Training

Zax's cold words made Yang Yang suddenly understand a lot of things.

"Everyone wants to control everything and predict future movements, like defensive players, so Ronaldo didn't go with his fastest speed at the beginning, so he can confuse his opponents, let them try to unconsciously predict the way he will go and prepare an effective defensive move early".

"But when he suddenly accelerates with a change of direction, he completely disrupts the defender's plan and leaves him stunned, the same thing happened to you, and when you finally see his feints, you want to react to make up for your previous mistakes, but it's already too late".

 Zax gives his assessment of the situation coldly.

"Sometimes, when you try to make up for past mistakes, you end up making even bigger mistakes.

Yang Yang understood this and knew what the problem was.

It was the sudden change of direction and the ability to go from 0 to 100 very quickly in one acceleration.

Use this change of speed and direction to catch your opponent off guard, and then force them to make mistakes.

Those football stars with a lot of defensive experience can often rely on their own experience and skills to make sure they don't make mistakes, but even if they are up against the best Ronaldo, there is still no effective way to block him all the time, apart from fouling him!

If you think about it, your performance in the team's Rondo game has improved a lot lately, and your interception efficiency is very high, isn't it because you always fake your run to make your team-mate make a mistake?

"It shouldn't be that easy, right?" After thinking about it, Yang Yang asked doubtfully.

"Yes, it's not that simple."

"Changing speed and direction is only one of the keys to success. The real key lies in Ronaldo's outstanding speed and ability to adapt."

The image changed again, with two of Yang Yang's footprints hidden and the other two enlarged.

"You have to pay more attention, Ronaldo can control his speed as he pleases, the distance he takes with each step and where each step falls. These are all designed by him, and he will take different steps for different opponents. "

"When he faces you and the defensive dummies, the reason he speeds up is because he knows you are mentally prepared and he is playing with that."

"For him, there is no difference between the beginning of his movement and a moment before the end, because even at the last moment he can decide to change direction according to your reaction, but for the defender it is completely different because he doesn't know for sure where Ronaldo is going and has to commit to a direction."

Yang Yang understood and was completely convinced. At the very least, he realised that there was a huge gap between him and a professional player, especially a player like Ronaldo.

You know, the step-over is just one of Ronaldo's top skills.

It's a simple skill, but it's more complex than that if you want to beat your opponent every time.

The step-over is just one part of Ronaldo's skill set. It shows the breadth and depth of Ronaldo's skill at his best.

"There's a problem." Yang Yang now looks like a receptive student: "You said Ronaldo's landing point, speed, momentum and directional change are pre-designed, but does he think about these things during the game? ?"

"No, the game is constantly changing and he simply does not have time to think about it."

Yang Yang did not understand this time, "How does he do it?"

"Muscle memory." Lao Bing said succinctly.

Now Yang Yang will understand.

In fact, in China, the coach who taught Yang Yang to play football said more than once: "The most important thing is muscle memory.

Just like Ronaldo, every time he touched the ball, every step he took was built up through countless games and training sessions over the past two decades. It was a muscular memory built up over thousands of practices.

For him, playing football in this way is an instinctive habit.

"I now understand why he is Ronaldo. Yang Yang was full of praise.

To become a superstar, talent is part of it, but the most important thing is to practice hard.

"You have limited time now, only one night, so you are still concentrating on practising the step-over and the change of direction. How much of that will be useful is still up to you. Zax still said mechanically.

Yang Yang understood that he would have plenty of time to talk about that later, but right now he had to learn the skill to be able to use it tomorrow.

Training in the Dream Training System has another great advantage, it is faster to train muscle memory than in reality, but even so it is impossible to learn all the intricacies of the Ronaldo step-over in one night.

Time is running out, Yang Yang can't set any goals, he can only hurry up and work hard.

...

...

On Saturday morning, the skate park was more deserted than usual.

Yang Yang did the same as usual. After getting up early, he greeted his uncle and came to the park to practise with the ball.

To get better at football, the more you train, the better the results you'll get, you don't have time to slack off in football or you'll see yourself regressing.

"It's not just about one-off training sessions; real improvement in football comes from consistent daily training and giving it your all".

Since it is Saturday, there is no need to attend classes, so Yang Yang has more training in the morning than usual. He doubles up on all his drills until he is sweating and panting.

As he rested on the bench next to the track, he noticed that an unknown middle-aged Dutch man had also been sitting on the bench for some time.

He looks about fifty years old, wears a sports cap with a golf ball logo in the middle and a serious face under the brim. His hair is all white and slightly puffy, and his grey sports polo shirt is stretched tight over a large belly, making him look pregnant.

The middle-aged Dutchman, sitting on a bench with a bottle of water in his hands, looks rather majestic.

When Yang Yang came over, he passed the water in his left hand, but said nothing.

"No, thank you." Yang Yang didn't know him either, so he wouldn't take it.

But the middle-aged Dutchman was unimpressed. Instead of taking it back, he handed it closer, "I just want to talk to you for a bit."

From this person's expression, Yang Yang understood that this was a stubborn guy, it was not easy to refuse him.

"Thank you." Yang Yang took the water but didn't open it, instead he put it aside and took out the towel from his backpack to wipe his sweat.

"I've been watching you for several days." From under the brim of his hat, the middle-aged Dutchman squinted at the graffiti-covered wall in front of him.

"Huh?" Yang Yang didn't listen carefully.

The Dutch middle-aged man did not repeat, but asked: "Are you from the Helen Parkhurst School?"

"Yes." Yang Yang nodded, and Bakken School is just north of the park. It's not surprising to be guessed.

"The youth team that plays for the Almere club?" The middle-aged Dutchman asked again.

"Yes." Yang Yang nodded.

"Johnny Rep and Dick Vanpoel have good vision, how did you get in?"

Yang Yang looked at the Dutch middle-aged man in silence, but did not answer. From the other man's tone, he felt that he was familiar with John Rep and Dick Fanpoor.

"Do you know Mr Rep?" Yang Yang asked back.

"Of course, we were teammates in the Ajax youth team." The middle-aged Dutchman replied weakly.

"Ajax?" Yang Yang was surprised.

Johnny Rep is from Ajax, which is well known in Almere.

The Dutch middle-aged man nodded slightly, "He is a young academy, but I am not. I just had the honour of playing with him in the youth team for two years. Later he was in the first team and I..."

Although it is enough to say that, Yang Yang vaguely hears that it is estimated that his development at Ajax is less than ideal.

"Your basic skills are terrible." The middle-aged Dutchman changed the subject and said.

Yang Yang is rather embarrassed. Although he is a senior footballer, this is too direct.

But he nodded his head and admitted it.

"You should be 16 or 17 years old?"

"Sixteen."

"Johnny Rep has moved all of Ajax's youth training to Almere. At your current level, I'm afraid you'll find it difficult to pass the assessment." The middle-aged Dutchman looked at Yang Yang lightly.

From just a few words, you can tell. It can be seen that the other party knows Ajax's youth training system very well.

"Didn't Johnny Rep and Dick Vanpoel tell you that?"

Yang Yang hesitated and nodded, "Yes, they made me know that."

"Then you still come here every day to train harder? Don't you know that what you are doing now is useless work?"

"Why do you think it's useless?" Yang Yang asked again.

"Isn't it?"

"Of course not, no matter what the future holds, as long as you are willing to work harder, there will be gains."

"But in the end, you still can't pass the test, isn't it useless?"

Yang Yang nodded, "Without taking the test, how would you know what the result is?"

After a pause, Yang Yang looked directly at the Dutch middle-aged man, "Sir, I think if you were a football player in the past, you should know that this is like a football game, it has ninety minutes, if you only play hard for eighty-five minutes before giving up and your team is still one goal short of winning, if you don't try harder in the last five minutes, how would you know if you will be able to score?

Before waiting for the middle-aged Dutchman to speak, Yang Yang said again.

"How many times did Ferguson's Red Devils Manchester United make a comeback in 1999? Didn't they beat Bayern Munich in the last two minutes of stoppage time to win the UEFA Champions League and complete the treble? Isn't that the magic of football? If Ferguson and his players decided to give up when they were behind Bayern Munich, will there be that great final comeback? "

Hearing this, the middle-aged Dutchman looked slightly at the young man standing in front of him. Yang Yang's words touched him and brought a faint ray of light to his dull depression of the past six months.

He never denied that he was a stubborn person, but the successive blows of the past few years had taught him painful lessons and even made him a little frustrated, but he was not a person who could listen to the advice of others. He was indifferent when his friends and family tried to persuade him.

But now, Yang Yang's words made him feel close to him, and even resonated with him a little.

As long as it is not over, there is still a chance.

 Yang Yang was reluctant to talk to him any further, thanked him after giving him back his bottle of water, and went back with his backpack.

The middle-aged Dutchman stayed behind in silence, looking at the back of Yang Yang's departure, and suddenly his mouth twitched, he smiled, "Such a funny kid.