Chapter 71 Lopetegui: You should play like this

"So you know why there are fewer and fewer free kick masters in football now. Even if you are great at free kicks, your success rate is only 20% at best, but you have to spend at least thousands of hours..."

Lopetegui was dribbling the ball. His dribbling skills have not deteriorated much after so many years of retirement.

"Oh, and there's also the problem of the ball!"

Lopetegui suddenly thought of something and shot directly at the goal of the training ground, but the ball flew away.

"Ball problem? What's wrong with the ball?"

Jiang Yuan was puzzled. Isn't it a classic childish trick to kick the ball badly and create strange wind?
Seeing Jiang Yuan's confused look, Lopetegui couldn't help but smile and patiently explained: "You don't understand this, right? Since about 20 years ago, the production technology and materials of footballs have been constantly changing. The technological progress is too fast, and the cycle of this change is getting shorter and shorter."

"The change in materials, does that have any impact?"

Jiang Yuan asked.

"Young players like you may not feel anything, but those of us of the older generation can clearly feel that the ball is different. The ball is much lighter than it was 30 years ago, and the surface of the ball is becoming smoother and smoother. The trajectory of the ball in the air is also changing..."

"I see, Mr. Random, I think I understand what you mean!"

Jiang Yuan nodded. According to what Lopetegui said, the change in the characteristics of the ball is indeed the reason why there are fewer and fewer free kick masters.

Because just when you get used to kicking a ball, the material and manufacturing process of the ball will change after two years. For something like a free kick that requires a lot of proficiency, you have to start practicing again once you change the ball.

What a loss!
Jiang Yuan swallowed his saliva, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes: "Mr. Hu Lun, do you mean that I should give up the free kick training?"

Unexpectedly, Lopetegui shook his head: "I am just explaining to you why there are so few free kick masters, but I want to tell you that direct free kicks are definitely a killer in the top leagues! What's more, you have speed!"

"Then what should I do..."

Jiang Yuan humbly asked for advice. In front of Lopetegui's profound football theory, Jiang Yuan was like a newcomer who had just entered competitive sports.
"Come!"

Lopetegui picked up a football from the ground and motioned Jiang Yuan to lift his right foot.

"I was a teammate of Roberto when I was a backup goalkeeper at Real Madrid. Do you know Roberto? Roberto Carlos"

Jiang Yuan replied: "Mr. Hu Lun, I wasn't born when you played for Real Madrid, but I have heard of Carlos. His shot is very powerful and his speed is very fast!"

When it comes to Carlos Jiang Yuan, you must be familiar with him. The Internet is full of highlights of this Brazilian's free kicks.

Carlos' free kick can be said to be a nightmare for the human wall.

If I block it, I will feel sorry for my parents; if I don’t block it, I will feel sorry for the team.

"That's good. You know what Roberto told me? If you want to kick the ball fast, you can't waste your strength on the spin of the ball. Your elevator ball is very threatening, but the spin is still too great. If you can reduce the spin, your ball speed will definitely increase!"

Lopetegui stretched out his hand and stroked the inside line of Jiang Yuan's instep, allowing Jiang Yuan to feel the scoring position.

"Mr. Hullen, how can I stop the football from spinning?"

Jiang Yuan cast aside the doubts in his mind. His free kick ability was a natural part of his nature. To be honest, if you asked Jiang Yuan to explain how he kicked the elevator ball, he would definitely not be able to explain it.

"It's very simple. Stop the ball the instant your dominant foot touches it, reducing the contact time with the ball and turning the surface force into a point force. An object cannot rotate under the action of a point. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Well... of course, I want to try it."

Jiang Yuan was already eager to try it.

"Come on, try kicking the ball a few times. Don't use too much force. Feel the touch of the ball. Don't stick to it."

"Mr. Hullen, please speak slower..."

...At 2:14 am Beijing time on February 4th, Porto will face the challenge of Guimarães at the Dragon Stadium.

Compared with the teams they encountered before, the strength gap between Guimarães and Porto is the smallest. It can even be said that there is no gap between the two teams. When Porto played against Guimarães away, the two teams shook hands and made peace with a score of 1:1.

But even so, head coach Lopetegui had already made it clear in the locker room before the game that he would use more substitutes in this game.

The reason is simple, because Porto will face the Champions League quarter-finals in 4 days.

But the problem is that Porto is currently ranked third in the league, just one place behind Guimarães. Defeating Guimarães will be of great help to Porto's ranking in the Portuguese Super League.

Therefore, Lopetegui's final meaning is that the main players should play at full strength for 60 minutes, and whether to make substitutions after 60 minutes will depend on the specific situation on the field.

At the start of the game, the good news was that Porto, playing at home, scored a goal in the 31st minute through the team's striker Brahimi, thanks to the atmosphere of the fans.

At this time, Jiang Yuan could even believe that Lopetegui would directly let him play in the second half.

As a result, after Porto successfully scored a goal, Guimarães players became more and more powerful as if they were injected with chicken blood, and kept threatening Fabiano's defense in the rest of the first half.

At the end of the first half, Lopetegui suddenly asked Jiang Yuan to warm up, and then Jiang Yuan came on the field with Ruben Neves in the 66th minute.

The substitutes of these two teams, one is under 17 years old and the other is under 18 years old, but both of them have performed well in the previous few games.

Among them, Ruben Neves conquered the fans of the Dragon Stadium with his strength in his first season with Porto's first team. Many media speculated that the midfielder produced by Porto's youth training will be worth more than 1000 million euros after the end of this season.

As for Jiang Yuan, although he has played 6 times in the Portuguese League and 2 games in the Portuguese League Cup, the transfer market has not been updated in a timely manner, so the value of this Chinese kid is still 0.

In the transfer market, there is only one line of words introducing Jiang Yuan.

[Jiang Yuan, Porto No. 27, forward, 16 years old, worth——]

In the eyes of Porto fans, Jiang Yuan, the newcomer of the team, has great potential. However, for other Portuguese Super League fans, Jiang Yuan’s performance may not meet their standards.

After all, Jiang Yuan's age is there, and a few amazing passes and dribbles on the field cannot cover up some of the problems he has.

"Fuck!"

Jiang Yuan on the field held his head in amazement and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, Guimarães' striker forced into the penalty area. Fortunately, Casemiro committed a tactical foul and pulled the player to the ground, otherwise Porto would have been really embarrassed.

In the end, the score was fixed at 1:0, and Porto, playing at home, won by one goal.

Jiang Yuan, who came on for the 66th minute, had a total of 14 touches of the ball and his performance was mediocre.

The good news is that, thanks to Lopetegui's coaching, Jiang Yuan now makes fewer mistakes than before, and has one foot in the Portuguese Super League.

"Hahaha, thanks to your tactical foul, otherwise we might have been equalized!"

Quaresma put his arm around Casemiro's shoulders and laughed.

Everyone is very happy now, except Jiang Yuan who just stands there and smiles.

Because he will play his first UEFA Youth League match in three days.

Logically speaking, the U19 match should not make Jiang Yuan nervous now, but the problem is that Porto U19’s next opponent in the quarter-finals is Real Madrid U19!

……

(End of this chapter)