LRAB Chapter 15 Summer Camp: The Positioning of Coach DiFrancisco's Team
Chapter 15 Summer Camp: The Positioning of Coach DiFrancisco's Team
The next morning.
Roma's first-team players and some youth team players arrived at Rome's Termini train station with their luggage.
Take the high-speed train to Trento, a city in northern Italy, which is 630 kilometers away.
About four hours later, the team transferred to the team bus that had arrived earlier at Trento train station.
The bus traveled through the Alpine valleys and, after more than an hour's journey, finally arrived at its destination, the town of Pinzolo.
This is the base of Roma's preseason mountain training camp for the past two years.
The players finished lunch at the Beverly Alps Hotel in the town center at 4 p.m.
The coaching staff still arranged training sessions for the players.
After a 45-minute break, the players walked to the training field, which was only 500 meters away.
When encountering enthusiastic fans on the street, they will stop to sign jerseys and posters and fulfill fans' wishes for photos.
Chang Huan thought she had no "work" to do, but unexpectedly met fellow countrymen traveling together.
He thus experienced what it's like to be a "star athlete".
After the players finished warming up and stretching with physical trainer Manrico Ferrari, they took the GPS vests distributed by the coaching staff and began a 90-minute "devilish" training session.
Di Francisco is adept at the 4-3-3 and 3-4-1-2 systems, emphasizing high-pressure pressing, and therefore places great importance on player fitness.
Despite everyone's mental preparation, they were still exhausted.
Chang Huan was grateful that she had been training every day for the past month, and her physical condition was significantly better than that of her teammates who had enjoyed their vacation.
As training sessions continued, he reached his physical limits.
"The coach is insane!"
Lorenzo Pellegrini complained quietly.
Chang Huan, who was in the same group sprinting back, gritted his teeth and said, "Stop complaining, let's give it our all!"
"Let's go! Let's go!!"
After a 90-minute high-intensity training session, not a single player was still standing.
"Beep beep~"
"Everyone stand up! Stand up!! Jog 1000 meters!!"
Manrico Ferrari blew his whistle repeatedly, urging the players to get up.
Chang Huan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Karsdorp helped each other to their feet.
Gasping for breath, Karsdorp asked Chang Huan, "Chang, teach me a Chinese swear word."
"Hmm? What do you want to do?"
Chang Huan looked over, puzzled.
"Hey~ just venting my frustrations, the coach won't understand anyway."
"Teach me while you're at it."
Lorenzo Pellegrini's eyes lit up, and he was eager to try.
"You really want to learn?"
"If the coach finds out, it has nothing to do with me."
"It definitely has nothing to do with you."
"Okay then."
Chang Huan hesitated for a moment, but decided to give an on-the-spot demonstration: "Sh——ā, B——ī!"
Karsdorp and Lorenzo Pellegrini both looked at fitness coach Manrico Ferrari and immediately used what they had just learned: "s-ǎ——Bì!"
totally unexpected……
"Who said it's just throwing money around?"
Everyone instinctively looked at Lorenzo Pellegrini and Karsdorp. Manrico Ferrari's pupils shrank, and anger welled up inside him. He spoke in broken Chinese mixed with Italian: "Lorenzo, Rick, you two run two more kilometers."
The two: "..."
Chang Huan couldn't help but laugh and made a hasty escape.
But... he couldn't escape this calamity.
Manrico Ferrari roared, "Chang, you run another two thousand meters too!"
Chang Huan, halfway through the run: "..."
"Hahaha--"
The players watching the show burst into laughter.
With the addition of Lorenzo Pellegrini, Karsdorp, and Chang Huan to the training ground, the atmosphere at the summer training camp became more relaxed.
For the next week, the Roma team continued with a monotonous schedule of weight loss and physical training.
Ball skills training and integration are secondary.
Chang Huan, 17 years and 7 months old, performed exceptionally well in her two daily training sessions.
The basic talent "Iron Lung" provides a good foundation in physical fitness, while the intermediate talents "Ball Control Master" and "Dribbling Master" from David Silva's skill module also give him a technical advantage.
His performance completely exceeded the expectations of coach Di Francisco and his team.
Since taking over as Roma's coach, he has not been particularly fond of Chang Huan, the Liverpool U18 player signed by Monchi.
However, orders from higher-ups must be respected, so Chang Huan was positioned as a fringe substitute and a U18 starter.
Based on his performance in training this week, he is fully capable of becoming a regular substitute for the first team.
While his physical strength cannot compare to that of a mature man, his agile movement makes up for his physical shortcomings well in small-scale 7v7 and 8v8 matches.
He also possesses a precise long pass and decent free-kick technique.
Its tactical role has increased significantly.
The key is that Chang Huan possesses extremely strong tactical discipline and tactical understanding.
However, after careful consideration, coach Di Francisco's team decided to use Chang Huan cautiously.
After all, they are still growing, and they need to gradually adapt to the atmosphere of professional competition in order to perform more consistently.
Roma players gradually realized that Chang Huan from Liverpool U18 was really skilled, and defenders such as Nainggolan, Strootman, and Manolas were often left bewildered by him.
The offensive teammates in the group battles felt very intuitive, and the advance was very smooth.
Chang Huan also likes to seek advice from experienced players on the team.
Learn from De Rossi and Strootman on how to better organize attacks.
Ask the defensive players what kind of offensive player they are most afraid of...
After a week of intensive training, Chang Huan impressed almost all of his teammates with his outstanding performance.
Except for a few players whose positions overlap.
In the past few days, the players who had gained weight have basically returned to their professional physiques, and their physical condition is close to being suitable for competition.
They need some time to get back into the rhythm of the game.
For the players, changing head coaches this summer is fair to everyone.
Team cohesion is never achieved overnight; it requires numerous matches to develop chemistry.
Therefore, the club arranged six warm-up matches before the start of the 2017-2018 season!
Three regular warm-up matches and three international champions' cup matches.
On the last training session of the summer training camp, Pellegrini pulled Chang Huan aside for extra practice.
De Rossi, who finally outlasted Totti, will turn 34 in a few days. He will play for at most two to three years before retiring, at which point vice-captain Florenzi will take his place.
According to club tradition, the captain is usually a star player who has come up through Roma's youth academy.
But... the key point is whether he can become a key player on the team.
Even the Crown Prince of Rome is useless if he can't get playing time.
It's true that head coach Di Francesco was his mentor at Sassuolo, but Roma is not a team like Sassuolo that fights relegation every season. Only by performing well can he get more playing time.
Whether it's a 4-3-3 or 3-4-1-2 tactical system, the midfield must be able to both attack and defend.
His position on the field tends to be box-to-box, meaning he is stronger offensively than defensively.
The competition for midfield positions will be fierce in the new season after his return to Roma, and the defense cannot be allowed to become a weakness. Therefore, Chang Huan, with his silky and delicate footwork, needs to be "polished".
In exchange, Lorenzo Pellegrini, who can play as an attacking midfielder, central midfielder, and winger, will also share his insights on organizing attacks.
Di Francesco and his two assistants, Marco Domezini and Francesco Tome, watched the two men doing extra training with admiration in their eyes.
Professional football discourages extra training, but players who do so deserve admiration.
The coaching staff will always have a scale in their minds. If the players' abilities are not much different, they will naturally be more willing to give credit to those players who have put in more effort.
This... is the attitude towards playing in the game.
"There's a match tomorrow afternoon, so don't practice for too long."
Upon hearing the head coach's shout, Chang Huan and Pellegrini replied in unison, "Understood."
The following afternoon at four o'clock.
Pinetta Stadium.
Roma vs. Slovakian First Division team.
Di Francisco fielded a combination of starters, substitutes, and youth team players.
Chang Huan sat on the bench.
Roma, the stronger team, controlled the game, but their players were not in good form.
They were unable to convert their chances into goals.
The first half was all bark and no bite.
If it weren't for Alisson's outstanding performance, Slovacko, with his superior understanding with Alisson, might have even led at the end of the first half.
Before switching sides, both sides made several positional adjustments.
Chang Huan continued to wait for an opportunity in the warm-up area.
Chang Huan came on as a substitute for Perotti near the end of the match.
The Slovacco players didn't pay much attention to this green-eyed young man from the East, assuming he was just another average Roma youth player.
That's why Chang Huan's first touch of the ball brought a dangerous opportunity to Slovacko's goal!
He received the ball in the left center position of the attacking third and executed a smooth frittata, getting past the pressing defender. His 87-point long pass, combined with two Heavenly Eye talent fragments, was enough to send the ball to the intended landing point.
Dzeko, who had made a run to the right edge of the six-yard box, headed the ball back, and El Shaarawy, who followed up in the middle of the box, swept the ball into the net.
Head coach Di Francesco and his assistant high-five in celebration.
The team was very satisfied with Chang Huan's abilities and performance.
He can drive and pass, and he's also very active on defense!
It seems that the regular substitute role can be finalized.
This goal was also the only goal of the entire match.