Starting with Real Madrid kicking the midfielder

Chapter 38 Who said he was just a defensive midfielder?
Milan did not give Li Ang enough time to adapt.

He arrived in Milan on January 1th, and started a full-day training session with his new teammates on January 4th.

As a result, before the end of the morning, he basically replaced Flamini, who was still in the hospital bed, and was announced by the coaching staff to be included in Milan's No. 18 round of league players.

At the moment when Milan is still competing with Naples for the top spot, it is common sense that Allegri would not directly put Li Ang into the starting lineup.

After all, in order to protect the league results, it will be safe and secure to send out old players.

Li Ang himself is not yet familiar with his new teammates, and it will take time to understand Milan's tactics and get used to them.

But absurd reality sometimes is just that fucked up.

Because Ronaldinho has been forced away and Pirlo has been half abandoned.

Allegri didn't want to gamble on using the young midfielder Merkel, so Li Ang was the only starting choice for the defensive midfielder.

However, before the team officially announced tomorrow's starting 11-man list in the afternoon, Allegri called Li Ang to his office during the lunch break.

While having a symbolic communication with Li Ang for a few minutes, he wanted to "remind" Li Ang.

After all, Li Ang was called by him to come on loan, and he also hoped that Li Ang could withstand the pressure and use his performance to dispel doubts from the outside world and the team.

Although there is a desire to use Li Ang as a "knife" to continue cleaning up the veterans in the team.

But Allegri doesn't think Li Ang will refuse the temptation of the starting position.

So he was very calm, and he also wanted to remind Li Ang to always remember to stand by his side.

It's a pity that Li Ang didn't agree as honestly as he thought. Instead, he made two bold suggestions.

"In fact, I can play double midfielder with Pirlo, just like partnering with Alonso in Real Madrid, or the coach can arrange me on both sides of the midfield. I can do my best to play the role of the midfielder. Support and protection for the lower back."

When Li Ang put forward his suggestion, Allegri thought he had heard it wrong.

Double back?
Playing on both sides of the midfield?

The former Allegri can barely understand, but the latter.
"Do you know what you're talking about, Li Ang? Or, do you really know why I rented you to AC Milan?"

Allegri's expression became serious, and Li Ang nodded quickly when he saw this.

"Of course I know, sir, you want a tougher defensive midfielder, because in your tactical concept, the deep playmaker is not so important, as long as the defense in the midfield can stabilize and increase possession of the ball With Zlatan as the core, Milan can still play a smooth and efficient frontcourt attack while strengthening its defense."

Allegri nodded in satisfaction at Li Ang's call, but at the next moment, Li Ang's turning point came again.

"However, I still feel that I can coexist with Pirlo, or that when I am with Pirlo, Milan's midfielder will burst out with greater strength and threat than it is now."

Allegri didn't know where Li Ang's self-confidence came from, he became a little impatient, and wanted to simply refute it.

But Li Ang's next sentence stunned him.

"Don't you want to regain a 'normal' Pirlo?"

Li Ang's soul questioned the "don't want" that made Allegri squeeze his throat, but he didn't say it for a long time.

After a while, Allegri asked Li Ang in a strange way, "How can you prove to me? Andrea is old, and Gattuso and Seedorf are also old. Can you make them regain their youth?"

"I can't, but I can run better. As long as Pirlo is on the court, every game, I will do the defensive dirty work that he can't do. I will run the part of the distance he runs less. I may not be able to do it. I can sweep the midfield more than the young captain (Gattuso), but my interception efficiency should be higher, and I can adapt to the new role of sweeping the midfield, and the supporting organization is no problem."

Seeing Li Ang's uncharacteristically confident appearance, Allegri gradually made the simplest decision amidst all kinds of doubts and entangled thoughts.

In the team confrontation in the afternoon, when Li Ang was assigned to a group with Pirlo and clearly stood on the left side of the midfield, almost all the old Milan players looked at Allegri.

But Allegri did not have the slightest error correction, but only indicated that the group confrontation was going on normally.

Li Ang didn't feel uncomfortable or timid either. After the match started, he started to run actively in the wide area on the left side of the midfield.

Pirlo, who served as the defensive midfielder, transferred the ball, protected the midfielder Seedorf, and actively assisted Antonini to jointly block the left flank area.
Even Li Ang made some small mistakes in coordination because of the tacit understanding between him and his new teammates.

But in the new position of the left midfielder, he obviously slowly played a performance that exceeded everyone's expectations!
Allegri's surprise was palpable.

The organizational support and the ability to connect the front and back courts shown by Li Ang are not excellent.

But he is indeed keeping up with the rhythm of Pirlo and Seedorf!
He didn't brag, and Allegri had to admit that Li Ang's position in the left midfielder to help the core players run the team, at least his ability is sufficient.

Li Ang did not show this characteristic of himself in the previous Real Madrid games.

Even in the training session yesterday afternoon, he just stayed in the backcourt and defended honestly.

So Allegri really didn't know that he was still hiding this trick!
"The organizational support ability is sufficient, and the short-passing technique seems to be more refined than before. It's only after half a year of playing with Alonso that he can have such growth?"

Just when Allegri had question marks in his mind, Li Ang also showed his usual stable performance on the defensive end.

His large-area coverage and sweeping directly made the left half of the field in his group a "stagnation zone" for the opponent's offense.

If you want to hit his side strongly, it is uncomfortable for the person holding the ball to play, and it is also uncomfortable for the person who is running without the ball to catch the ball.

Because he is not wasting physical energy running around, but the route he chooses every time he runs is almost stuck on the "main artery" of the opponent's attack.

No way, the defensive position selection is excellent!
With such talent and abundant physical fitness, Li Ang directly turned into an efficient intercepting machine, and it was very annoying to snatch Boateng and Ibrahimovic who were opposite him.

They really wanted to find a chance to forcefully fight Li Ang's side. In fact, the two of them thought they could fight, but the efficiency was too low, and the energy and physical energy wasted was not worthwhile.

The point is that Li Ang's defense is like a piece of brown sugar, if you throw him away occasionally, he will stick to you and fight with you soon as if he won't be tired.

In short, it is to highlight a "torture"!
While Ibrahimovic and Boateng played uncomfortable, Pirlo played smoothly and comfortably for a long time.

Li Ang's "excessive" defensive protection for him allowed him to spend most of his energy on sorting out and organizing the offense.

This feeling is the first time Pirlo has felt this season.

And in good form, he also frequently used long and short passes to catch the loopholes in the opponent's defense, helping his team successfully draw with the opponent 10-1 in the four 1-minute confrontation training!

You know, most of the teammates in his and Li Ang's team are currently substitute players in Milan's first team.

It is really not easy to be able to play a threat on the offensive end and score a goal, and also withstand the impact of the starting striker on the defensive end.

"Who says he's just a defensive midfielder?"

Boateng muttered something after the training, which resonated with the teammates around him.

Although Li Ang didn't show a wonderful personal performance on the offensive end, his supporting organization was completely fine and it was enough.

Good defense, plenty of physical fitness, and can also integrate into the team's offensive rhythm.

How can this be a midfielder who can only defend and do dirty work?

Isn't this Allegri's favorite young midfielder now!

Seeing his head coach rubbing his chin and his eyes gradually shining, the old Milan players knew it well.

They may be changing again.

(End of this chapter)