little Lion" is the nickname Li Ang got shortly after joining Real Madrid's youth team.

Because the pronunciation of "lion" in Spanish is similar to the pronunciation of Li Ang's Chinese name, Nacho, who was gradually getting closer to Li Ang at that time, directly gave him this nickname.

Nacho is now trying to seduce Liang to stay in Real Madrid's first team and fight for playing opportunities, and his words are very logical.

But in his body, Li Ang is a mature soul in his thirties. He likes to take a long-term view when looking at things. Naturally, he will not easily change his carefully considered decisions.

"Don't test me. I still have to find a way to rent out first. If I can't go out in the summer window, I will go to the winter window. What I want is a stable professional environment and enough playing opportunities. And in Real Madrid, you know, Nacho , this is a 'playground' for superstars and reporters. We have no chance of trial and error. If you play well, that's what you should do, because you are playing for Real Madrid, and if you don't play well, you will not play again. There’s a chance to do it again.”

Li Ang calmly and cruelly revealed the future of these so-called "young heroes" in Real Madrid.

Either he becomes famous with a very small probability and continues to perform brilliantly, matching the high expectations and scrutiny of the club, fans, and media across Europe.

Either recognize the reality as soon as possible, make the most rational plan for your career, and leave Real Madrid to find a more suitable place for growth.

There are too few players who can play the main role in Real Madrid at a young age.

Raul's deeds inspired batch after batch of young players from Real Madrid's youth training who successfully entered Real Madrid's third team and Castilla.

But the reality is that Real Madrid only has one Raul.

As strong as Golden Wolf Guti, he can only wear away his aura and a brighter future through position changes and rotations again and again.

Li Ang is grateful to Real Madrid for giving him better growth resources and platform.

But he doesn't want to be Guti, and he is not a "Real Madridist" like his good friend Nacho.

Even if he is a "plug-in", he will have to play more games and get more reuse from the team to have the opportunity to grow further.

"Hey, you are still so boring. But I respect your decision and I believe you can succeed, little lion. I really hope that when I am promoted to the first team, I can still fight side by side with you."

Nacho smiled and punched Li Ang on the shoulder, and suddenly said a little depressed.

When he was fourteen, he met thirteen-year-old Li Ang.

They almost lived and trained together for six years of youth training.

We were promoted to Real Madrid U19 together, entered the third team together, and then entered Castilla together.

Apart from his younger brother Alex, Leon is Nacho's best brother and friend.

He hopes so much that he can play with Li Ang from the youth team to the Real Madrid first team.

But he knew Li Ang so well that he had to be frustrated and pessimistic about whether his little dream could be realized.

Li Ang has always firmly done what he thinks is right.

Just like Nacho has been determined to devote his career to Real Madrid since he was a child.

Li Ang is also firmly looking for the club that is most suitable for his development.

This has nothing to do with loyalty, but only with choices under different development concepts.

"Maybe. There will be one day."

"What are you muttering about?"

Li Ang looked at Nacho who looked up in confusion, pondered for a moment, and finally changed the subject with a smile.

"Training for the U.S. tour starts tomorrow, so work hard!"

"Well, you do the same, use the last few weeks to work hard, let's work hard together!"

Under the familiar encouragement of each other, Li Ang and Nacho smiled at each other, swept away the slightly dull atmosphere before, and started chatting easily again.

But no matter how the two relaxed their mood in the following time.

After arriving at the training venue by bus the next day, they were still surprised by the enthusiastic fans who came to watch the public training.

Fans from different countries have gathered outside the UCLA campus training venue rented by Real Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema just waved to the fans outside through the car window, triggering deafening wild cheers.

Li Ang may be better off, after all, he officially played professionally last season.

But Nacho really didn't hold back.

Even though he knew that these fans were not here for him, as a "temporary member" of Real Madrid's first team, he was very excited and proud of it.

But that afternoon, when Nacho experienced the more rigorous training camp that Mourinho personally participated in formulating, he quickly lost his excitement.

Tired, so damn tired!

After the first training session, Nacho felt that his training clothes could squeeze out several kilograms of sweat!

Seeing Li Ang who had completed the training meticulously and didn't show much discomfort at the moment, Nacho had nothing to say except a thumbs up.

Li Ang's physical fitness is notoriously good in Real Madrid's youth training camp.

Although he usually prefers to complete defensive interceptions through advance judgment of position selection, he does not seem to be a sweeping midfielder.

But every time he plays in a game, he will basically be the player with the longest running distance in the team.

However, Li Ang's personal data is not as outstanding as his physical ability.

Even defensive interception, which he is best at, may not be as impressive as many dark and hard defensive midfielders in terms of statistics.

He is very stable in controlling the ball, does not like to attack forward very much, has good defensive position selection, and is active in defense.

But aside from these good defensive traits, the rest of his court skills are pretty average.

Many Real Betis fans, including many who already support Li Ang, may still not have a "thorough" understanding of Li Ang's role.

Li Ang's performance at Real Betis last season was actually "calm".

Many times after watching a whole game, fans only feel that they can see Li Ang in the backcourt at any time, but they also feel that Li Ang's performance is average, not outstanding, and he does not make any big mistakes.

He is just like an ordinary midfielder who has no achievements or faults.

Selecting positions to intercept and press the opponent's advancement space, isn't that what the defensive midfielder should do?

Nothing much to say.

However, when Real Betis rested Li Ang for one game in the final stage of the first division, the team's backcourt defense and organizational rhythm were out of control, and they suffered a painful 1-3 defeat.

Real Betis fans no longer have the debate about whether "Leon is important to us or not".

In the end, Li Ang used four "mediocre" performances to help Real Betis score eight points, stabilize the third position in La Liga, and obtain a direct promotion spot to La Liga.

The same goes for how he performs in training now.

He was quite satisfactory and completed the coach's requirements meticulously. Then he practiced short passing within a five-meter range for half an hour, rested, and replenished nutrients.

During the closed training period in the evening, Li Ang successively partnered with Di Maria and Ronaldo's offensive three-man team.

His performance was as good as ever.

Ronaldo's evaluation of him is the same as that of Real Betis and those fans who used to watch Real Madrid's youth team games.

"He was ordinary, even unremarkable."

Ronaldo touched his chin and said this to Benzema and Marcelo first.

But then, Ronaldo looked at Li Ang, who was standing on the sidelines and taking the time to replenish water, and showed a satisfied smile.

"But I love it!"