Master Tutoring Class

Chapter 277 Midfield Master Rafael

"Wei!!!!—"

Commentator Van Gaal cheered loudly.

"A crazy performance, his third assist of the game! He was in the right flank area, delivering the same pass from the same spot, but Rotterdam had no way to deal with that kind of pass. Even though they knew it was dangerous, they just couldn't stop Wei's pass!"

"It was like a pass with precise navigation, accurately finding Lehmann who had run to the far post!"

"75 minutes, Amsterdam Spurs 4-0 Rotterdam, Wei completes a hat-trick of assists in this match!"

In the stadium, Wei Lai rushed to the section of die-hard fans, jumped up quickly, swung his fist, and cheered loudly.

His emotions inspired everyone in the stadium, and at that moment, the entire Amstel River Stadium erupted in cheers.

The 'Red and White Youth' fans responded enthusiastically to the young man.

They made as much noise as possible, waving their arms and cheering for this exhilarating victory.

"Full power!"

Musar wiped the sweat from his brow and watched Wei Lai's retreating figure with a smile.

"Will the next Europa League match hit him hard?" Felix exclaimed. "His form is absolutely phenomenal!"

“But it was still a bit reckless!” Musar shook his head.

"Whatever!" Felix looked at Mussal and laughed, "You'll clean up his mess!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Wei Lai's hot streak is a very good thing for them.

After the celebration ended, Wei Lai turned and retreated.

His eyes were shining.

"My thinking is clear, and my brain is like a fast-running machine. I can think of details that I couldn't see or overlooked before."

Wei Lai clenched his fist slightly: "I feel like every cell in my body is cheering and jumping for joy. My physical condition is off the charts!"

At this moment, I felt omnipotent.

No matter how strong the opponent is, he can still win.

Beep!
The whistle sounded.

Wei Lai turned his head and saw Hendrick standing at the sideline, while assistant coach Peschon waved at him.

"Why did you replace me?" Wei Lai said somewhat dissatisfied; "I'm in great shape right now."

"Then let's keep it that way!"

Peschan didn't speak, but old man Morton looked at him and said, "Position is like a full pool of water; once it's used up, it's gone. Since you're in good form right now, use it wisely."

The coaching staff also saw Wei Lai's hot streak.

This is a concentrated burst of growth achieved gradually over a long period of competition.

However, this state cannot be maintained for long.

Wei Lai has not yet reached his peak; this can only be a temporary burst of energy. As the competitions grind him down and his physical condition declines, it will soon disappear.

Mr. Morton has seen far too many of these kinds of things.

He was relieved that with a formidable enemy at hand, Wei Lai's performance had taken off.

But it's also clear that this form must be used in crucial matches.

"Go!" Old Man Morton pointed to the substitute; "Sit down, recall the feeling of the game, don't watch the game, don't let anyone's thoughts interfere with you!"

Wei Lai obediently did as instructed.

Perhaps competing against Raphael was a trigger, bringing out Wei Lai's long-suppressed potential and causing it to erupt.

This gives Wei Lai more confidence to face the Europa League match next Wednesday!

In the evening, Wei Lai returned to the villa.

He had just washed up and lay down in bed when he received a video call from his father.

"Er smash!"

Wei Chenggong said earnestly, "Dad, I need your help!"

Wei Lai shook his head; "No way!"

Even a fool could figure out what Wei Chenggong wanted.

It's Rafael's match jersey!

Wei Chenggong gave himself the nickname "Raphael of Bohai Port," which shows who he admired.

In fact, Wei Lai's fondness for Raphael was largely a result of his father's subtle influence.

"Damn it!" Wei Chenggong couldn't help but curse.

A scolding came from the side.

"Don't swear!"

Wei Lai: "Dad! I really can't give this to you, let's do it next time!"

"Next time?" Wei Chenggong said bitterly, "Next time he'll be retired and forgotten!"

Wei Lai: "How many more years can I play?"

In Wei Lai's memory, Raphael was relatively resilient.

Even though his form has declined, he has continued to play in the top five leagues, only now he has gone from a powerhouse team to a less prestigious one and can no longer play a key role. He still has a chance.

"Are you nervous?" Wei Chenggong asked Wei Lai.

In Wei Lai's room, there are also many posters of Rafael, as well as national team and club jerseys.

It can be said that Raphael played a very important guiding role in Wei Lai's growth trajectory.

Although Wei Lai's current style is very different from Raphael's, he is indeed chasing after Raphael's shadow.

"A little," Wei Lai smiled, "but mostly it's excitement!"

Evening, in the simulated space.

"Paying tribute to an idol?"

The football coach picked his nose and flicked the sticky substance off his hand.

"I don't feel anything! Because I'm the one being honored!"

Wei Lai shook his head.

Okay, this guy in front of me is the GOAT!

"The best way to pay tribute to your idol is to beat him!" The football coach smiled.

Wei Lai: "So you've also been paid this respect to?"

The smile slowly turned into a cold sneer, and the football coach let out a heavy snort, as if to say...
'They're not qualified!'

The following day, Atlético Amsterdam began preparing their tactics for facing FC Milan.

The system remains fundamental and will not change, but some overall tactical adjustments are needed.

In particular, the combination of wing play and central play, as well as set-piece tactics, are of paramount importance.

Wei Lai's passing ability has become the most effective way for Atlético Amsterdam to initiate attacks.

"Ahead! Push it forward a bit!"

"You're stretching too far out on the wings, get your defenses together!"

Training was underway on the pitch, with head coach Morton and Pescho watching the training session and nodding slightly.

Peschan: "Milan will most likely still field a three-center-back system!"

The three-center-back system is now a hot trend in football.

You can see him in every league.

The three-center-back system sacrifices some defensive strength in order to enhance control of the midfield.

A set of concepts centered on controlling possession of the ball.

To put it simply, it's a tactic of using control instead of defense, and offense instead of defense.

Different regions have different three-center-back systems.

In the Premier League, there is a greater emphasis on attacking firepower, and the three-center-back system is designed to support the attack.

In La Liga, the focus is more on control, with an emphasis on absolute control of the midfield.

In Serie A, while they also emphasize attack and midfield control, they have not abandoned their traditional chain defense.

However, this chain was placed in the midfield area.

With a numerical advantage established in midfield, the danger can be fundamentally resolved through a large-scale encirclement and suppression.

This is how AC Milan FC plays in this system!
Once they get the ball, they can immediately launch an attack.

Last season, thanks to the connection between Rafael and Simeone, this tactic demonstrated a strong attacking capability and even reached the Champions League semi-finals.

However, with Simeone's departure and joining the Premier League's Thames United, the fundamental source of firepower, namely the lack of finishing ability, has been compromised.

Portuguese player Leo, despite a good overall performance, lacked finishing ability and his finishing touch was somewhat lacking.

This also led to Milan FC's inability to break through after a long period of attack. When they were putting a lot of energy into the transition between offense and defense, they were easily countered and eventually conceded a goal.

In the Champions League group stage, they conceded three goals in quick succession to Liverpool. It's fair to say that Liverpool exposed AC Milan's problems and even taught everyone how to beat them.

However, very few teams can achieve this, especially Atlético Amsterdam.

The Merseyside Reds' style of play is based on an ironclad defense, enabling rapid transitions between offense and defense.

Atletico Amsterdam's defensive capabilities are far inferior to those of Liverpool. If they focus solely on defense, they may not only concede goals but also lose their midfield rhythm.

Therefore, Morton's entry point is still in the midfield.

The 4-3-2-1 formation is commonly known as the Christmas tree formation.

By stockpiling a large number of players in the midfield and defense, the team can ensure a strong defense while increasing control of the midfield.

Musar organized and controlled the tempo, Reyesa was responsible for defensive sweeping, and Wei Lai was responsible for linking up play and attacking.

For the two shadow strikers in the frontcourt, Mr. Morton chose Konrad Lechmann and Diego Rouma, who has better dribbling ability.

The shadow striker is the main attacking point of this formation, while Felix is ​​mainly responsible for drawing fire.

At the same time, Mr. Morton also made some minor changes.

That is Wei Lai's longitudinal movement, including that of the two full-backs, in the flanks and the half-spaces.

Taking Wei Lai as an example, his activity positions are concentrated in the right rear half of the field and between the left and right flank areas of the front field.

Once the attack begins, Wei Lai will take on the role of a server, delivering the ball to the most dangerous teammate.

Simultaneously, they follow up with the attack, positioned in the rear, ready to provide support at any time.

In this position, Wei Lai has ample room to maneuver with his through balls and curveballs.

boom!
On the field, Wei Lai passed the ball back, then turned around and made a gesture of opening his arms.

"When the full-backs overlap, they must pay attention to the sideline and ideally step on it. Your task is to widen the distance between the full-backs and create space for passing the ball in the flanks or even the middle."

Pessand nodded; "Wei has completely understood this tactic!"

This command demonstrates that Wei Lai has understood and mastered this tactic.

The purpose of overlapping full-backs is not to launch attacks on the flanks, but to increase the width between the full-backs and help create space in the flanks.

Mr. Morton remained silent and continued to look at the pitch.

He discovered that Wei Lai's way of handling the ball had become very 'free'.

It's not the kind of standardized, formulaic transfer, but rather a series of passes that are incomprehensible, yet sometimes unbelievable.

For example, in this instance, he kept passing the ball around on the wing, even though the attacking area on the wing had become narrow.

When that area was completely squeezed out of space, with no gaps left, Wei Lai suddenly pulled the ball back, turned, and passed it laterally, instantly opening up a new and deadly space for the middle and the weak side.

However, this style of play is very risky and also puts a great strain on the individual abilities of teammates.

In narrow areas, if a teammate loses possession, they face a counter-attack.

"Stop spreading it!"

Diego Ruma was furious, jumping up and down. "There's no space left!"

He pointed to his position, which had been pushed back outside the sideline, and couldn't help but complain loudly.

Wei Lai scratched his head awkwardly.

The football legend's coach emphasized 'creativity' and 'inspiration'.

He was also exploring this area, but it always felt awkward and incongruous.

"Wei!"

Mr. Morton suddenly shouted something.

Wei Lai turned his head and saw the old man waving at him. The substitute had already run in to take Wei Lai's place.

"Come!"

Mr. Morton took out a tactical board from the side and placed several signs in the midfield and forward area.

He pointed to the marker on the right flank; "This is you! You're receiving the ball with your back to the goal, there's space at the far left post, what are you going to do?"

Without hesitation, Wei Lai said, "Pass the ball back to position eight, let the teammate facing the attack launch a long pass to the far post!"

“That’s right!” Mr. Morton nodded: “This is a tactical template for passing, where the teammate facing the attack passes the ball. But things change in an instant on the field, and every minute and every second is precious. The back pass you made wasted a rhythm point, giving the opponent at least a second to prepare. But what if you had foreseen this and turned and passed the ball to the far post with your left foot?”

Wei Lai was taken aback.

"The so-called offense is about being one step ahead of the defense, and how to be that step ahead is up to your choice."

"Passing back to teammates is certainly an option, but it's too formulaic. If you do it yourself, it's a different story."

He tapped the tactical board lightly.

"'Inspiration' is hidden in that one kick. It's not something you deliberately create, nor can you create it yourself. It's something that happens suddenly during the natural flow of the game! That one instant!"

Old Master Morton looked at Wei Lai: "Try to catch it!"

Wei Lai returned to the court and began to try as the old man had instructed.

Peschan glanced at Morton; "You want to develop him into an attacking midfielder?"

With his hands behind his back, Mr. Morton said, "What type of player he becomes depends on his choices, and I'm here to help him develop those things based on the talent he's shown."

"A creative attacking midfielder!" Peschan exclaimed suddenly. "He'll be in high demand!"

With the development of modern football tactical systems, the system itself has become the most important and fundamental element.

The game of football has long been reduced to a cold, fill-in-the-blank exam paper through repeated development of template-based tactics.

Every run, every pass, every shot seemed to have a standard answer.

Players' creativity is stifled by the deluge of data and systems. Competition in professional sports has become a series of complex mathematical formulas, and players are like precise but rigid AI, repeatedly practicing a specific, pre-set tactic.

Take Atlético Amsterdam's youth academy as an example: while they call for creativity, they produce a large number of workhorse midfielders!

Inspiration and creativity have long been endangered in the European arena.

Even Mosktl's renowned coach, Gary Sleino, after a youth training event, looking at the rigid passing patterns, publicly declared that 'football is dead.'

How scarce is Wei Lai?
To put it simply, in the entire European football scene, apart from midfielders of Rafael's generation, including the middle and new generations, creative midfielders can be counted on one hand.

Creativity, offensive ability, and young age—these three factors alone could make Wei Lai's market value exceed 8000 million.

In the eyes of Pessan, with the support of the supermarket behind him, Wei Lai only needs to make a brief appearance in the Champions League to gain some prestige, and his market value will easily exceed 100 million.

Of course, this requires Wei Lai to deliver the same performance in the Champions League as well.

If we could further develop the midfield core attributes to support a system, then I really can't even imagine it.

However, this is still a relatively distant prospect.

After all, Wei Lai still has many technical shortcomings to make up for and many capabilities to be strengthened before reaching the core attributes!

At the very least, Wei Lai cannot develop this ability at the Amsterdam Arena.

Atlético Amsterdam is a club that produces talent on an assembly line; they lack the funds and time to give Wei Lai the ability to develop over a long period of time.

This requires a team to give everything and build a formation around that player, and it will take at least 2-3 seasons to validate and integrate the players before they can become truly competitive.

February 21st, the day before the Europa League Round of 2.

The entire Milan FC team arrived in Amsterdam by plane.

Inside the gym, Wei Lai got off the treadmill and looked up at the television.

A large number of reporters surrounded the area, creating a very lively scene.

A large number of fans gathered here.

He had shoulder-length wavy hair parted in the middle, bright blue eyes with deep-set eye sockets, and while his features weren't exactly delicate, they were harmonious. His angular face, combined with his strong and tall physique, even made his thick stubble on his chin look incredibly charming.

This is the French midfield maestro, Rafael!
"Tsk tsk!"

Wei Lai rubbed his chin; "How about I grow a beard too?"

But thinking about his own youthful face, Wei Lai shook his head.

His face shape is more like an oval face, without any sharp angles, and his overall appearance is quite youthful, after all, he is only 17 years old.

Even if he grew a beard, it would look out of place.

Wei Lai was staring at the television, but Dennis Chilbourne behind him was staring at Wei Lai's head.

"Wei, what's your testosterone level?"

Dennis Zilburn's words stunned Wei Lai.

"Testosterone?" Wei Lai was taken aback. "Are you referring to my hair problem?"

Testosterone is an androgen, which can cause hair loss.

In his previous life, although Wei Lai had not completely lost his hair, his scalp was already faintly visible.

Besides, his hair is naturally fine and soft, so there's no problem now, but it will definitely fall out in the future.

"Should I take any measures?" Wei Lai asked.

“That’s what I’m here to remind you of,” Dennis Chilblain said, pointing to his bald head. “Don’t use any ointments; those suppress testosterone and will lower your athletic performance. Just shave your head like I do.”

"Huh?" Wei Lai grinned; "I think I'll choose to get my hair transplanted!"

There's no rush now, I'll wait until I start losing hair!
Wei Lai has always remembered this!
After all, this is irreversible!

(End of this chapter)