Chapter 194 187: Ball-Playing Center-Back

For the next few days, Yang Yang's life was a simple, repetitive routine.

Every morning, he would wake up early and invite Su Ye to go for a run in Yihe Garden. Sometimes, Su Wenhong would go with them.

Even though Yang Yang ran while juggling a ball, when it came to pure speed, he was no slower than Su Ye and her father.

But Su Ye had her own strength: she knew Yihe Garden like the back of her hand. From its famous sights to its historical anecdotes, she explained them all to Yang Yang in great detail. Yang Yang learned a great deal and was filled with admiration for her.

He had no idea before that every spot in Yihe Garden had a story, and every name had an allusion and origin.

Along with his admiration, he felt a little ashamed. After all, his previous visits had been superficial, like he was just going through the motions without truly appreciating anything.

Especially at the end of June, when the lotus flowers bloomed, Kunming Lake was so beautiful that Yang Yang never wanted to leave.

After his morning exercises, he would usually train alone at Su Wenhong's school. In the evenings, besides going out for groceries, he mostly stayed home and entered the Super Training for specialized practice, focusing on improving [Bergkamp's Ball Control].

He was now full of ambition, wanting to perform well in the Asian Cup. At the very least, he didn't want to disappoint his fans back home in China.

While Yang Yang was holed up training hard, a few short video clips of him playing soccer in his school days were causing a growing stir on the Chinese internet. Even many soccer professionals weighed in with their opinions.

Ever since Yang Yang's outstanding performances in the Champions League and the Toulon Cup, and his confirmation to represent the National Team in the Asian Cup on home soil, the question of how to use him had become a problem for the National Team coaches like Arie Haan.

In the past, the National Team had always played a 4-4-2, and the winger position couldn't fully utilize Yang Yang's threat. However, pushing him up to the forward line like the National Youth Team did was also an option, as it was common knowledge that the National Team's attack was lacking firepower.

Although Hao Dong was a seasoned veteran, he was getting on in years and his form was inconsistent. Li Jinyu and Li Yi were in their prime, but their scoring efficiency was never satisfactory, which was why Arie Haan had called up the twenty-year-old youngster Zhang Shuo.

Although Li Jinyu didn't score much, he was good at linking up play and making penetrating runs and had always been a starter for the National Team. The other forward was either Hao Dong or Li Yi. If Yang Yang were to move to the front line, who to bench would be a problem.

Moreover, he was only seventeen. Even by Chinese age reckoning, he was only eighteen, far from ready to carry the team on his own.

But after watching the short video clips of Yang Yang playing, fans, media reporters, and professionals alike were all amazed by his creativity and vision in passing. They discovered that many of his passes were quite threatening and showed a lot of intelligence.

"His passing technique is still a bit lacking, and his consistency is slightly insufficient, but his creativity and passing vision are rare among domestic players."

This was a comment made by a certain veteran soccer legend during an online interview with a media reporter.

Soon, the internet exploded.

Many people started clamoring that if Yang Yang couldn't lead the forward line, then he should be the team's central playmaker.

"In fact, judging by his performance at the Toulon Cup, Yang Yang was truly outstanding. His passing was quite dangerous, and his four goals and four assists are more than enough to prove his ability."

a soccer professional commented. "Of course, it ultimately depends on how Arie Haan defines his role. A wide attacker? A deadly striker? Or the core playmaker in midfield? That's a decision for the coaching staff."

But in any case, even before he had reported to the National Team, Yang Yang's position had already become a hot topic of debate among netizens.

...

...

At the end of June, Yang Yang finally received a call from Captain Zhu of the National Team.

On the 30th, he arrived on time at the Capital Airport and, along with National Team head coach Arie Haan, Shao Jiayi, and many other national players, flew from Beijing to the Mountain City Chongqing to officially begin the training camp ahead of the Asian Cup.

Due to the flight schedule, the National Team's coaching staff, personnel, and many of the national players were all on the same flight. Arie Haan even made a point to take some time on the plane to chat with Yang Yang, mainly about his current thoughts on the National Team.

He frankly told Yang Yang that he hoped to use a 4-3-3 formation, but the national players hadn't yet fully grasped his tactical intentions. Yang Yang, having been immersed in the 4-3-3 in the Netherlands for a long time, was very familiar with this system, and he hoped Yang Yang could play a key role.

From what Arie Haan implied, he wanted to use the 4-3-3 formation mainly to create plays down the flanks with Yan Song and Yang Yang, hoping to activate the team's attack.

But the prerequisite was that the team's defense had to be solid.

He was very clear-eyed about this point. The National Team's individual skill and overall tactical level weren't top-tier in Asia. There was still a gap between them and teams like Japan, South Korea, and even Iran and Saudi Arabia. They could only rely on teamwork and defense.

In the Dutch coach's words, even when facing group stage opponents like Bahrain, Indonesia, and Qatar, he didn't dare be the least bit careless, fearing an unexpected upset.

Yang Yang understood this.

To put it bluntly, what Arie Haan needed now were results. Only by keeping his coaching position could he talk about anything else.

Besides Arie Haan, Yang Yang also chatted for a while with Shao Jiayi, who played in Munich, Germany. The latter gave Yang Yang high praise, saying that the Champions League final had caused a huge sensation in Germany, and Yang Yang's excellent performance had brought great honor to the Chinese people.

In response to the senior's praise, Yang Yang humbly replied that he had just done his best.

Shao Jiayi then said he hoped they could interact more in the future, as there really weren't many Chinese players playing abroad.

...

...

The flight arrived in Chongqing at 5 p.m.

When Arie Haan led the national players out of the airport, a crowd of media reporters and fans had surprisingly gathered, including many female fans. As soon as they saw the National Team emerge, they immediately swarmed forward.

But surprisingly, they weren't chasing after National Team head coach Arie Haan, nor the many famous national players on the team. Instead, they targeted the National Team's raw recruit, Yang Yang, completely ignoring everyone else.

This fervent reception from the media and fans left Yang Yang feeling flattered but overwhelmed. However, their preferential treatment also made him a bit awkward, as he was just a newcomer.

As for Yang Yang's immense popularity, the coaching staff was happy to see it, while the other national players had mixed reactions.

After finally making it out of the airport, they boarded the bus and went straight to the hotel to meet up with the national players who had already checked in.

The rooms had already been assigned. Yang Yang was roomed with Zheng Zhi, a national player from Shenzhen.

The National Team would be in Chongqing for five days. On the 3rd, they would play a friendly match against Lebanon. Then, on July 4th, they would fly to Beijing for closed training at Xianghe Base. On the 9th, they would fly to Hohhot for another match against the United Arab Emirates before returning to Beijing.

Barring any changes, Zheng Zhi would be Yang Yang's roommate for the entire training camp and during the Asian Cup.

And according to Zheng Zhi, Yang Yang's roommate was originally supposed to be Zhou Haibin. But after Zhang Shuo joined the team, and since those two had been roommates before, it was only natural for them to be paired up again. Thus, Yang Yang's roommate became Zheng Zhi.

The coaching staff's arrangement wasn't random; it was a personal request from Arie Haan.

Zheng Zhi played in midfield for his club, and as a core midfielder at that, but on the National Team, Arie Haan wanted him to play as a center-back.

"That old man told me a lot about Dutch soccer, including the duties of a ball-playing center-back and all that. I was totally confused. Tell me, how do the center-backs on your team play?"

Zheng Zhi watched Yang Yang finish unpacking, and the two sat down together. Before they had even exchanged more than a few words, the conversation immediately turned to soccer.

The term "ball-playing center-back" was still very unfamiliar in China, so it was no wonder Zheng Zhi didn't understand it. But in the Netherlands, it wasn't strange at all.

Players like Heitinga, Vermaelen, and Escude all had strong ball-playing abilities.

For example, last season, Ajax's ball-playing center-back was Heitinga. He was a very versatile player who could play in midfield, right-back, and center-back. His ability to control and distribute the ball was very strong, though he could be a bit rash.

Yang Yang had heard Ronald Koeman talk about this issue more than once. He believed that the ball-playing center-back was very important in Ajax's entire tactical system and was even becoming increasingly important in Dutch soccer.

Heitinga, Escude, and Vermaelen weren't tall center-backs. The reason Ajax was willing to risk their aerial defense by using them was because of their ability to play the ball out from the backfield.

Since Zheng Zhi had taken the initiative to ask, Yang Yang naturally held nothing back and told him everything he knew.

Moreover, he had many videos and records stored on his laptop, so he used the videos and analysis materials to explain to Zheng Zhi, as clearly as possible, the on-field duties of a ball-playing center-back and how players like Heitinga played the position.

These materials Yang Yang had on hand were all things he had accumulated during his time at Ajax. Not even Arie Haan's National Team had access to them. What's more, they were direct positional analyses, which Zheng Zhi found incredibly useful. Many things that had previously confused him gradually became clear.

But to be effective on the pitch, he would still need to be tested in real matches and have the cooperation of his teammates.

And after this exchange, the two of them immediately grew much closer.

...

...

That evening, the National Team organized its first team dinner, where Captain Zhu also introduced Yang Yang to all the national players.

The national players had varying reactions to this new recruit. After all, everyone knew this young man's rise had been meteoric, and he was likely joining the team to aim for a starting position.

Who could look at their own competitor without any reservations?

Of course, it wasn't so bad that they would give Yang Yang a hard time. It would just be fair competition, with everyone relying on their own abilities.

It was also at this dinner that Captain Zhu announced that the prize money for winning the Asian Cup would be as high as five hundred thousand. This was the largest prize in the history of the National Team. It wasn't hard to see that the General Administration of Sport and the Football Association were desperate to win this honor on home soil and revive the National Team's flagging popularity in the country.

However, Yang Yang could see that the national players didn't care much about the size of the prize money. They were all clearly more concerned with the results.

Although the National Team's popularity in the country was low, the Football Association was constantly embroiled in controversy, and the domestic league was also plagued with problems, once they put on the National Team jersey, they weren't playing for the Football Association—they were representing China.

Whether they were strong or weak, whether they won or lost their matches—none of that could be said for certain. But this sense of honor was something all the national players still cherished greatly.