Although it was during the winter transfer window, major clubs’ transfer operations and reinforcements were in full swing.
However, Leicester City’s top management and manager were very satisfied with the team’s current structure and personnel allocation.
Apart from selling a fringe midfielder in the team who had absolutely no playing time, and then promoting Ling Feng from the youth team to the first team, Leicester City did not make any transfer moves.
The number of people in the entire first team was exactly twenty-six.
Putting on the monitoring black vest and changing into long training clothes, Ling Feng followed the others to the training pitch.
Under the manager’s arrangement, everyone first had a physical training session to warm up.
While staring closely at Ling Feng’s every move, manager Pearson and assistant manager Walsh, standing on the sidelines, were whispering to each other:
“His acceleration and speed are okay, his height is passable, it’s just his confrontation ability that is concerning…”
“His stamina is good.
If we put him in midfield, he could make some defensive contributions…”
“His basic skills are solid.
As long as we give him enough time, he should be able to quickly adapt to the rhythm of Championship matches…”
After the physical training session came a series of technical and tactical drills.
During these drills, Ling Feng’s strengths and weaknesses were fully exposed to his teammates and coaches.
First were the strengths.
In terms of passing technique, he was more than just one level higher than all the first-team players present!
Various ways of passing were dazzling.
Outside-of-the-foot flicks, ground through balls, lobbed passes, forty-five-degree long passes…
Every pass was incredibly precise, as if measured with a ruler.
And the power was appropriate, making it very easy and comfortable for teammates to receive the ball.
The weaknesses were that besides passing, other attacking techniques like trapping, dribbling, and shooting could only be described as passable, with nothing too outstanding.
And defending, it was okay.
Besides barely being able to keep up with attacking players without losing position, he could also occasionally anticipate the opponent’s passing routes and make interceptions.
Seeing Ling Feng’s performance in training, the manager and assistant manager did not regret the decision to promote Ling Feng to the first team at all.
Instead, they confirmed a very important thing:
Ling Feng’s stunning passing in the FA Cup the day before yesterday was not a flash of brilliance, but an infinitely replicable talent!
In the professional football world, being mediocre is the worst evaluation for a player.
That means he has no characteristics.
Having characteristics means that this player has outstanding talent in a certain aspect.
In the eyes of the manager and teammates, Ling Feng possessed unparalleled talent in vision and passing, holding enormous potential to become a midfield master like Xavi, Rui Costa, or Fabregas.
As for other shortcomings, they could entirely be enhanced through acquired training.
Of course, training is training, and actual combat is actual combat.
Performing excellently in training without confrontation does not necessarily mean one will show one hundred percent of that level in actual combat. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Thinking of this, manager Pearson shouted loudly:
“Alright, boys, take a break.
In five minutes, we’ll have a scrimmage!”
After a short break, under the manager’s command, the first team was divided into Team A and Team B.
The starting side wearing orange vests was Team A.
The newly arrived Ling Feng was unsurprisingly assigned to Team B, where the substitute players were.
And the tactical formation adopted by both sides was a flat 4-4-2.
Ling Feng and Andy King anchored the midfield for Team B.
With a “beep” from the whistle, the Leicester City intra-squad scrimmage officially began!
After the kickoff, the stronger starting side quickly took the initiative on the pitch.
Leicester City’s 4-4-2 style of play mainly relied on the performance of the two central midfielders.
The two midfielders had to organize attacks and intercept defensively, almost playing total football.
And “Drink Water Bro” Danny Drinkwater and Matty James were both English-style midfielders with very solid basics, decent physical strength, and very strong running ability.
Plus, the two had been teammates in the Manchester United academy, so their tacit understanding was also good.
With an overall advantage in team strength, as soon as the game started, Team A suppressed Team B in their half.
Such a one-sided scene did not exceed the manager’s expectations.
Pearson’s expression remained unchanged, his gaze just staring fixedly at the black-haired young man on the pitch.
He wanted to see if Ling Feng could still perform excellently when the team was at a disadvantage.
You know, a genius player is one who can do things that ordinary players cannot do…
…
Running on the flat natural turf, Ling Feng immediately entered the zone.
Through the vision map in his mind, he could clearly perceive the running routes of his teammates and the positioning of his opponents.
He also knew where open spaces were about to appear, and where teammates might run into…
The entire pitch was under his control!
Facing Team A initiating attacks through their two midfielders, Ling Feng very wisely did not choose to tangle with them.
Instead, through God’s Vision, he predicted the opponents’ runs, positioned himself in advance, and blocked their passing routes.
Excellent defensive positioning allowed him to intercept Team A’s passes several times, thereby disrupting Team A’s attacks.
And under Ling Feng’s several precise interceptions and Andy King’s tireless running, Team A’s attacks down the middle could not proceed smoothly, so they could only try to create opportunities by forcing breakthroughs on the flanks.
But the effect of this was very average.
Leicester’s left winger for Team A was the thirty-one-year-old veteran Lloyd Dyer, whose speed was among the top in the team, and he also had a good long shot.
But after turning thirty, his speed had dropped significantly, and his breakthrough ability had also declined sharply.
Many times, failing to break through, he would pass the ball back.
But he had abundant stamina and good short technique, frequently gaining the upper hand in one-on-ones with Team B’s left-back and delivering several threatening crosses.
With a “clang” sound!
Striker David Nugent, only 1.8 meters tall but physically very strong, won a header and smashed the football hard against the crossbar.
This was Team A’s most threatening attack in the ten minutes since the start…
The goalkeeper restarted play.
After a few passes, the football quickly came to Ling Feng’s feet.
Seeing Ling Feng take the ball, manager Pearson on the sidelines immediately started shouting:
“Press him!”
“Don’t let him release the ball easily!”
Hearing Pearson arranging things like this beside him, assistant manager Steve Walsh couldn’t help but frown, “Nigel, what are you doing?”
And the former answered without turning his head:
“You know, this is just a first-team intra-squad scrimmage.
The pace of matches in the Championship, or even the Premier League, will only be faster and more intense.
I want to see if he can still play such precise passes when facing pressing…”
Hearing this, Walsh opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.
He just looked at Ling Feng on the pitch, silently cheering him on in his heart:
“Kid, show them your true strength!”
And Ling Feng did not disappoint them!
Whenever he received a ball passed by a teammate, he would immediately pass it out, not giving the opponent players a chance to come up and press.
He knew very well that with his currently terrible physical confrontation ability, the best choice was not to engage in confrontation!
Through one-touch passing and running into space, Ling Feng simultaneously adapted to the first team’s match rhythm while methodically orchestrating Team B’s attacks.
God’s Vision, which controlled the whole situation, allowed him to run into empty spaces to receive the ball at any time, and then get rid of the opponent’s entanglement and pressing through passing methods like one-twos.
Whether dropping deep into the backfield to receive the ball or linking up play in small areas in the front court, Ling Feng showed a maturity beyond his years.
Every pass he made on the pitch was so reasonable and penetrating.
Ling Feng’s superior performance caused several figures to simultaneously surface in the minds of manager Pearson and assistant manager Walsh on the sidelines.
Like Barça’s number 6, Juve’s number 21, and Real Madrid’s number 14…
The figures of these midfield masters gradually overlapped with Ling Feng’s figure on the pitch.
With such a playmaker in their own team who could play threatening passes and control the team’s tempo, there would definitely be absolutely no problems with their attack!
Thinking of this, manager Pearson frowned, then turned his head and said to the assistant manager with a serious face:
“Steve, we might have to prepare an extra set of tactics…”
(END CHAPTER)