Chapter 344 Rookie Wall

The Amsterdam Invitational is an annual Ajax tradition.

At the beginning of each season, Ajax invites European powerhouses to participate in Amsterdam. In recent years, with the decline of the Toyota Cup, the Amsterdam Invitational also intends to internationalize the event, so it began to invite South American teams.

In addition to the host Ajax, the four participating teams this season include Arsenal from the Premier League, Porto from the Portuguese Super League, and Boca Juniors from South America and Argentina.

Ajax has been carrying out arduous pre-season training in the past month, especially Yang Yang, who participated in the pre-season training for the first time, practiced very hard, but due to Yang Yang's training plan and teammates They were out of sync, and he didn't play well in the few warm-up games before the season.

This has always been expected by the coaching staff and Yang Yang himself.

Even at the Amsterdam Invitational, Yang Yang still couldn't play.

In the first game against Boca Juniors, Ajax played very poorly in the whole game and took the advantage of the field, but the attack was delayed, and in the end, Boca Juniors caught the opportunity to score a goal, In the end, they lost the game zero to one.

Yang Yang played for 60 minutes and was closely guarded by Boca Juniors, and his performance was relatively average.

In an interview with the media after the game, Yang Yang said that he is recovering.

"I've never believed in the so-called rookie wall, I just need some time."

Ronald Koeman also said in an interview with the media that Yang Yang scored zero goals in the warm-up match. An important reason is that he is undergoing pre-season physical reserve training and state adjustment, and everyone should give him more time.

"He doesn't need to prove himself to anyone anymore, he's the best player!"

"I believe he will still be the best player in the Eredivisie this season."

Ajax also supports Yang Yang very much, and the fans are also full of confidence in him, firmly believing that his downturn is only temporary, and he will be able to come out soon.

Aaron Moy, a well-known Dutch media personality and the host of Football Online, also supported Yang Yang in his own radio program, believing that he needed to recover from the World Youth Championship to the Amsterdam Invitational in less than a month. Adjustment, but also for the new season to carry out hard physical training, which is not easy.

"In fact, we can see that a lot of players who performed well last season tend to underperform in the World Cup or the Confederations Cup in the summer, because every player has ups and downs."

"Yang Yang is undoubtedly in his trough now, give him some time, I believe he can quickly climb to a higher peak."

Two days later, in the second game of the Amsterdam Invitational, Ajax again lost 0-1.

In this game, Yang Yang's state is obviously going to pick up a little. In just 40 seconds in the opening, he made a wonderful heel pass, but Sneijder failed to score.

Arsenal's problems also exposed their own problems, that is, Vieira's transfer, Gilberto Silva has not yet returned, making the Gunners' protection of the front of the box very weak.

Wenger once let Pires play in the back position, but the effect was not very good.

Ajax consciously wanted to take advantage of this area, but Yang Yang and Ashley Cole struggled together, Sneijder was alone, and Ajax's attack failed to produce results, but in the 87th minute , Hleb assisted, Arsenal striker Lupoli scored, and the Gunners won two consecutive victories.

According to the rules of the Amsterdam Invitational Tournament, Arsenal won the two games with six points, plus three goals, for a total of nine points, and won the invitational tournament. , Boca Juniors won the third place, the host Ajax lost all two games, did not score, and finished bottom with zero points.

Warm-up matches and cup matches continued to slump, which made Ajax a lot of controversy.

In particular, Yaya Toure, who was transferred this summer, took the place of captain Gallacek. After starting with De Jong, he did not seem to adapt very well, which made the team's stable midfield defense appear. A few mistakes, and the offense was slow to open up the situation.

Yang Yang's lack of excitement is only one aspect. The midfielder did not create enough shooting opportunities for him, which is the root cause.

The Dutch Telegraph stated in the comments that Ajax’s offensive problems have begun to affect the team’s new season journey, and Ronald Koeman should solve this problem as soon as possible before the new season officially starts.

Whether it is Ronald Koeman or Yang Yang, the media and fans will no longer question their coaching level and game strength, but the question for Ajax now is how to solve the team's offense as soon as possible and reactivate Yang Yang's state.

Not only the media fans pay attention, but even the management attaches great importance to it.

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The second floor is the main coach's office.

Ajax's technical director Ali van Eden, head coach Ronald Koeman, chief assistant coach Luther Carroll, chief fitness coach Jan Kluitenberg, and the players' representatives Captain Gallacek, the team's number one star Yang Yang, and midfielder Sneijder all sat together.

This is the first time Ajax has invited players to participate in the discussion in the new season. Obviously, the coaching staff also hopes to listen to the opinions of the players, especially from Yang Yang, who is the team's number one star.

Last season, Yang Yang created half of Ajax's goals, and everyone has high hopes for him this season.

But there's also a section waiting to see Yang Yang's joke, thinking he's going to hit the rookie wall.

Losing the Amsterdam Invitational with such a dismal result put a lot of pressure on Ajax.

Although it was only a warm-up match, and no one did their best, Ajax really played too badly, with zero points and no goals.

You know, the feature of this invitational tournament is that one goal counts as one point, and zero goals are really not good-looking.

The coaching staff took the lead in analyzing the team's situation and believed that the current situation basically did not surprise everyone, including Yang Yang, his state came relatively slowly, which is understandable.

Kluitenberg said that including Yang Yang himself, there is no need to worry too much.

"Before September, you will definitely be able to gradually enter the rhythm and form of the new season."

During this period of time, Yang Yang strictly followed his training plan without any discounts. If Yang Yang's condition could not come, then his physical fitness coach must be responsible.

Yang Yang himself also said that he felt that his state was gradually coming back, and he was full of confidence.

Galasek said that there is no problem in the team's locker room, even the newly introduced Yaya Toure gets along well with the team without any problems.

As a captain and a veteran, Galasek failed to play the main force, which is somewhat embarrassing, but everyone believes in his role in the locker room, so he is still the captain of the team in the new season.

Sneijder admitted that there were some problems in the midfield, but he couldn't say what the specific problem was. He just felt that it was awkward to play. He used to have Galasek and De Jong behind him, so he could let go of his hands and feet. , but now...

"Yaya Toure is also very hard on the defensive end, but I always feel that something is not right, and I can't let go."

Luther Carroll attentively recorded every word of Garacek and Sneijder. This is also some ideas for the coaching staff to solve the problem. After all, the players are the most direct and first parties on the court. Go deeper.

Ronald Koeman also nodded, then turned to look at Yang Yang.

"Yang, please talk about it too."

Everyone immediately turned to Yang Yang.

Although he is only eighteen years old, he is already the backbone of the current Ajax team.

Not to mention other things, if he says something in front of the media tomorrow, I will be very unhappy, the whole Amsterdam, even the Dutch football world will cause an earthquake, if it is more serious, Ronald Koeman's coaching position to be shaken.

Because of this, the coaching staff attaches great importance to Yang Yang's opinions. How to make him play comfortable and how to use his full strength has become the most important task of the coaching staff at present.

If Yang Yang is not activated, who will score goals in the new season?

Wesley Sunk is gone, and although Charlie Steas has scored in double figures, he is not a scoring center.

Whether it is Nicholas Bendtner or Ryan Babel, for the time being, they can't afford to lift this bridge.

Yang Yang also pondered it carefully for a while, then looked at the head coach and Luther Carroll, and after their encouragement, he spoke, "I'll just talk about some of my personal thoughts, and the details of the game. feeling."

"Well, it's fine. Since it's a symposium, of course it's free to speak freely." Ali Van Eden said.

Ronald Koeman also nodded and said, "It doesn't matter, even if you think there is something wrong with our tactics, just say it. Only by communicating can we reach a consensus, right?"

Luther Carroll listened with some emotion.

At this time two years ago, Yang Yang was just a young boy who just made his debut, but two years later, he has now become the backbone of Ajax. In a word, everyone in the club must pay attention to it. listen.

Sometimes when he thinks about it, he can't help but sigh at the rapid progress and rapid growth of Yang Yang.

But he was somewhat worried, for fear that after last season's glory, Yang Yang would become less humble, which is definitely a taboo for professional players.

But with so many people present, Luther Carroll could only first listen to what Yang Yang wanted to say.

"Ronald's words are serious." Yang Yang smiled politely at Ronald Koeman, which was his respect for the head coach, and Ronald Koeman also responded with a smile. motioned him to continue.

Obviously, Yang Yang's statement made him feel respected. As long as what he said next would not be too shocking, Ronald Koeman would listen and even accept it.

But precisely because of this, everyone present felt that what Yang Yang said next might be quite serious.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be like this.