With maxed-out heading ability from the start, I became the king of Arsenal.

Sun Yu discovered that Chinese football media are far ahead in the field of pretending to know what they don't.

From the very first day that Transfermarkt updated player valuations, he has seen himself in football news every day.

In the next issue of the Football News, it was placed directly on the "front page," which is the "main news page."

Although he knew the other party was probably up to no good, Sun Yu still read the masterpiece with the attitude of exchanging ideas and learning.

The article is titled "Sun Yu's brilliance reflects the survival mode of Chinese football in the top five European leagues".

"After the transfer window closed, Transfermarkt updated player valuations, and Stoke City striker Sun Yu became the most valuable player in Chinese football history with a valuation of €500 million. This figure is insignificant in the Premier League, but in the context of Chinese football, it is enough to draw a new milestone."

Sun Yu noticed a problem: these media outlets always like to use a grand narrative headline to summarize an event.

The writing style of Football News appears approachable, but it likes to use some seemingly profound but actually obscure words.

What "coordinate system for Chinese football"?!

What "gradation lines!"

But just from the beginning, Sun Yu knew that his image could not possibly be that of a perfect and righteous person.

What followed was exactly what he expected: "A month ago, Sun Yu was still a fringe player for Leyton Orient. The League One team terminated his contract during pre-season training, citing 'inability to perform in League One' as the reason."

"A month later, Sun Yu made two substitute appearances in the Premier League, scoring two goals against Tottenham and winning a crucial penalty against Chelsea. He used his head and feet, in the most un-Spanish way, to find a way to survive in an era when possession-based football was all the rage."

The two paragraphs together give the impression that "while others are eating hot pot, Sun Yu is eating the hot pot broth."

Further down the line: "From Fan Zhiyi, Yang Chen, and Sun Jihai to Zheng Zhi, the history of Chinese players playing abroad is a history of the migration of 'all-around warriors.' They are either versatile defenders, midfield metronomes who can run and pass, or sharp strikers with both speed and support. The reason they can establish themselves is because they are well-rounded enough to find their place in the system."

"Sun Yu is different; he's not well-rounded."

"His ball control is only passable, his short passing accuracy is at a League One level, and his dribbling is practically nonexistent against Premier League center-backs. His attacking methods are extremely limited: make a run and head the ball in. His defensive methods are equally limited: block his position and solve problems through physical duels."

"Sun Yu is a system player, and extremely dependent on a specific system. Stoke City's long balls, throw-ins, and dense box bombardment seem tailor-made for him. But what about a different environment? Spanish football's possession-based style, Italian football's chain defense, German transitions—in these mainstream football contexts, can Sun Yu find his place?"

Check it out!

People who use pens are different; they even use polite language when they curse.

This can be summarized as: "This kid is just a laborer in the English football system, a scrap of the football world."

He wrote a lot more later, the gist of which was that while it is commendable to prove oneself through performance, can one still be effective once one's opponents have thoroughly analyzed one's abilities?

Is he able to come up with anything new?

The article quickly shifted to Sun Jihai: "Sun Jihai, with his all-around abilities, played in the Premier League for many years and earned consistent playing time."

"Sun Yu's abilities are too one-dimensional, with both his strengths and weaknesses being equally obvious."

"From the perspective of the barrel effect, what determines a person's height is often not the longest plank, but the shortest plank."

"The greater the weakness, the greater the achievement, because it is often the weakness that restricts personal growth."

Apply the principles of workplace, corporate management, and team building to football.

Although it's unreasonable, most fans can't find fault with it.

The article also states that with the further development of possession-based football, more and more young people will seamlessly integrate into the world of "European Latin style" football.

Finally, to reiterate the main point, Sun Yu's experience is a case study worthy of attention.

"At least for now, he's heading in the right direction. But whether this path will be successful remains to be seen."

How to make yourself look like you know everything about football!

It's like saying that if you master passing and ball control, going to European football is like tightening screws on an assembly line.

The person who wrote this article has clearly never witnessed Spanish youth training firsthand. Apart from a few clubs with their own youth training programs, youth training matches in the rest of the world are all about physical combat.

From the age of seven to nineteen, there were very few exceptions.

During the following international match days, the Chinese national football team, which had been practicing possession-based football for more than half a year, specifically chose to play against Iran, a team known for its power-based football in the eyes of Chinese fans, and Paraguay, a team that is not the most technically skilled in South America.

This choice can be described as painstaking. Since its formation last year, the "Gao Family Army" has drawn with the German team and defeated the French team in warm-up matches.

These two victories gave Chinese fans a much-needed boost, and it was against this backdrop that the Football Association dared to call for "abolishing long passes and crosses and establishing a possession-based system."

Therefore, during this competition cycle, the Football Association arranged two opponents for the national team to consolidate the results of their possession-based football strategy.

The main idea is to take it one step at a time.

Before the match, Coach Gao was asked at the press conference whether he would call up Sun Yu in the future.

Coach Gao maintained a very low profile: "I have no plans in that regard for the time being."

When a reporter suggested that a Premier League player could improve the national team, Coach Gao replied expressionlessly, "Everyone should know that possession-based football is a very complex system."

"We did do some research on Sun Yu beforehand."

"Based on the information we have, he is not yet capable of implementing this tactic, so this selection will still focus on the core team that won the East Asian Four Nations Tournament."

On September 3, the Chinese national football team lost 0-2 to Iran.

Iran had 65% possession, while China only had 35%.

Iran had 14 shots, 7 of which were on target.

The Chinese national football team had 7 shots, 2 of which were on target.

This is bad!

Just when they were about to achieve their goal, they were brought back to reality by a powerful Asian team.

As a result, the fans realized that something was wrong.

The Chinese national football team's draw with Germany and their victory over France certainly boosted their emotional value.

This was indeed something the Chinese national football team fought hard for, but how much the German and French teams cared about such a match is a matter of opinion.

But as direct competitors in the World Cup qualifiers, Iran and Saudi Arabia care.

Last year, the Chinese national football team lost 1-4 to Saudi Arabia in a friendly match, and this year they lost to Iran, suffering a complete defeat with the team being pinned in their own half.

This team has been practicing possession-based football for a year, and all their notable achievements have come from warm-up matches.

If someone really goes for it, you still can't beat them.

By this time, domestic fans had also realized what was happening.

I feel like something's not right, but I just can't quite put my finger on it.

If they can beat world-class teams, why can't they beat Asian teams?

Is that how you play passing and control?

The match between the Chinese national football team and the Iranian team was almost exactly the same as the situation when Stoke City played against Iran.

If Sun Yu can play well against Chelsea, why can't he play well against Iran?

Coach Gao remained calm after the match: "The system we are building is quite complex, so it's normal to have ups and downs in the game."

"What we need to do next is to lay a solid foundation, which will take a long time, and we hope everyone will give us time."

"Football is an eleven-player sport. One player cannot have an immediate effect. The team's short-term goal is the Asian Cup in January next year, and the long-term goal is the World Cup four years later."

"Of course, we will evaluate every player, and we hope everyone understands."

On September 7, the Chinese national football team drew 1-1 with Paraguay, who were playing in the Asian Tour.

They still had no possession and were still on the defensive.

However, the result is certainly acceptable, considering that Paraguay reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, losing by only one goal to eventual World Cup champions Spain.

However, fans noticed a problem when comparing the starting lineups: Paraguay fielded almost all of its World Cup starting players when they defeated Japan three days earlier.

Against the Chinese national team, only four key players were fielded.

Coach Gao maintained his high-handed attitude, but the fans realized something.

Our national football team's passing and control skills can't beat the opponent's in the short term, so why not choose players with strong abilities?

If the national team develops this skill, and other national teams also develop it, and they still rely on defense, then Sun Yu should be considered even more!

From this perspective, isn't there something wrong with the attitude of your comments?

The day after the match, Sun Yu received a phone call.

The other person spoke in a harsh tone: "You're Sun Yu, right?"

Sun Yu: "Yes, who are you?"

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "I am Tang Tianhao (pseudonym), the team leader of the Chinese national football team. First of all, congratulations on being included in the national team's scouting list, but you are not registered with the Football Association."

"Give me a fax address so we can complete your registration process and get you selected for the national team."

Sun Yu had a sudden inspiration: "Is registration required to be selected for the national team?"

Tang Tianhao: "Yeah! What else?"

"Getting selected for the national team isn't easy, but we saw that you have some unique qualities, so we simplified the procedures."

"Hurry up, I have a lot of things to do. Fax your address to me within five minutes!"

This is not the attitude one should have when asking someone for a favor.

It turns out that the Chinese national football team has no way to call up players who are not registered.

understood!

Sun Yu smiled and said, "I'm not registering, I'm hanging up."

Tang Tianhao's defense penetration value +70

Whoops!

That's quite a lot!

Where did your swagger go?

Further simplification of procedures?

What procedures?

Is there an entry fee?

Is appearance a separate matter?

Is the initial price different?

One day I realized you were just dreaming.

Just then, the phone rang again.

Sun Yu resolutely refused.

Tang Tianhao's defense penetration value +80

They called again, and I refused to answer again.

Tang Tianhao's defense penetration value +90

Three minutes later, Sun Yu received a text message, which he blocked without reading it.

Tang Tianhao's defense penetration value +100

That's all it took to break through her defenses?

I still prefer your rebellious side.