Born to be a coach [soccer]

Over there, the Sunderland first team began to prepare for the pre-match training under the leadership of Russell, and Anton took some time to observe the training of the children in the youth academy.In addition to Paul, Anton also brought Henderson who had just emerged from the youth academy and joined the first team not long ago.

Anton believes that young players who have just emerged from the youth team are more likely to have a tacit understanding with their peers, and can identify peers with potential talents from among the many "seeds" of the youth team.

He had already asked Henderson to recommend several teammates who he thought were "playing well" in advance, and combined with the list provided by Paul, he investigated the "good seedlings" in the youth team.

When he walked in the youth training camp with Henderson, most of the players who were training cast envious eyes. "Look, Henderson with the manager."

"This... is going to be reused by the head coach!" Several half-grown children gathered in the distance, looking at Henderson and Anton together, envious.Henderson is not yet 19, was hanging out with them a few months ago, has signed a contract with the club, joined the first team, and accompanied the manager to watch them train - people and people, really different!

At this time, the head coach of the youth team, Paul Simpson, trotted over, greeted Anton, and asked with a smile: "You came just in time, you are about to let them play a training game, how is it?" He saw that Anton was wearing a suit today. The sports outfit appeared in the youth training camp, and he asked teasingly, "Are you interested, and I will end myself and show off?"

Today Anton wore a sports coat and trousers, and a cold vest outside.He also wore a hat with the team crest on it, with locks of short, curly black hair playfully poking out from under the brim.The heavy-looking pair of tortoiseshell wide-rim glasses still rest on the bridge of his nose.The air was damp and cold, and as soon as Anton opened his mouth, he immediately breathed out white water vapor.

"Paul, you are embarrassing me!" Anton said with a laugh.

Paul just remembered: Anton seems to be...a head coach who has never been a player. So, this one, really can't play football?Not at all?He stared at Anton in a daze: It's actually a bit rare for a head coach who can't play football by himself.Most of them can hug a few feet on the field, explaining the position and running direction and so on.

"It's okay, Jordan and I can just watch." Anton shook his hand, expressing that he didn't intend to interfere with the normal training of the youth team.Paul nodded, blew his whistle, and then yelled loudly: "Boys, show your energy. Today is the first day of the new year. I hope you will play a beautiful game in front of the team's new head coach." Training match."

"Roar—" the young people on the field shouted in unison.The training game is their basic training program. When they heard the whistle, the big guys immediately ran to their positions. When Paul blew the whistle, these children immediately started the game.

Sunderland deserves to be one of the largest clubs in the Northeast region. The scale of youth training is not small. From 5-year-olds to 20-year-olds, there are many players in all echelons.Parents nearby send their athletically gifted children here, hoping that they can start from here and pursue their dreams.What Anton is watching now is the training match of the 17- to 19-year-old youth team. Not only did they make up a total of 22 players from both sides, but there were even "bench" players.

Henderson has been standing beside Anton, introducing the players on the field to Anton.Anton matched the names on Paul's list with the real person in front of him.

"He is Pickford?" Anton pointed to the goalkeeper who had just made a save, and couldn't help but smile.Henderson nodded: "He is very talented, but the coaching staff feels that he is still inexperienced, and he is a bit young, so he needs to hone in the youth team for two more years." Obviously, Henderson's communication skills are good, He gets along very well with the coaching staff, and knows the situation of each player in the club well, so he is the material to be a captain.

Anton nodded, but thought in his heart, always in the youth team, you can't gain experience, and it's time to go to the first team to play official games.He remained calm, but asked all the other people on the list, and they roughly got the number.At this moment, Anton's eyes lit up. He pointed curiously at a teenager who was breaking through the sidewalk, and asked Henderson beside him, "What's the name of that red-haired guy?"

"Jack Colbeck, he's good on the right," Henderson said.

Anton nodded, indicating that he remembered.At this time, the ball just went out of bounds and rolled to Henderson's feet. Henderson picked it up honestly, without any fancy, and handed it to Colbeck who rushed to the sidelines for a throw-in.The red-haired boy glanced at Anton and took the ball from Henderson.

Several "bench" players were whispering: "Is this coach really good at playing football? Or is he too frustrated to say anything?"

"Should we give it a try?"

"How to try?"

"Of course, kick the ball to him and see if he catches the ball with his feet or with his head. Anyone who has kicked the ball should have a direct reaction!"

"We asked the players on the field to do this. Otherwise, if the ball hits the coach and knocks him unconscious, or his glasses are smashed, the person kicking on the field can be said to be an accident." These monkeys are like The boys gathered together and secretly looked at Anton's thick pair of glasses.

"Ask Colbeck to do this. He is the best at this kind of thing." Several people discussed it, and took advantage of the dead ball to tell the red-haired boy this idea.

Anton watched the half-time training match and knew it well. He turned around and greeted Henderson: "Let's go, don't delay your training today, there is a game tomorrow..."

Henderson faced the training ground at this time, his face suddenly changed, and he opened his mouth to remind, but he didn't have time to make a sound——

A game ball flew towards the back of Anton's head quickly, and it was about to hit Anton's head.Even if Henderson wanted to "fly to block the hole" like the last game, it was too late.

Henderson was a little afraid to watch: Will Anton be hit by the ball in the next moment?Will it just pass out?Who did this?In the youth team, does anyone dare to disown the head coach?

The players in the training field were as shocked as Henderson.Paul's whistle was in his mouth and he forgot to blow it.Only Kolbeck, who took the kick, ran towards Anton quickly.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Anton turned around suddenly as if he had eyes in the back of his head—he didn’t just turn to face the incoming ball, but wrapped in a huge force, his body almost turned 360° in just a moment , and at the same time kick off with the left foot, stretch out the right foot toward the ball flying in the air——

With a "bang", Anton's kick was too powerful, and the ball flew directly out of the training ground and towards a bush behind Guangming Academy.

"This is……"

Including Paul, almost all the people present were dumbfounded.They didn't know what trick Anton was using, but they all knew that it was definitely not a football kick—but, this kick was such a sharp volley!

Anton kicked the ball away, landed on his right foot, and regained his footing.The glasses on the bridge of his nose are fine.

A group of children on the bench suddenly jumped out, cheering and saying: "Kung Fu, this must be Chinese Kung Fu!"

"We have a great coach."

Henderson was also a little dazed, and asked, "Coach, this...is this really 'Kung Fu'?"

Anton said: "This is the whirlwind kick in Taekwondo. If you go back to the origin, you can also trace it back to the origin of Chinese Kung Fu."

At this time, Anton turned his head and said to the group of "bench players": "Now you all know that I really don't know how to play football. But it doesn't mean that I can't catch the ball, and it doesn't mean that I can't play football." Coach the team!"

He can't play football, but he is a ninth-dan black belt in Taekwondo.

At this point Paul blew the whistle, stopped the game, and sent Colback to apologize to Anton.The red-haired boy had a stubborn face, indicating that he didn't do it on purpose.Anton smiled heartily and said, "Colbeck, do you still have to go to the woods to pick up the ball? I'm sorry, I didn't kick the ball away on purpose."

He kicked the ball so far, and Colbeck had to look for the ball for a while, which was considered a punishment for Colbeck.Now it was even after the two strokes, the red-haired boy could only leave resentfully to find the ball by himself.

Anton and Henderson returned to the room together, and a warm breath spread over Anton's lenses.He stopped, stood still, took out the glasses cloth from his pocket, wiped the lenses carefully before putting them back on.

Henderson said from the side: "Coach, it seems that these glasses are very important to you!"

Anton nodded: "Yes, this pair of glasses is very, very, very, very important to me."

Henderson had never heard such an emphasis on the importance of a pair of glasses. After hearing this, he thought to himself, could it be that the coach is highly myopic and cannot see normally without the glasses?But Anton's gray-blue eyes are flexible and energetic, and sometimes his eyes are frighteningly serious—it's not like that!

But time was running out, and Henderson couldn't afford to think so much.He must return to his training ground immediately: tomorrow they play Liverpool.

What kind of team is Liverpool?Liverpool is a Premier League giant whose ancestors don't know how rich they are. They once won the league championship and included five Champions League trophies in their pockets.Sunderland himself thinks that "the ancestors have been richer" and has a glorious history, but compared with Liverpool, it is like Xiao Jiabiyu facing a wealthy daughter. After all, it is still far behind and cannot be compared.

Last season, under the leadership of coach Rafa Benitez, Liverpool achieved the highest score in team history, but still failed to beat the Red Devils Manchester United, and regrettably won the league runner-up.

But Liverpool's state this season is not as good as last season.According to Anton's judgment, although one of the two teams is in the Premier League and the other is in the British Championship, the strength of the two teams is not so disparate.What's more, the English FA Cup has a resounding title-"hotbed of unpopularity".