"Theo Walcott?" Smoker was shocked when he heard the name, and immediately stepped forward and snatched the card from Wang Xiaodong's hand.
It's called a card, but it's actually a piece of white paper folded in half.
The text inside indicates that it is a letter of recommendation: "Theo Walcott has given permission to join the first team."
Seal signed: Kevin.
"This...this is Mr. Keegan's handwriting!" Smoker recognized it at a glance. "Dong, where did you find this?"
"It was in that guy's pocket just now!" Wang Xiaodong made a gesture of raising his arms.
"This... I didn't expect Theo to really get a recommendation from Mr. Keegan." Smoker also looked in disbelief.
"In other words, there is such a thing as guaranteed delivery?"
"No, Dong, things here are very complicated, not as simple as you think!"
Smoker sorted out his language and said as he walked: "Theo Walcott, this is a talented player. He is very fast and is good at playing winger. He previously played in the Swindon youth team, and the club I spent a lot of money to buy him.”
"Does that mean he just transferred here?"
"No." Smoker looked embarrassed. "Theo has been coming to the Southampton youth team for three years and has announced that he is a member of our youth training team."
"Three years? I haven't made it into the first team after three years here! In the end, I have to resort to the back door method... To be honest, I have begun to doubt the strength of Southampton's players!"
"No, no, no, the reason why he has never entered the first team is not because of his lack of ability!" Smoker quickly denied.
"What's that for?"
"age!"
"age?"
"Yes, he is the same age as you and Bell, but he didn't go to high school."
Same age?
In other words, he is almost 17?
"It turns out he is illiterate!"
"Dong, don't be discouraged. He will not affect your competition." Smoker patted Wang Xiaodong's strong back and enlightened: "His position is a forward, and there is no conflict with you."
"So you don't have to worry about him taking your place. Maybe you can become good friends!"
"Tch! I don't want to make friends with an uneducated guy!" Wang Xiaodong curled his lips with disdain.
You’re not good at studying either!
Smoker grumbled in his mind.
Except for mathematics, Wang Xiaodong's grades in all subjects were extremely poor. If it weren't for a father who is a school director, how could he have graduated with such a coincidence of grades?
"By the way, why don't I play forward? Then where should I play?" Wang Xiaodong suddenly asked.
"Uh... that's the position you played in the Cardiff and Vale Senior Cup final! Defensive midfielder, don't you like it?"
"Defensive midfielder? Then I'm not a defensive player?" Wang Xiaodong kept shaking his head after hearing this. "No, I want to be an offensive player!"
I already have an aiming charm, why not be a forward?
"Uh...even if you are a defensive midfielder, you can still score goals!" During this period of getting along, Smoker gradually understood that the only way to deal with someone like Wang Xiaodong is to take advantage of the situation.
"And many times when the midfielder gets the ball in the frontcourt, the opponent's defense will definitely be relatively low."
"You will be able to shoot easily then! Just like in the final!"
"Hmm, that seems to make sense." Wang Xiaodong nodded, showing signs of being convinced.
"Alright Dong, this is it!" Smoker quickly pointed to the court in front of him to change the subject, "There will be a series of basic tests later, I think there will be no problem for you!"
"Just watch!" Wang Xiaodong rolled his neck and gave Smoker a thumbs up.
.....
More than fifty players have gathered in the center of the field for trial training. These people are young people selected by Southampton scouts from various places.
Everyone gathered together in twos and threes, and by the time the scouts discovered them, they had already formed their own small group.
Most of this group of people are young people from England, with a few black ones. They are all tall and have long legs, and they seem to have received formal training.
There was also an Asian with yellow skin, but Wang Xiaodong took one glance and was no longer interested. It was a South Korean, Wang Xiaodong could tell at a glance.
There was no one around Smoker, and Bell was still in the hospital.
"In other words, you only recommended me?"
"No, there is another one!" Smoker shook his head and shouted to the crowd: "Adam, here, here!"
"Mr. Smoker, I'm here!" A little bearded man ran out from the crowd.
"Uh... Dong, are you there too?" Adam Lallana paused obviously when he saw Wang Xiaodong.
"You can be here, why can't I be here?"
Wang Xiaodong patted Lallana on the shoulder. The latter's shoulders suddenly dwarfed and he almost fell down from the pat.
"Okay, it's not easy to meet acquaintances here. Nana, just follow me from now on. I'll protect you if anything happens, hahahahaha~~~"
"Uh...thank you, thank you." Lallana grinned, not sure whether he was crying or laughing.
The first item is the physical test. Only by passing the physical test can you be qualified to stay here.
After receiving the physical examination form, Wang Xiaodong completed a series of basic tests such as return running, sprint, long-distance running, bench press, and high touch under the guidance of the assistant.
In the Premier League, what is often fought for is physical confrontation rather than skill.
If you are unlucky, your entire career may be scrapped even in training.
The physical test was easy for Wang Xiaodong, and not one of the fifty or so team members was eliminated.
After passing the physical test, there is a ball test.
The requirement for five-man two-goal is that you can only pass the ball with one kick. You cannot pass the ball out of bounds or kick the ball to another ball.
Until here Wang Xiaodong started to feel a little confused.
Even in the end, the other three players teamed up to "trick" Wang Xiaodong, often passing two balls to him at the same time. If Lallana hadn't been there to support him, Wang Xiaodong might have been a joke.
"Roger, how's it going?"
"Are you talking about the guy who started trouble when he first came here? He is indeed very interesting!"
After assistant coach Roger finished speaking, he opened the record in his hand.
"The advantages and disadvantages are very obvious. I don't know why this year, this is the third time we have found this type of player."
"I said, he practices rugby."
"I know, but that's what worries me." Roger turned a few pages and pointed at the data above and said, "His control of power is extremely poor. Sometimes you don't even know whether he is passing or shooting. .”
"Then it seems we won't have the problem of not being far away from the siege!" Smoker joked.
"What do you think of other aspects of him?"
"this..."
Looking at Wang Xiaodong running around picking up balls on the court, Smoker was speechless.
"Height 1.85CM, weight 85KG. To be honest, I really didn't know his body fat rate was so high if he didn't take off his clothes!" Roger first talked about Wang Xiaodong's advantages.
"But being strong and powerful is not unusual for a football player, and football is not boxing."
"On the contrary, his turning speed, ball control ability, passing accuracy, running ability, and football sense are not very good..."
"Wait, running? His running ability is not good either?"
"Who knows?" Roger glanced at Wang Xiaodong on the court, "Maybe he is only responsible for stopping the opponent when playing rugby!"
At this time, the 5-man passing game has become 1 to 4, and even Lallana can no longer help Wang Xiaodong.
Not surprisingly, Wang Xiaodong is naturally the one chasing the ball.
"He has advantages in all physical functions, but he has disadvantages in terms of holding and off-ball skills. As for what you said before about him scoring two world waves, with all due respect, it's just a coincidence."
"No, Roger, you didn't see that when..."
"Don't say it yet." Roger interrupted Smoker's defense, "None of this is the most important thing."
"What's important?"
"This is it." Roger pointed to his head.
"For an Asian like him who is straight-forward and likes to solve problems with his fists, I seriously doubt whether he can understand the coach's slightly more complicated tactical intentions. If he can't even figure out what the coach asks him to do, what else will he do? So what if you are excellent at it?"
"You mean?" Smoker glanced at Roger, and then suddenly raised his voice, "Roger, you can't look at Dong with colored glasses. There is absolutely no problem with Dong's intelligence!"
"But you also said that his academic performance is very poor, right?"
"This this..."
Just when Smoker was speechless, a change occurred in the stadium.
Facing the ball that he couldn't grab, Wang Xiaodong took a deep breath and suddenly opened his legs.
"He accelerated!" Smoker's eyes lit up, "Look, Dong is still very hardworking."
"But his 100-meter speed is not high." Roger pointed calmly at a piece of data: "100-meter speed is 12.92 seconds. You should be lucky that I pressed the timer early, otherwise he would have gone 13 seconds away."
"All right."
Running 100 meters in 13 seconds is the level of a normal adult man. If you put it in English League One or Premier League, you will definitely be crushed by others.
Take Walcott, who walked the first team, for example. When he was in elementary school, he could run 11.5 seconds, which was faster than Wang Xiaodong.
The two of them shut their mouths and observed Wang Xiaodong from a distance.
Ten minutes later, things took a turn for the better.
Although Wang Xiaodong was still in the middle, he never stopped.
twenty minutes...
thirty minutes...
All other groups have finished testing, but Wang Xiaodong's group is still continuing.
The four people around them all gritted their teeth, and everyone gathered around to watch. They couldn't be killed by the people in the middle in a 4V1 situation.
Finally, in the 53rd minute, a tall and lanky player lost his footing and made a mistake.
Wang Xiaodong, whose speed had hardly changed after running for more than fifty minutes, suddenly suddenly accelerated and chased the ball from the side.
"The ball belongs to me!"
Wang Xiaodong roared loudly and kicked out hard.
boom! ! !
[Aiming value +3]
The ball was scooped up by the tip of Wang Xiaodong's shoe and almost hit Lallana's face.
Wang Xiaodong's roar made the onlookers subconsciously take a step back, as if they had just seen a wild beast.
Wang Xiaodong, who successfully stole the ball, got up from the ground like a normal person and looked at the surrounding players provocatively.
Roger, who was outside the crowd, held his chin with the cap of his pen and muttered thoughtfully: "I think we can give him a chance."
