The strongest blade in football

Chapter 116
Manchester City's pre-season training is not in Manchester.

Three days later, all the soldiers of Manchester City boarded the plane and started a training trip to the United States that lasted for more than half a month.

They have to play against four teams successively in warm-up matches. At the same time, players who have not returned to the team after the World Cup will join the main team here.

Their first stop is Oregon, training at Nike's HQ facility in Portland.

On the first day in the United States, Mancini drilled everyone hard once.

Wang Nuo guessed that Mancini didn't want the players to run around like tourists.

And until this day, he didn't know that the elegant Mancini is not all a gentleman, he can easily switch his form to a devil!

The team's training method on this day is completely different from the recovery training in Manchester two days ago.

Let's put it this way, if the training intensity of the previous two days was 20, then the training intensity of this day is a full 100. There is a world of difference between the two. It is a huge and exhausting challenge!
After training, no one dared to think about how to climb the stairs outside the building.

They are all big men, but, unexpectedly, some people started to cry "woo woo woo".

Wang Nuo found out that the person who was crying was an acquaintance, and it was the new summer aid Jerome Boateng who came to report the day before boarding the plane.

Manchester City spent 1250 million to buy him from Hamburg, the same as Wang Nuo's transfer fee.

Standard Liege was eliminated by Hamburg in the Europa League three months ago. Wang Nuo had two rounds with this black big man, and he was very impressed.

But it is such a big guy who vomited directly during training, and now he is crying aggrievedly.

Today's training is a severe test for everyone.

At this moment, they can only move slowly like zombies. It is a short distance from the restaurant to the dressing room, but now it is so long.

"We need to train, but we can't train!"

When the players gave Brian Kidd a hard time, the old man actually grinned.

Damn it, Wang Nuo thought, no wonder Giggs, Beckham and Scholes were all in good physical condition.

Fitness coach Damian Roden also made sarcastic remarks, "If you don't practice vigorously before the season, the league will be sparse! Don't you understand this?"

It started in the afternoon, and it was the second training session. Everyone was drilled again. After the whole day of training, the time was not yet 7 o'clock.

After the Manchester City soldiers had dinner, the coach still forbade the players to go back to their rooms to sleep, and Mancini called everyone together again.

Not a technical seminar, but a psychological one.

They hired a psychologist named Thompson from Nike, and some kind of HR manager, and the two of them chaired the meeting.

Thompson made the first move. He gave each person a piece of paper and a pen and said, "Everyone list 50 goals on their own paper, or things you need urgently, from the most important to the least important! "

Everyone was very confused, Wang Nuo's first thought was, "How much money did these two guys cheat the club?"

But everyone is very obedient and sleepy, and they want it to end as soon as possible.

So they all began to write: a bed, a cup of coffee, a beautiful woman, a three-day vacation, a Lamborghini, a goal, a mansion, the best player...

No one knew what it was for, but they all signed it and handed it in after they were written.

Thompson said that he would use this to analyze a person's personality and habits, and then provide targeted psychological counseling in the later stage. In short, it is very mysterious.

Wang Nuo felt that this further proved that they were liars.

Next, the human resources manager began to teach everyone some relaxation techniques, and half an hour later, the Manchester City players learned how to completely relax themselves through music and vocabulary.

They dimmed the lights, played a tune, and Thompson started talking to the music—

"Now, relax your body, listen to your heartbeat, imagine you are on the pitch, there are thousands of fans there, the game is about to start, and you can smell the grass."

"..."

They are like two very good hypnotists.

Wang Nuo felt nothing at all, even more sober than before, but this method seemed to work for other people, especially those British, maybe English is their mother tongue.

Several people fell asleep, Wang Nuo was very surprised.

Not only did they fall asleep, they were in a daze as Thompson playfully poked Barry and Lescott in the ass with a fork and they didn't respond!
It was a wonderful psychological discussion session.

This is Manchester City. Wang Nuo has really learned a lot, which is not the case in Standard Liege.

Similarly, Wang Nuo has never experienced summer training at Standard Liege. Although he is very tired after a day, Manchester City's style of play suits his appetite.

This kind of training method seems to go against those advanced sports concepts, and it seems a bit old, but to Wang Nuo, it is like a breeze blowing, making him feel refreshed.

In the first week in the United States, everyone was closed in the training base. The coaching staff arranged very carefully, and the players were obedient and obedient like a group of students.

Wake up, train, eat, nap, ice bath, seminar, and then it’s time for bed.

Wang Nuo is still trying to keep up with his teammates in training. Manchester City's football is strong, difficult and fast.

In the first few training sessions, he was a little afraid of Kompany and Vieira, because they were both aggressive and tougher than almost any defensive player Wang Nuo had seen in Belgium.

But Wang Nuo is not the one to give up easily. He said to them during the first few training sessions: "Don't be nervous, I will take it easy during training, so don't be so serious!"

Then one time, Wang Nuo inadvertently made a pass through the crotch to Kompany, so they started to get serious!

"I believed your nonsense? Well, now I'm going to get serious!"

Then there were some hot scenes in the training, such as flying shovels, collisions, pulling, and a series of brutal moves that can be imagined appeared in the training. Wang Nuo felt the atmosphere of the Premier League in advance.

But after training, Kompany would always shake hands with Wang Nuo.

The same goes for the other players. All of them showed a vigorous, even excited training state. The "local tyrant mercenary group" that outsiders talked about was not a mess.

On July 7, after Manchester City trained in the United States for a few days, they ushered in the first warm-up match against the Portland Timbers.

Wang Nuo was placed on the bench by Mancini.

Facing this average opponent, Manchester City played like chopping melons and vegetables.

Bellamy was active in the first half, and his pass from the right cut hit the crossbar.

Before halftime, Manchester City scored 2 goals in a row to take the lead. First, Adam Johnson made a pass, and Ireland scored a goal.

Then came another Adam Johnson cross and Adebayor headed into the net.

Mancini rotated 10 players at halftime, and Wang Nuo ushered in 45 minutes of playing time.

Manchester City played 4231 in the first half and 442 in the second half. After Adebayor came off the field, the two forwards became Wang Nuo and Brazilian Ruo.

Wang Nuo especially cherished the opportunity to play and performed extremely hard on the court.

But because he and his teammates are not yet familiar, the passing and cutting cooperation is a bit unfamiliar, and his possession of the ball is much less than in Standard Liege.

He posed a threat with a kick just wide, and if the Brazilian managed to seize a chance, he scored the icing on the cake for Manchester City in the 68th minute.

In the end, Manchester City won the game 3-0.

In this game, Mancini mainly practiced his style of play and trained young people, so he didn't pay much attention to scores and goals.

On July 7th, at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, Manchester City ushered in their second opponent in the warm-up match, the Portuguese Super League giant Sporting Lisbon, which is the team that Boloni once coached.

Sporting Lisbon is much stronger than the Portland Timbers!

In this game, Mancini simply put the main force aside and sent substitutes and rotations to play. Wang Nuo played again for 45 minutes in the second half.

This time Wang Nuo performed even better. After another week of running-in, he and his teammates became more adept at cooperating.

In the 70th minute, he received a pass from Ireland, hit the goal and hit the crossbar, and in a free kick before the end, he cooperated with a short pass and blasted a world wave!

Wang Nuo only lacked a trace of luck to break the goal.

Manchester City suppressed the whole game, but Sporting Lisbon was more capable of seizing opportunities. In the end, Manchester City lost 0-2.

Immediately afterwards, on July 7, in the third warm-up match, Manchester City played against the New York Red Bulls.

This time Wang Nuo did not appear on the stage and missed the opportunity to play against the legendary star Henry. Manchester City lost the game again 1-2.

Not long after the game ended, Wang Nuo received a call from Mino, who told him that Mario had already decided to go to Manchester City, and the contract would be signed in about a week.

Knowing that Balotelli was really coming, Wang Nuo was still a little depressed.

The team's striker competition is very fierce now. He and Balotelli's positions overlap somewhat. Wang Nuo doesn't think he can compete with Mancini's lover in the short term.

On July 7th, the fourth warm-up match and the last game of Manchester City's trip to the United States, Wang Nuo finally ushered in the starting lineup!
Their opponent is the Mexican American team. This team has a long history and is considered a traditional strong in Central and North America.

This time Wang Nuo teamed up with Carlos Tevez and Bellamy as the striker.

Before Wang Nuo came on stage, he said to himself that he must find a way to win this game!
He has already felt a crisis that he never had in Standard Liege. After coming to Manchester City, a bigger platform means more pressure.

For forwards, only by scoring can they prove their strength!
(End of this chapter)