Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Benzema spent a lot of time training with Li Ang some time ago, so he is not surprised that Ronaldo said this now.

Because he also has a similar evaluation of Li Ang.

Characteristics that may appear ordinary in the eyes of fans are valuable in their eyes.

Because there are few young players who can accurately position themselves, there are even fewer young players who can hold their own on the defensive end and are willing to do the dirty work in a low profile.

Star forwards like Ronaldo and Benzema are inherently talented and like to take the ball.

Therefore, they would have preferred a midfielder who defended hard behind them, did not stick to the ball, and could help them regain the offensive rhythm.

As for Li Ang’s shortcomings of poor offensive attributes?

They just don't care.

To put it bluntly, Real Madrid has never lacked offensive talent.

Look at the bloated midfield group in Real Madrid's current first team.

Granero, Canales, Leon, Van der Vaart, and a certain dead man.

This offensive talent is almost overflowing.

The only ones who can provide stable defensive protection in the midfielder position are Xavi Alonso and the previous Las Diarra.

In fact, Gago can barely count as half, but he has been trained by the previous coaches to become a different person.

Originally the core of the team as a deep-lying organization, he suddenly switched to playing as a defensive midfielder in order to get a chance to play.

But his physical fitness is somewhat unbearable. At least for Mourinho, Gago does not have the responsibility to protect Alonso.

Not quite to the point of being abandoned, but close enough.

Xabi Alonso can actually do the dirty work himself, but he also has to organize the backcourt.

If Brother Long is really required to shoulder these two important responsibilities all the time, then even his iron-clad body won't be able to bear it.

It can only be said that Diarra's sudden injury completely disrupted Mourinho's training plan. In this case, he did not dare to let Leon go to Real Betis.

Even though Khedira is about to report to Real Madrid, he seems to be the most correct choice for Real Madrid's defensive midfielder position.

But in fact, Khedira is also a main player who likes to go forward and participate in offense, and he is famous for this in the Bundesliga.

Mourinho may have great expectations for the transformation of the German midfielder.

But in the current situation where defensive midfielders are scarce, and one of the team's defensive generals is not sure whether he can come back smoothly in two months.

If he doesn't trust Gago, he can only trust Li Ang, who has a better impression.

"I like this kid! You guys have to talk in a roundabout way, but I am different. I like to partner with such a midfielder."

Marcelo touched his half-length fluffy hair, and then trotted toward Li Ang with brisk steps, making Ronaldo and Benzema look at each other.

"Would you like to say hello to that kid?"

"Together?"

"Together!"

The two made eye contact for a moment, and then walked towards Li Ang together.

Benzema had gradually become familiar with Li Ang during almost two weeks of summer training. He mainly accompanied Ronaldo there.

Otherwise, Ronaldo would definitely not take the initiative to say hello to the newcomer.

The old arrogant one.

Mourinho watched this scene with his hands behind his back on the sidelines, feeling a little surprised.

Perhaps he was surprised that Ronaldo had a stronger desire to get closer to his new teammates than he thought.

It may also be that he was surprised that Li Ang had already obtained preliminary "recognition" qualifications after the second training session with the superstars.

But anyway, this is a good thing.

He was very happy to see this happen.

In the following days of training, Li Ang still showed a stable performance that satisfied Mourinho and a group of star teammates.

It's not that Li Ang is strong enough to conquer Real Madrid's coaching staff and the talented players in the team.

But his stability gives Real Madrid at least a reassuring record in the choice of substitute midfielder.

Under this circumstance, the training atmosphere within the Real Madrid team was quite peaceful and there was not much impetuousness.

In addition to his close friend Nacho, Li Ang is also gradually able to chat with the superstars in the team from time to time.

Before Xavi Alonso returned from his break to report to the club, Mourinho experimented with multiple combinations in the midfield.

On August 4, in a friendly match with the Mexican American team, Mourinho changed his formation many times, from 433 to 4231 to 442.

Basically, all the existing midfielders in the team came out to complete the warm-up.

Among them, Granero's performance was the most outstanding. He was very active on the offensive end. In the first half, he assisted Ronaldo to score the first goal.

In comparison, Li Ang's performance is not so impressive.

He played 27 minutes in the second half, made a key interception, succeeded in two aerial duels, and completed a wide pursuit.

The passing success rate is 85%, there is no threatening pass, and it still looks "unremarkable".

So many North American fans who came to watch the excitement thought that Real Madrid signed such a young Oriental player for the East Asian market.

They don't care which country in East Asia Li Ang is from, don't care about Li Ang's youth training background, and they don't care why Mourinho chose to bring Li Ang to the United States for pre-season training at the last moment.

What they want to see is just the performances of Real Madrid's stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Marcelo.

So it's not surprising that such a joke happened.

In Mourinho's eyes, Li Ang's double midfielder partnership with Gago in the last thirty minutes of the game made him shine.

Why didn't he value Gago before?

It is because Gago's body is not durable enough to play as a defensive midfielder, he is prone to injury, and he is not strong enough in frontal interceptions. His ability to protect the ball as an organizational midfielder is not strong enough, and his shortcomings of insufficient confrontation make him lose the ball too easily.

But with Li Ang's not strong but adequate support and ball protection, active and timely defense and excellent frontal air defense capabilities.

Hey, it just makes up for Gago's deficiencies on the defensive end when organizing offense!

And if it is Real Madrid's turn to defend, Li Ang's defensive position selection is excellent and he can stand in key positions. Gago's sweeping area is large, and the two complement each other.

Such an "accident" really brought Mourinho a big surprise!

On August 7, in a friendly match against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Mourinho surprisingly used the double midfielder combination of Li Ang and Gago at the beginning of the second half.

As a result, Real Madrid, which tied with the Los Angeles Galaxy at 2-2 in the first half, steadily controlled the situation in the second half and did not concede a single goal.

In the end, Ronaldo scored the winning goal, and Real Madrid also won two consecutive friendly games in the United States.

The score of 3-2 was not good to watch, and Real Madrid's offense in the second half could not be said to be sharp and beautiful due to constant substitutions and adjustments.

But Real Madrid's midfield and backfield defense has indeed stabilized visibly.

Maybe it's still not that obvious, but it's true.

After playing a friendly match with the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Real Madrid team ended a week-long training trip to the United States and flew back to Madrid the next day.

At the Valdebebas training base, Li Ang finally saw the other Real Madrid superstars returning to the team for training.

Khedira has completed his physical examination and officially joined the Real Madrid first team and started training with his teammates.

The bright color in Gago's eyes in recent days seemed to have dimmed again.

Li Ang didn't feel much disappointed.

After all, Khedira is the midfielder appointed by Mourinho. After the World Cup, this news is no longer a secret in the transfer market.

Instead of worrying about how much playing time you will lose in the Real Madrid first team because of Khedira joining.

Li Ang is more concerned about whether he can still get a chance to play outside in the winter window.

And the golden talent fragment card he has already prepared to draw!

On the evening of August 10th.

After the training, Ronaldo and Benzema received a blessing from each of them at their own request.

Li Ang hurried back home, rubbed his hands and sat on his sofa.

With a look of anticipation on his face, he spent the 500 points that it took him six years to accumulate from the "Road to the King of Football" system!

The mobile phone nearby was still playing Ronaldo and Benzema's lame Chinese recording of "The European emperor is possessed, the non-chieftains retreat!"

Li Ang only felt a golden light flash in front of his eyes before he could shout "Golden Legend!".

A card of a middle-aged player wearing a blue and white jersey, with medium-long hair and a slightly melancholy expression appeared in front of him.

Li Ang was stunned, first surprised, then confused and disgusted, then surprised and confused again.

After a full two or three minutes, he finally came to his senses and forced himself to accept the reality.

"Bellelon's short passing talent fragments in the 11-12 season, talent value: 93 (full value 100, host's current short passing ability value is 78); comes with experience insights: core organizational essentials."

Is this golden talent fragment any good?

It's actually quite good.

Although it is a fragment of Belleron's talent in the twilight years of his career, it is a skill that has not degraded very seriously, and it is still the short passing skill that he is good at.

Li Ang's current short passing ability value is only 78 when he is full. He can suddenly increase the upper limit to 93, which is enough for him for a long time.

And the bonus of Beleron’s own organizational experience is even more valuable.

When Li Ang received the golden complete talent card of Makelele in the twilight years of his career.

The "defensive positioning" insights provided by the system were of great use to him.

After studying until today, Li Ang feels that he is still a long way from fully understanding Makelele's "defensive positioning".

Therefore, Belleron's "core organizational skills" must be enough for him to ponder for a long time.

It's just that what he wants more now is actually fragments of talent that can make him further on the defensive end.

After all, practicing a certain skill to the extreme is currently the most cost-effective training method for him.

But now that all the draws have been taken, Li Ang can only temporarily change his additional training plan.

On August 11, at the Valdebebas base, Xabi Alonso was surprised when he looked at Li Ang who asked to practice with him after the training.

"You want to learn how to organize a team with me?"