Chapter 13: The Race Begins
August 13th.
In the first round of the Netherlands U18 League, Ajax U18 vs Heerenveen U18.
The venue is the 2nd training home in the Ajax training base.
The Ajax people generally call this venue Van Basten Training Ground.
The reason is simple, because Van Basten trained for a long time in the precursors of this stadium.
Later, the second training ground was built on the basis of that.
And when Link arrived at the stadium before the game, he realized that the stadium was really small.
Although it is the size of a UEFA standard football field, there are no spectator seats next to it, and even the home and away dressing rooms are a bit far from this field.
So it looks very small.
Link followed the starters to the locker room, which was a hundred metres from the pitch.
"This dressing room is the common game dressing room for all our Under-18s and below, and we only come here during the game. The simple thing I want to say is that don't wreak havoc and litter here! "
As soon as Enzo entered the door, he first explained this note.
This made Link a little in a trance.
But then, Enzo gets to the point.
"Heerenveen Under-18s are using a 4,231 two-man midfield formation, which is completely different from their tactics last season. The two-man midfield strategy is likely to put us under more pressure in midfield, so we have to pay attention to the protection of the middle in front of the penalty area. Lerne—"
When Enzo said this, he named the starting defender of the game, Rennes Fernanco.
Lerne nodded immediately after hearing this.
Nodding very hard.
It makes Lin Kedi feel a bit like a student answering the teacher's questions in class.
However, Link suddenly realized that in the starting lineup, in addition to himself, Lane was the youngest, he was only 2 years older than him, and his 17th birthday had just passed. So there's nothing wrong with him being a student.
Enzo continued to talk about the tactical arrangement.
"This is the man we need to focus on the most!"
Enzo flashed the iPad in his hand.
On the screen is a black man with dreadlocks.
"Matillo Sánchez. He made the most tackles in the Dutch Under-18 league last season. Everyone knows the reason, he will fight very hard in this game. Because next week is his 20th birthday. "
Link was very curious when he heard this.
He couldn't help it, and immediately patted Minsk-Endi, who was sitting next to him.
"Minsk, why did the coach say that this person is fighting hard because he is about to be 20 years old?"
At this time, Enzo had actually finished speaking, and everyone was in silent rest and preparation.
So Lin Kedi also spoke very quietly.
Minsk, of course, responded in a whisper.
"What does u18 mean? The meaning of under18, while the youth team league in the Netherlands has a rule, in the youth team, the maximum age is more than 1 year. For example, if you are U18, then you will be 19 years old at most, and if you are just over 19 years old, or 19 years old and more than 300 days, this is not a concern, but if you are 20 years old, you will not be able to participate in the U18 league in the Netherlands immediately. "
"Then he can go to the U19 league."
"The problem is that not all Dutch clubs are the same as us, we have a lot of talent at Ajax, so the Under-19 team and the second team are two teams, but Heerenveen's Under-19 team is the second team, they are one team, it's just that when they play in the Youth Champions League, players who are over the age don't play. Our league system in the Netherlands encourages youth training, and if you reach your age and haven't played in the league for your age, there's a good chance you won't be able to play. "
"So this player named Matillo, he can't get into Heerenveen's second team?"
"The strength is not enough. Although Heerenveen's second team plays in the Dutch League, the overall strength of the Dutch League is also higher than our youth team league, so he can't enter Heerenveen's second team, in fact, he can't enter most of the teams in the Dutch League, and most of the lower-level leagues are actually part-time players. That's why the coach said to pay attention to him, because this could be the last professional game he played. "