Chapter Thirty-Three: The Toulon Cup

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  In the end, Zhang Linpeng and Zhang Chenglin, who are better in physical fitness and defensive awareness, switched to play as centre-backs, while their original positions were taken over by younger players Wang Jiajie and Wang Xingqiang. As a result, the already frighteningly low average age of Dongfang team dropped even further.

  After learning about this, Gao Jun couldn't help but feel a little worried. Although Zhang Linpeng and Zhang Chenglin can both play as center-backs, this position is not very suitable for them. The two players' sense of positioning are quite poor, while accurate positioning is more important than anything else for center-backs. Therefore, if the two players continue to play as center-backs in the long term, on the one hand, it will be difficult for them to grow to a sufficient height, and on the other hand, their attacking abilities may be wasted. However, Gao Jun is not a coach after all, and the two players are at least stronger than the previous two center-backs, so he did not directly express his objections to Xu Genbao. Instead, he tactfully mentioned that the team now has hope of rushing into the Super League, so they must introduce new players during the summer transfer period...

  After the three players returned to the team, they first welcomed the second round of the FA Cup. Due to the consumption of the national team's match and the fatigue of traveling by boat and car, Yu Hai and Huo Jia Ming were unable to play in the first half of the match. However, Gao Lin, who has a very high utilization rate of physical energy, actively requested to play and scored two goals in the match, helping Dongfang team to tie 3-3 with Qingdao Beileite at away. After returning to their home stadium, Dongfang team, with all three players playing, showed strong strength and swept Qingdao Beileite 4-2, easily advancing to the next round...

  It is said that the original helmsman of the club, Xu, intended to strategically give up the FA Cup, but Gao Jun persuaded him with the argument that more games would lead to faster growth for young players (after all, with Gao Jun's playing style, not participating in defense wouldn't be a problem even if they played one game per day). However, looking at it now, with frequent national team call-ups and double-line battles, Dongfang's bench depth is not enough, and their upcoming days are really going to be tough...

  Anyway, with the return of the front three, Dongfang team showed strong strength again. Gao Jun even staged his first "big four happy" in the seventh round of China League One, helping the team to a 5-2 victory over their opponents and helping the team to regain the top spot with a net win advantage.

  In the eighth round of the Chinese First Division, Dongfang team challenged Chengdu Five Cows away from home. In this match, Gao Jun encountered a super-tight defense with two people marking him full-time and one person assisting for the first time, but he still broke the deadlock with an unexpected hook shot outside the penalty area. At the same time, he used his own attraction to create more opportunities for his teammates to pull away from the ball, helping the team win 3-1 and expanding their lead to 2 points.

  In the ninth and tenth rounds of the China League One, Dongfang team won again, expanding their lead in the standings to 5 points. Gao Jun, who has scored 15 goals in just seven games, almost locked up the Golden Boot award for this season. However, what makes Coach Xu proud but also worried is that as soon as the tenth round match ended, the newly formed U21 national youth team called up nine players from the team, including eight main players. Liu Chunming was being polite by not calling them up two weeks in advance to participate in training camp. Now, Dongfang team's temporary lead in China League One is uncertain.

  The Chinese youth team held a training session during the league, because the Chinese Football Association received an invitation to participate in the Toulon Cup, which is a traditional and influential youth tournament in world football, second only to the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Many world stars have emerged from this competition, even more than from the FIFA U-20 World Cup, so the Chinese Football Association attaches great importance to it and requires Liu Chunming to not only train the team but also strive for good results to bring glory to the country (actually to bring political achievements to the leaders).

  Due to the age limit, although Liu Chunming took Gao Jun's advice and used the national youth team that won the World Youth Championship as the backbone of the middle-aged team, many new players who were not in the previous national youth team or even did not enter the national youth team before also joined.

  Men Weizhen: Zeng Cheng, Guan Zhen and Zhang Lu

  Defenders: Feng Xiaoting, Lang Zheng, Zhao Ming.

  Left-back: Rong Hao, Yuan Weiyi, Zheng Zheng.

  Right back: Zhang Chenglin.

  Right back: Cui Peng, Zhao Yijiao, Zhang Linpeng.

  Left forwards: Yu Hai, Lu Lin.

  Right Forward: Hao Jiamin.

  Qian Yao/Ying Feng: Gao Jun, Deng Zhuoxiang, Chen Tao.

  Forwards: Ao Lin, Dong Fangzhuo, Zhu Tie.

  At first glance, some positions seem to be without substitutes, but since many players can play multiple positions, this is not a problem. For example, Yonghao can play both left and right full-backs and wing forwards, while the other two full-backs can also play as centre-backs, let alone super utility player Zhang Chenglin. In fact, when Gao Jun drafted this list for Liu Chunming, the "utility player" attribute was highly valued, as it would provide great convenience for the coach's tactics.

  There are a few people who are worth mentioning, among the Eastern team players, the only substitute Deng Zhuoxiang actually has the ability and characteristics, but temporarily lacks competitiveness, but because of Gao Jun's strong recommendation, Liu Chunming still gave him face, letting Deng Zhuoxiang into the 22-man list. However, Deng Zhuoxiang can play both wings as a winger and attacking midfielder, and when short-handed, he can also temporarily play his old position as a left-back, so Gao Jun's recommendation cannot be said to be completely self-serving...

  Zhao Ming, the original mainstay of the national youth team's defense, didn't quite live up to expectations in the end due to injuries (similar to Yu Hai, with consecutive injuries that weren't much shorter than two years...), but his current abilities are still very strong. Even if it's just for now, he's worth using, and who knows, maybe he won't get injured in this timeline?

  Feng Xiaoting doesn't even need to be mentioned, although it's said that he changed his age, but even if you add a few years, he is still worthy of being called a genius. In history, Feng Xiaoting was also tortured by injuries, but because he wasn't like Yu Hai who had consecutive major injuries, he could still maintain the strength of a national player in the long run, which is much better than Zhao Ming who completely lost his skills.

  Cui Peng and Zhao Yi Jiao, although they may not have had a significant growth spurt due to their age or self-discipline, currently possess considerable strength. Zhao Yi Jiao has even been selected for the national team (albeit as a right winger at the time), making him a viable option. After all, Zhang Linpeng is still too inexperienced, and his most suitable position isn't actually defensive midfielder, as this role also requires a strong sense of positioning.