Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 5 Initial Training
On Tuesday morning, Edwards, who lives in downtown Liverpool, personally took on the task of picking up Zhang Mai.

Zhang Mai came to the club's training ground in Mr. Edwards's sedan Ford Fiesta, and it took only 10 minutes.

The training ground is not far from Tranmere's home stadium, Prenton Park.

It was still early, so Zhang Mai stopped by to visit the place where he will fight in the next few months.

Prenton Park Stadium is a century-old stadium that can accommodate 16 spectators. It is also the home stadium of the Liverpool U789 team.

The stadium has four stands: the main stand, the "Johnny King" stand, the "Science" stand and the "Bullpen" stand for away fans.

A club like Tranmere has limited strength, but still has a loyal following that has existed for over 100 years, with an average attendance of over 5000.

"Maybe one day Tranmere will be promoted to the top league like Bournemouth and Leicester, but it's more likely to just stay in obscurity."

Edwards, who accompanied Zhang Mai, was filled with emotion.

There are still many teams like Tranmere in England. Although they are not well-known, they also have their own brilliance. So what if they can't play in the Premier League?Fans don't care at all.What they like is not the championship, but their home team.

It is important to have a wonderful game, but what is more important is a feeling, the feeling for your hometown team.

Such is the community-based English football culture.

Obviously, there is a certain gap between Tranmere's stadium hardware and the Premier League teams.But in such a club, the relationship between fans and players and coaches is closer.

"If the fans are seated towards the front, it's easy to get players or coaches to sign autographs, take pictures or even chat, you have to get used to that."

Edwards told Zhang Mai some cultural characteristics of Tranmere.

"Tranmere also has open days for fans and the chairman of the club will be there.

Here you will feel that you are not a star, fans are not consumers, everyone is equal, and everyone is completely a family!"

……

Soon the players were all here, and after Edwards' brief introduction, Zhang Mai started the first joint training with professional players in his life.

Tranmere has cobbled together 24 players this season, most of them are veterans from League Two and ordinary young players whose potential has been exhausted.
Now there are three injured and injured, and those present plus Zhang Mai are just enough for the team's training match.

The captain is the 26-year-old main defender Holness, who is mature and stable. On behalf of the whole team, he welcomed Zhang Mai's arrival and introduced his teammates on the field one by one.

Everyone is very interested in Zhang Mai's youthful Chinese face, especially Bell Badger from Sierra Leone in Africa and Donna Xien from St. Lucia in the Commonwealth of Nations.
One is a 22-year-old striker; the other is a 21-year-old defender. The two black brothers kept walking around Zhang Mai and started rapping on the spot.

There are also those who obviously do not welcome Zhang Mai, mainly a few white strikers from the British Isles,

Another black striker, Odejayi, is from Nigeria. He is 32 years old this year and obviously does not want to get involved in the struggles of young people.

The rest of the teammates had no position conflict with Zhang Mai, and they were all happy to greet him with smiles.

While warming up, several of Zhang Mai's competitors got together to discuss the new threat:
"Can Chinese people play football?"

The first to express disdain was the 28-year-old Scottish striker Laird. Zhang Mai's body was similar to his, which made him feel the biggest crisis.

"It can't be worse than the two of us scoring one or two goals all season?"

The 23-year-old Welsh striker Richards is the smallest among the strikers (172cm),
The Wannian substitute who belongs to the second division-speed forward, often uses self-defeating to pass the bench time.

"I've heard of him. It turned out to be from Finch Farm. He should have two brushes!"

The 21-year-old local striker Stockton is facing a formidable enemy, knowing that these youth talents are not comparable to himself who only scored one goal in five or six games.

"Whoever he is, he is a good cat who can score goals!"

The 22-year-old Northern Ireland striker Donnelly is tall and mighty (188cm), his nostrils are almost upturned,
Who told him to be the top scorer among white forwards, averaging 0.25 goals per game.

If Zhang Mai heard their discussion, he would definitely announce in a bully manner, "Let's go together, the four of you are not enough for my leg!"

Edwards blew his whistle and began to allocate manpower and arrange tactics, preparing to start the 11-man game in the team.

After Zhang Mai listened to the tactics, he was very satisfied with Edwards arranging himself in the forward position.
According to Tranmere's tactics, giving a striker may also delay Zhang Mai's development prospects.

The tactics of England B are so rough and primitive, 532 formation, the "5" in it is to stick to their own backcourt;
"3" doesn't need to toss up and down by himself. When defending, he mainly intercepts the opponent. When attacking, he is responsible for hitting the opponent's penalty area behind the striker;

"2" rushed to the front line and fought hand-to-hand with the opponent's defense line. It would be even better if he could score a goal.

No wonder there is no market for speed forwards in League Two. You can run fast, and there are a few fleshy pillars waiting in the backcourt.

Zhang Mai was still slandering against this simple and retro tactic;

But in the opening 5 minutes, after the two sides completed a wave of offense and defense, Zhang Mai suddenly realized.

The three central defenders in the "5" stay put unless the ball flies into their own area;
The two fullbacks in "5" only toss up and down in their own backcourt;
The three midfielders swarmed after the football and the opposing attacking players.

At this time, you can see the importance of body and bravery attributes. Passing the ball is just a routine operation, and even dribbling the ball is the ultimate move!

Full-back assists do not exist, and full-backs who can attack and defend well are at least starting in the British Championship.

"Welcome to the League Two arena! A fighter from the East."

The English midfielder Powell, who was assigned to the same side, is the main force of the team, and his scoring efficiency is higher than that of the striker.

Out of trust in the coach's vision, Powell had a good impression of the rookie Zhang Mai, who was five years younger than himself, and couldn't help but remind him.

"Oh, hello! Powell, I think I might as well try the long shot."

After waking up from the shock, Zhang Mai expressed his gratitude to this friendly and capable teammate.

The 16-year-old Zhang Mai has a well-developed figure and is not afraid of British collisions and confrontations. He is also no stranger to England's ancestral long pass.

Zhang Mai quickly integrated into the British second level hand-to-hand battlefield. He had a great time fighting for the top, grabbing positions, intercepting and tackling, and was temporarily recognized by his teammates on the field.

In the half-hour training match, Zhang Mai did not score a goal. Most of his energy was spent on crosses from the sideline and long-range shots from the outside. responsibilities.

The four white strikers on the field all scored goals. Except for Stockton who came over to say hello, the other three all held their heads high in demonstrations in the distance.

Edwards, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was not those idiots. He could see Zhang Mai's versatility in the frontcourt at a glance.

Standing forwards and pie-eating forwards have long since disappeared in the five top leagues. The development trend of forwards is the development trend of forwards who are technically versatile and have strengths.

What's more, Zhang Mai's strength and physical fitness can stand up to an adult strong man. Thinking about him, he is less than 16 years old, and his future is limitless!

After briefly summarizing the game, Edwards finished today's training and hurried home after sending Zhang Mai to Chinatown.

Throughout the afternoon, Edwards was thinking hard at home on how to make good use of Zhang Mai's sharp knife.

(End of this chapter)