Super Marshal

September 25, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The seventh round of the Eredivisie is being held at Ajax's Amsterdam Stadium, with Ajax hosting Zwolle.

The strength gap between the two teams is obvious. Ajax currently ranks third in the Eredivisie, behind Feyenoord and PSV, while Zwolle is at the bottom of the Eredivisie in points, ranking 18th in the Eredivisie.

For the home game, Ajax head coach Peter Bosz deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with a trident offensive combination of Younis, Zhang Yuning and Neres in the frontcourt, and Schön in the midfield, with Clark behind. Sen and Ziyech came forward.

Such a midfield and frontcourt lineup can be said to be full of offensive power, assembling Ajax's strongest offensive lineup at present.

Chinese youngster Zhang Yuning performed well in the Eredivisie this season, and his consecutive goals in the World Cup qualifiers allowed him to temporarily stabilize his position in the first team at Ajax. However, after returning from the Asian team, He served as a substitute for three consecutive games, and then started for an hour in the Dutch Cup match against Willem II. The team won 5-0, but Zhang Yuning failed to score.

In this game against Zwolle, he once again appeared in the starting lineup.

Unbeknownst to the players and fans, in the VIP box of the Amsterdam Stadium, Gao Han, accompanied by Sergio Garcia and Xiao Mu, also watched the game live. In addition to Van der Sar and other players, Gao Han also watched the game live. In addition to Jax's core senior management, there are also Gao Han and Zhang Yuning's agent Jorge Mendes, as well as Ajax star Louis van Gaal.

Among them, Van Gaal was specially invited by Gao Han.

"We are still very satisfied with Zhang Yuning's growth and progress, but after all, he is still relatively young and lacks the experience of self-adjustment, so he traveled a long way to Asia and played in the World Cup qualifiers. His return state was somewhat affected, but the current adjustment Not bad.”

Van der Sar took the initiative to explain to Gao Han the problems Zhang Yuning is currently encountering in the team.

Even though he is now promoted to the top level of Ajax, Van der Sar still has great respect for Gao Han, his former mentor.

"How was the training?" Gao Han asked with concern.

"The attitude is very good and the body is recovering well. I believe he can adjust quickly." Van der Sar said with a slight smile. "In addition, the team has also begun to tailor a strengthening training plan for him, mainly for the last shot. As well as pre-shooting adjustments, we think this will better enhance his competitiveness.”

Gao Han nodded. This kind of treatment can only be given to players who have been cultivated in the team, such as the former Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart, Sneijder and other new star players. However, if Ajax can be cultivated in a focused way, it will not be available to them. It’s hard to see how much Ajax attaches importance to Zhang Yuning.

This is due to Gao Han's recommendation and Mendes' operation. Of course, Zhang Yuning's own strength is also indispensable.

Many people have a misunderstanding about Ajax, thinking that the Eredivisie giants are famous for their youth training. You can say this is true, but it is also wrong. What Ajax is best at is carving semi-finished products.

If you carefully study Ajax's past youth training output, it is not difficult to find that what they like to do most is to recruit young semi-finished products from the Netherlands or around the world. These young players with potential already have the foundation to become professional players. Ajax is responsible for improving them in the final stage and then selling them at a high price.

Ibrahimovic, Huntelaar, Suarez... many stars left Ajax in this way.

The entire training process is an industrial chain. Players are just processed products in the chain. It is cruel and may even involve the survival of the fittest. However, this is the way Ajax survives in European football and cannot be tolerated. A little kindness.

As early as when Gao Han suggested that Zhang Yuning join Ajax, he had already explained all the stakes clearly, and he also made the final decision, choosing to join Ajax and accept this challenge.

For him, if he loses, the worst he can do is to return to his original form. Even with the gold plating from Ajax, his market will also rise accordingly, but if he wins, it will skyrocket.

…………

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Ajax today is no longer what it was at the beginning of the century.

A group of players headed by Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart, and Sneijder represented the final glory of Ajax. At that time, there were foreign players like Ibrahimovic, as well as Van der Vaart and Sneijder. An outstanding local rookie like Ned contributed to the strength of Ajax at that time.

But then Ajax fell year by year. Although players like Suarez and Huntelaar were born, their performance and momentum were inferior to Feyenoord and PSV. In addition, The club's management was in turmoil, which greatly affected the team's performance.

Until around 2010, the return of a group of legendary stars led by Cruyff, De Boer, and Van der Sar reshaped Ajax and ushered in four consecutive championships. But at this time Ajax can only show its prestige in Dutch football.

This season Ajax is vigorously promoting youth reform. Among the eleven players on the field in this game, nine are born in the 1990s, and five are born in the 1995s. It is indeed a team. Very young team.

In this young team, Zhang Yuning in 1997 is undoubtedly the youngest.

However, Ajax did not get off to a good start in this game. In the first four minutes, Zwolle scored a goal from midfielder Brama assisted by left winger Thomas, taking the lead in scoring away from home.

Fortunately, four minutes later, Klassen took advantage of a corner kick opportunity to assist Colombian central defender Davinson Sanchez in 1996 to score a goal and successfully equalized the score. In the 38th minute, Sanchez scored again from Qi Yehe assisted and scored twice to take the lead.

Throughout the first half, Ajax suppressed Zwolle and frequently created opportunities. It was a pity that neither Zhang Yuning in the frontcourt nor Younes and Neres could score in the end. Opportunities are often missed.

This made Gao Han in the box somewhat disappointed, but he also understood in his heart that Zhang Yuning was still young after all and lacked the ability to self-regulate when dealing with multi-line operations. This is what Buenaventura will have to deal with next.

"How is it? How do you feel?" Van der Sar asked with a smile.

Gao Han nodded, "Very good. Klaassen, Ziyech, Sanchez, and Schön are all very good. Neres in the frontcourt has great potential. If he is well cultivated, he will definitely be another treasure."

Having said this, Gao Han turned his head and looked at Mendes, who was sitting next to Van der Sar, but secretly raised his ears to eavesdrop. He said with a smile: "If I guess correctly, Sanchez and Neres are the two of us." The famous player should have been introduced by Jorge, right?"

Van der Sar and Mendes were both stunned, then looked at each other and smiled.

"Let me just say, he is very cunning, how can I hide it from him?" Mendes chuckled.

"This summer, Ghazi moved to Lille, and Jorge introduced Neres to us. For this reason, we worked very hard to sign him from Sao Paulo. All of us are unanimously optimistic about him." Van der Sar He nodded.

As the agency's business grows, Mendes has also begun to establish his own scouting network. Coupled with the rich experience accumulated over the past few years, he now has very few young players. After that, they will be appraised by Gao Han's fiery eyes, which are usually internal inspections within the company.

This is also a sign that the brokerage company is maturing, and Gao Han also welcomes it.

From a few words, Gao Han can also understand that in the cooperation between Mendes and Ajax this summer, Sanchez, Neres and Zhang Yuning are probably tied together, which is also a norm in European football.

Thinking of this, Gao Han narrowed his eyes and moved his fiery eyes, scanning Neres and Zhang Yuning as they walked off the court.

"Judging from his performance in the first half, Neres is a very smart player. This is also the characteristic of many Brazilian players recently. The world economy is globalizing, professional football is also globalizing, and Brazilian youth training is also globalizing. Improved in the wave of globalization, many new generation players no longer handle the ball as they please, but become more reasonable."

Everyone nodded after hearing this, this is indeed a trend.

For example, Jesus plays for China Town. This player has performed very well this season, but he does not have the characteristics of a traditional Samba player. Instead, he has a European style.

Neres is a bit similar to Jesus, and they are about the same age, but overall, Jesus is better.

"He is smart enough and very calm. He rarely puts himself in uncomfortable situations where it is difficult to handle the ball. He also knows how to cooperate with his teammates, but his physical fitness is a bit poor. I think he should be strengthened appropriately, as well as scoring. Ability should also be appropriately improved, and within three years, something will be achieved."

Mendes and Van der Sar looked at each other, and they both saw surprise in each other's eyes.

Obviously, this was Gao Han's first time watching Neres's game, but in the end, it only took half a half-time for him to think through Neres's strengths and weaknesses so thoroughly that he even gave a plan for the next three years. development plan.

Combining the results of Ajax's careful research and investigation in the past few months, it is found that it is very close to what Gao Han said. The only slight difference is physical fitness. Ajax believes that there is no need to strengthen it.

But this is not Gao Han's mistake, but Ajax's long-standing tradition that they do not attach great importance to physical fitness training.

It was also at this moment that Van der Sar truly felt why Gao Han had the reputation of being a talented player in European football.

"What about Zhang Yuning?" Mendes asked concernedly.

He also knew Gao Han very well and knew that the purpose of his trip was Zhang Yuning, so he naturally knew how to lend flowers to Buddha.

"At this age, many things have been fixed. I think Ajax's training direction is right. Zhang Yuning should turn to the direction of tactical fulcrum and scorer development, improve the strength of the final kick, and the ability after stopping the ball. Adjustments, especially with my back, I remember..."

Gao Han talked about the home game against Iran. Zhang Yuning once stopped the ball on the left side of the penalty area and then turned around and hit the goal directly with his right foot. It was very exciting and almost scored. This left Gao Han with great impression. deep impression.

Ordinary fans must think that such a shot is normal and can be hit occasionally, but Gao Han knows very well that this shot represents Zhang Yuning's future development trend.

Since basic skills and other aspects cannot be further improved, you have to work hard to find a path suitable for your own development. Even becoming a role player is a good choice as long as you can tap your potential.

In this regard, Ajax has proven its ability to tap young players.

After listening to Gao Han's introduction, Van der Sar immediately asked Gao Han for a video of Zhang Yuning's match in the World Cup qualifiers, saying that he wanted to give it to the technical department to study and develop better and more targeted reinforcements for Zhang Yuning. training plan.

Van Gaal, who was sitting on the sidelines, did not participate in what was being discussed.

Since leaving the coaching position, he has been idle at home, but he has never left football.

But for the current Ajax, as a legendary player in the past, he did not have any involvement or even evaluation, because the current leader believes in Cruyff.

And everyone knows that he and Cruyff are notorious rivals.

If Gao Han hadn't received an invitation tonight, he wouldn't even have set foot at the Amsterdam Arena.