The United States Team emphasizes players’ physical conditioning and strength.
They are known for their speed and proficiency in physical confrontations. In the 2002 World Cup, the United States Team wore down their opponents with their seemingly endless stamina.
Additionally, the United States Team focuses on the wings.
Their speed gives them a huge advantage, as the wide-open space on the wings allows for high-speed breakthroughs.
Then they send in long crosses.
Even their attacks through the middle are the same—they play direct long balls, relying on the forwards’ speed advantage just outside the box to break through and create opportunities.
This tactic is simple, but its strength lies in its effectiveness.
This is because the United States Team’s advantage is their physical conditioning and speed.
And this effectively masks their lack of technical finesse, which prevents them from employing the kind of ground-based, short-passing penetration attacks seen from teams like Brazil, Argentina, and Spain.
Finally, there’s their defense.
Their backline is stacked with tall, fast, and powerful defenders who rely on their physicality to defend.
They also emphasize team-wide defense, requiring midfielders and even forwards to track back and help out.
’We don’t have any world-class stars; we’re all just scrubs. What gives you, a forward, the right to not defend, to just stroll around up front waiting for a pass from the midfield?’
’No way. You have to participate in the defense, you have to track back to fight for the ball yourself, and you have to create your own opportunities.’
That’s why Chen Yu planned to spend a year improving their physical conditioning and dedicate eighty percent of his effort to training their fundamentals.
High-speed breakthroughs on the wings test your fundamental dribbling skills.
Long balls also test your fundamental passing skills.
You don’t need to do a dozen step-overs or all sorts of flashy Marseille turns. Just rely on your body and your speed. Knock the ball forward with power, muscle your opponent aside with your strong frame, then burst into a sprint and leave them in your dust.
None of this is possible without solid fundamentals.
Chen Yu felt in his heart that this was the right direction for their training.
As someone from FIFA who also maintained close ties with the Five Major Leagues, there wasn’t a single famous head coach Chen Yu didn’t know.
Therefore, Chen Yu could faintly sense that, just like in basketball, a change was brewing in the world of soccer.
In basketball, the focus had shifted from the inside to the outside, with a new emphasis on utilizing space.
It was the same in soccer. In the past, the pace was slower, and players had very distinct roles. A poacher, for example, would just stay up front waiting for teammates to pass them the ball.
But now, the demand was for more well-rounded players—players who could score, create opportunities, and also participate in defense.
In other words, the demands on players had become much higher.
When all the players become more versatile, the overall strength of the team naturally increases.
Furthermore, the pace of the game is getting faster and faster, requiring players to complete a series of actions, including physical contests, at high speed.
Chen Yu had also pondered why this change was happening.
It was because training philosophies had improved.
Research on athletes had become more in-depth, and training had become more scientific and advanced.
Under this kind of training, players’ physical conditioning improved.
In the past, training might have only had the resources to develop a player for a single, specific role. But now, it was much more efficient; in the same amount of time, a player could be trained to have a much broader skillset.
This improvement in player ability, in turn, forced a change in everything else, including tactics.
So, this fast-paced, power- and confrontation-oriented style of soccer might just be the future trend of the sport.
As a proponent of new training philosophies and a representative of the world’s highest level, Chen Yu’s judgment and predictions in this area were quite accurate.
After watching for a while, Chen Yu left.
’Everything is just getting started,’ he thought. ’They still need at least another three or four years of training. It’s still early days.’
Speaking of which, thanks to the explosive popularity of the Chinese Super League, the Football Association had become much quicker with their payments.
Just like these kids, Nowitzki was also gathering his strength, waiting for his moment to shine.
「By mid-February.」
The All-Star Game had arrived.
This year’s All-Star Game was being held in Orlando.
Amidst the general dominance of the West, the Magic’s record-breaking championship win last season was a victory for the East.
Naturally, the league wanted to capitalize on this momentum and continue to boost the market in the East.
That’s why they chose Orlando.
This year’s All-Star Game was also being hyped as a battle for the scoring title.
From the West, Kobe was averaging 34.1 points per game, proudly sitting at the top of the scoring charts.
Even Chen Yu found that number to be exaggerated.
Looking back ten years, if you excluded a freak like Jordan, an average of 25 points per game was already enough to be the scoring champion.
Now, that number had been boosted by a full 10 points.
This was also proof enough that the elimination of hand-checking was an epic-level buff for guards.
It further proved that the league’s developmental focus was truly shifting to the perimeter.
Then there was Tracy McGrady, averaging 31.3 points per game, second on the scoring list.
This season, Hill had suddenly changed his playstyle, starting to focus on passing and defense while handing the team’s offensive reins over to Tracy McGrady.
And Tracy McGrady had not let him down. His 31 points per game average was the best response, proving that he had what it took to be a scoring champion.
Thus, this All-Star Game had evolved into a contest between scoring champions, a battle to see who was the number one among the top shooting guards.
Both Hill and Tracy McGrady were selected for the All-Star Game.
With the game being held on their home court in Orlando, there was no doubt that given Hill’s seniority and ability, he would do everything in his power to help Tracy McGrady win the All-Star Game MVP.
Meanwhile, in the West, Yao Ming was the starting center and would surely give his full support to Kobe, feeding him the ball.
None of the other stars in the West would compete with Kobe for the All-Star Game MVP award.
Hardaway might have had the qualifications, but he was older now and had long lost that competitive fire.
Unfortunately, while the plan was great, someone else was about to steal the show.

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