Grass roots glory

Chapter 89 Competent starter?
At the beginning of August, the eyes of the whole world began to focus on BJ, and China will realize the ultimate dream of the century-old Olympic Games in this year.

And in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, [-] kilometers away, Zhou Tiancheng is preparing to follow the whole team to the city of Nice in southeastern France for pre-season training. He can only learn about the Olympic Games in his hometown, which has attracted worldwide attention.

Clubs of the five major leagues usually choose coastal cities for pre-season training and training. The beach and sea help players adjust their body and mind.

At the same time, another Bundesliga team, Leverkusen, is also training here. Out of the common preparation needs of the two teams, the needs of the warm-up match almost hit it off.

Slomka's strategy for the first and second half of this game is different. In the first half, the main lineup players from the previous season were examined, while in the second half, the actual combat ability of the new players was tested. Therefore, Zhou Tiancheng had to wait until the second half to have a chance.

Schalke can't help it either.Not only them, but also Leverkusen. Almost all Bundesliga teams are affected by the European Cup, and the training time is generally severely squeezed.Moreover, the start time of the new Bundesliga season is also in mid-August, which is about the same time as in the past. The start of the game has not been postponed, and the first round of the German Cup will start in a few days. It is not a big problem to win, but no matter how easy it is, it is still a competition task.It is a good thing for the fans that the German team broke into the European Cup final, but it does make these head coaches a headache.

……

In the first half of this warm-up match, Schalke 04, whose main force was all out, had a slight advantage on the scene. Although they did not even keep the runner-up last season, they were still ranked in the top three after all, and their strength is of course better than that of Bayer Leverku, who is ranked seventh. Sen is much stronger.

In the first half, Schalke 04 led 1-0 with the goal of Peruvian striker Farfan.

However, Slomka doesn't pay much attention to the score, and he knows the overall level of the main lineup. What he wants to know most is how well the new players of this group of teams can play in the second half.

Although the team's performance in the first two seasons was stable in the top three, and last season it reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but Slomka knew in his heart that the strength of the team's original lineup was already at the ceiling. In the next season, both the league and the Champions League will go further, and we must count on surprises from these new blood joining the team.

Zhou Tiancheng received instructions at the beginning of the second half and came off the bench together with Rakitic, Felman and others.Zhou Tiancheng put on his new No. 12 jersey in the first team, and it feels different.

Although it is not an official game, from this moment on, his career officially has a first-team appearance record.

Slomka walked up to him and simply explained what he needed to pay attention to when playing, and then said to him: "You need to prove that Norbert is not bragging in front of me."

Zhou Tiancheng smiled lightly. If there was no systematic real-time video simulation, he might have fluctuated mentality when facing this unfamiliar first-team opponent. Although he can't know everything right now, he still has confidence.

After entering the field, Zhou Tiancheng first stood in the middle circle, high-fived several nearby teammates one by one, and made an OK gesture towards his backcourt with a smile, full of confidence.

Seeing Zhou Tiancheng's move, Fellman, who had just replaced Neuer and also played for the first team for the first time, felt a little more at ease, while Höwedes, who hadn't played with Zhou Tiancheng for a long time, evoked a smile.

It was still the Zhou Tiancheng he was familiar with.Moreover, he faintly felt that Zhou Tiancheng's aura was stronger now.

……

Many things in the first team and U19 are in the same line. Even the regular formation is 4-3-3. Based on the characteristics of Zhou Tiancheng's ability to go up and down, Slomka arranged him in the center of the three midfielders. The Croatian Rakitic, who also ushered in Schalke's debut, can only serve as the right midfielder. In terms of function, he is obviously not as important as Zhou Tiancheng.

This made Rakitic feel a little unbalanced. When he was in Basel, he had the aura of a talented boy from the youth team, and he also enjoyed the core treatment in the first team. He was used to the feeling of being the central figure. Now But we have to start with green leaves.If he was asked to assist a meritorious senior from Schalke, he would have nothing to say, but Zhou Tiancheng's qualifications in the five major leagues are as shallow as his own...

Although Rakitic admits that Zhou Tiancheng is indeed very capable, it does not hinder his aggressiveness.

He doesn't want to lose to teammates who are on the same starting line as him!

So as soon as Rakitic came on the court, he tried two scalpel-style direct passes in a row, trying to penetrate the opponent's defense directly and let the coaching staff see his vision and passing skills.

But this is really out of sync with the overall rhythm of the team.Rakitic's eagerness for success was counterproductive, and the blind direct pass made Leverkusen's main midfielder Rolfes frequently steal the ball. At the beginning of the second half, Schalke 04's midfield combing suffered a lot. big hindrance.

Fortunately, Zhou Tiancheng was active enough, the first time he lost the ball, Zhou Tiancheng immediately took a step forward and grabbed Rolfes.In terms of confrontation ability, Zhou Tiancheng may not have much advantage, but through the system, Zhou Tiancheng has long realized that Rolfes's weakness is the slow speed of movement, so Zhou Tiancheng did not hesitate to take this step up, quickly and decisively, Directly put the instep between Rolfes's foot and the ball to form effective damage.

Slomka's face changed significantly on the coaching bench. He was obviously dissatisfied with Rakitic's handling, but he saw Zhou Tiancheng's invaluable awareness of supplementary defense.

"Hey, you can be a little more patient. This is an opponent in the Bundesliga. It's not that easy to deal with, you know?" Zhou Tiancheng went up to remind him out of kindness after helping Rakitic.

Rakitic bit his lip and didn't answer.However, judging from the subsequent situation, he temporarily suppressed his selfishness and returned to his normal state. His ability to control the ball and organize gradually showed, which proves that Schalke 04's insight is still reasonable. His vision in the midfield He Hou's long-range shooting ability is really outstanding, not to mention that Zhou Tiancheng secretly affirmed it in his heart, even Slomka, who had already given him a low score at the beginning, gradually raised his score now.

But to say that the rookie he is most satisfied with is naturally Zhou Tiancheng.Not only does he have a wide range of running on the field, he has appeared in key positions in front of his own goal several times to complete the clearance, and on the offensive end of the team, he can often be seen rushing to the opponent's penalty area to participate in the final blow after instigating a long pass to counterattack. The end, and extremely threatening, completely disrupted Leverkusen's already solid midfielder. Between offense and defense, it seemed that Schalke's midfielder had two cores.

There is no coach who does not like players with positive attitudes and outstanding abilities. Slomka originally thought that Zhou Tiancheng was an important substitute candidate for the new season, but now he feels that this position may be a bit low.

If you let him start directly, maybe he can embody more unexpected value.

(End of this chapter)