Full-Level Pass, Please Call Me The Boss Of The Three Lions

The first time, the Chinese team has been in the limelight.

Chapter 91 World Cup preliminary list, selected! [Two-in-one]

St. George’s Park Training Base, Staffordshire.

St. George’s Park Training Base, officially opened in 2012, is currently the fixed base for England’s representative teams at all levels.

And this is the product of the reform and summary of English football.

As a veteran team, the sky of English football is shrouded by the haze of failing to enter the 2008 European Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

After the painful failure of two consecutive major competitions, the English Football Association learned from the pain and formulated the “Elite Player Performance Plan” with the Premier League Company, referred to as “EPPP”.

This plan was passed at the end of 2011 and implemented from 2012, and began to make drastic reforms to the entire youth training system in England.

The English Football Association hoped to replicate the success of the Clairefontaine Football Training Camp in France at that time, providing top-level hardware facilities and a complete set of tactical systems for national players at all levels.

It should be noted that the England team not only did not have its own fixed national team base, but even the team doctor did not have a full-time position.

Under normal circumstances, the Three Lions will borrow Arsenal’s Colney training base for local pre-match preparations.

During major competitions, the team’s team doctor will follow the convention to find a Premier League club to borrow someone temporarily.

This is the case for the adult team, and it is not difficult to imagine the situation of youth teams like the U21 before this.

With the opening of St. George’s Park, the Three Lions teams at all levels not only have a fixed base, but the English Football Association has also carried out a thorough reform of the youth training system of English football around this place.

This is also the fundamental reason why England’s youth training talents have exploded, and young talents such as Foden, Saka, Rice, Bellingham and others have emerged.

But that’s all for later.

The reform of English football has only been carried out for two years, and no obvious results have been seen yet.

And the adult team is in an awkward period of transition.

This has stumped the head coach of the Three Lions, “Ho Taigong” Hodgson.

The tactical room of the training base is already full of the coaching staff of the entire team.

As the U21 head coach and director of the FA Development Department, Southgate also sits on the left of Hodgson.

They gathered together today for only one purpose:

To draw up a preliminary list of 30 people for the World Cup in Brazil!

Next month, the 2014 World Cup will be held in the “Kingdom of Football” Brazil.

They need to select the strongest 30 players among all professional players with English nationality.

Then, select 23 of them to go to Brazil!

The old man sitting at the conference table is Roy Hodgson, the head coach of the England national team!

Roy Hodgson can be said to be the most respected coach and football boss in English football.

He has been coaching professional teams since 1976, and it has been 38 years.

He has coached national teams and club teams such as Swedish giants Malmö, Swiss national team, Inter Milan, etc., and has very rich coaching experience.

Because of his rich experience and tactical experience, he was given the nickname “Mr. Ho” by fans.

Since taking office as the head coach of the England national team in May 2012, the 66-year-old coach has led the team to play in the European Cup once.

But the results of that European Cup were not good.

Although England qualified as the group leader, it still fell on penalties in the quarterfinals.

And this year’s World Cup in Brazil is a major test for Hodgson to lead this team.

If the performance is not good, Hodgson is likely to be dismissed directly after the World Cup.

At this moment, a PPT is playing on the clear projection screen.

Each picture shows a detailed report of a single player.

Hodgson’s assistant Ray Livington stood next to the big screen and introduced them to everyone one by one:

“For goalkeepers, we have four candidates.”

“For defenders.”

“For midfielders, the 18-year-old midfielder Ling Feng, who just led Leicester City to win the championship and won the best player in the Championship.”

“For strikers, Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, who just broke the Championship goal record, is also on the final candidate list.”

“The above 30 players are our final candidate list.”

As the assistant sat back in his seat

, Hodgson, who was sitting in the upper seat, slowly said:

“Do you have any opinions on this list?”

Everyone looked at me, I looked at you, and finally a technical coach with rich qualifications spoke first:

“I think Ling Feng, this player, needs to be considered”

“Although his performance in the Championship this season is phenomenal. However, he is only 18 years old. From being promoted to the first team to now, he has only played more than 20 professional games.”

“And he has not been baptized by the Premier League. Can he really adapt to the atmosphere and pressure of such an important competition as the World Cup?”

“So, I personally tend to bring some experienced veterans, which would be better.”

“However, his age is an advantage. We can recruit him into the team and accompany the starting players in training, which is also a kind of training for him.”

As someone took the lead in throwing out bricks and jade, another technical coach also expressed his opinion:

“Jamie Vardy, I personally think He needs further investigation. ”

“He has scored more than 30 goals in the Championship this season. However, a considerable part of the goals came from Ling Feng’s assists. This shows that he needs the support of his teammates and his personal ability is not outstanding.”

“And his playing style requires enough space in the frontcourt to allow him to sprint and break through.”

“Sturridge’s footwork is better than his, while Lambert’s header is better than his, and his role as a fulcrum in the frontcourt is more outstanding.”

“Flanagan, he has too many injuries.”

“Defoe is too old, and there is no reference value for playing in a league like the MLS.”

After listening to the opinions of the coaching staff one by one, Hodgson finally looked at Southgate, who was sitting aside with a frown:

“Gareth, what do you think?”

Earlier, after watching the decisive battle between Leicester City and Burnley, Southgate immediately found Hodgson and strongly recommended Ling Feng, a young player, to him.

After watching Ling Feng’s game videos and highlights, Hodgson was also surprised by the mature style of this young midfielder who was killing it in the English Championship.

Especially his varied passes were impressive.

At his command, Ling Feng quickly became the focus of the England team’s scouting department.

Soon, a detailed scouting report on Ling Feng appeared on the desk of the England team’s coaching staff.

Everyone had no doubts about his talent.

However, his youth, lack of top league experience, and mental level of stress resistance made the England coaching staff a little hesitant.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Southgate just said firmly:

“I still stick to my opinion. Ling Feng must be brought to this World Cup!”

“In my opinion, his creativity is what we lack in the midfield.”

“There are many fast attackers in our team who can attack the opponent’s rib space. Ling Feng’s vision and passing skills are extremely good, which can just pass threatening balls for them.”

“Especially his arc cross on the right side, the landing point is very tricky, just in the area between the goalkeeper and the defender, which is very threatening.”

“And the set-pieces he takes are accurate, which can provide some changes to our tactics when we can’t open the situation.”

“Of course, I know that the intensity and rhythm of the English Championship he is in are not as good as those of the Premier League. However, the ability he has shown in the league has proved that his skills are enough to gain a foothold in the Premier League.”

“Even if he is not allowed to play in this tournament, letting him feel the atmosphere of the competition will be very helpful to his growth.”

As the director of the development department of the English Football Association, Southgate’s status is equivalent to that of the spokesperson of the English Football Association.

It is worth mentioning that he is also one of the main authors of the youth training outline “England DNA” released by the English Football Association in the future.

It can be said that his voice is very important in this room.

Hearing Southgate’s praise for Ling Feng, Hodgson couldn’t help but pay attention to this 18-year-old young man.

As a relatively conservative English coach, he actually prefers traditional English midfielders like Gerrard and Lampard.

Can insert long shots from behind, retreat to defend, and cover the midfield through active running.

Although Ling Feng is young and has never played a Premier League game.

However, judging from his game videos and scout reports, he has the advantages of a traditional English midfielder in addition to his impressive passing and organizing skills.

The average running distance of the top three players in the team and their enthusiasm in defense have left a good impression on Hodgson.

Even though his shooting ability is average, as Southgate said

, the team’s attackers and long-range shooters don’t need him to do these things at all.

As a head coach, you can’t just look at the individual abilities of the players, but you have to consider the entire team’s structure.

A team with stronger offensive or defensive abilities is not good enough.

Balanced offense and defense is the way to go!

From the perspective of the balance of the lineup, Ling Feng, a young midfielder who connects the team with passes, is indeed a good addition.

Thinking of this, Hodgson has made a decision in his heart.

However, he did not immediately agree with Southgate’s opinion, but said:

“Let’s leave the list like this for now. As for whether Ling Feng can make the final list, we will make a decision after the FA Cup final is over!”

He plans to go to Wembley in person to inspect this young man and see what kind of performance he can show when facing Premier League giants like Arsenal.

. . .

At 8 o’clock in the evening on May 5, the English Football Association announced the preliminary list of 30 people for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Four goalkeepers, led by Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, with Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Fraser Foster (Celtic), and John Ruddy (Norwich City) on standby;

Nine defenders, consisting of Baines (Everton), Cahill (Chelsea), Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Smalling (Manchester United), Flanagan (Liverpool), Stones (Everton);

Eleven midfielders, led by the “Double D”, and Barkley (Everton), Henderson (Liverpool), Lallana (Southampton), Milner (Manchester City), Ling Feng (Leicester City), Sterling (Liverpool), Wilshere (Arsenal) Carrick (Manchester United), Cleverley (Manchester United) and others.

Six forwards, led by the Red Devils’ No. 10 “Lu Xiaopang”, Lambert (Liverpool), Sturridge (Liverpool), Welbeck (Manchester United), Andy Carroll (West Ham), Vardy (Leicester City)

This preliminary list of 30 players almost includes the outstanding players of the old, middle-aged and young generations of England.

Except for Walcott who was out for the season and Chamberlain who was injured and failed to enter the list, these are the only ones who can basically fight.

That night, Ling Feng, who learned that he was also selected for the preliminary list of 30 players for the Brazil World Cup, was not as excited as his mother.

On the one hand, his situation was like Guan Yu who was in Cao Ying but his heart was in Han;

On the other hand, he also wanted to step onto the stage of the World Cup and fight with the strong teams from all over the world.

Moreover, after looking at the list, he concluded in his heart that this was definitely a muddy water!

Because this England lineup is definitely the worst in England’s history of World Cups.

No one else!

The results later proved that this England team was really bad.

The Three Lions, led by De Bruyne and Rooney, did not even qualify for the group stage and went home directly.

This is England’s worst record in the World Cup since 1958!

The two De Bruyne cannot coexist, which has always been a problem in English football.

Both of them are functional players with good physical fitness, large coverage area, defense, and can shoot.

But, to be honest, their footwork and organization are really not good.

They can’t play when they need to take the ball in the midfield.

Especially in the past ten years, England’s tactics have always been the traditional 442.

When Beckham was there, the two only needed to take a step in the midfield, and the task of organization could be handed over to Beckham to a certain extent.

However, after Beckham retired and Rooney, who retreated to the midfield, became the core of the team, England’s midfield became more chaotic.

Because Rooney is not the kind of full-time midfielder who can hold the ball and organize!

Therefore, when Wilshere, a “little threat” with outstanding footwork and the ability to pass threatening balls, emerged, the English saw hope, and they concluded that he would take on the responsibility of England’s midfield for the next ten years.

Unfortunately, the little threat is a big glass.

Frequent injuries ruined this talented young man who once fought against the three dream teams of Barcelona, ​​Saha and Baibu.

However, even though the lineup looks dim, the English are still blindly confident in their team because they have been blown around by the British media for many years.

In their view, although Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Terry, Owen and others are gone.

However, under the leadership of the two Germans, Rooney, and the healthy Wilshere, this “talented” England will give them some surprises!

This is yesterday’s update.

(End of this chapter)