Chapter 274: Details Determine Success or Failure

Chapter 274: Chapter 267: Details Determine Success or Failure

In the Super Training, Yang Yang sat cross-legged. The stands opposite him had transformed into a giant screen, which was replaying his wonder goal against Alkmaar over and over.

The screen was massive, and the quality was excellent. The players and their movements were incredibly realistic, displayed before Yang Yang in minute detail. It was as if it were happening right before his very eyes, leaving him quite stunned.

“I can’t believe I could pull off a shot like that!” Yang Yang laughed with a touch of pride.

For the past few months, he had been studying Van Basten’s shots almost every single day. He knew the Dutch legend’s shooting techniques and movements like the back of his hand and was filled with deep admiration.

He never would have imagined that he, too, could one day make such a spectacular shot.

During the match, he hadn’t really felt anything special about it; it was just another goal.

At most, it was from a slightly longer distance, nothing to make a fuss about.

But after reviewing the match, Old Ice had him watch the entire goal sequence—from cutting inside with the ball to the final shot—over and over again. Gradually, Yang Yang began to notice things he had previously overlooked. Combined with his shooting practice over the past few months, he gained many new insights.

[Van Basten’s Shot] was a Star Skill. It was a skill, like a gun; in different hands, it would produce different results. If given to a fool, he’d probably end up shooting himself.

If Yang Yang wanted to maximize the effectiveness of [Van Basten’s Shot], he had to continuously improve his own abilities.

The Ajax coaching staff once told Yang Yang, “On the football pitch, every goal may seem accidental, but there is a certain inevitability behind it. Every goal is the culmination of sweat and repeated calculations.”

Yang Yang was beginning to understand the true meaning of that sentence more and more.

If, on the pitch, Yang Yang had subconsciously felt his wonder goal was the product of chance, now Old Ice wanted him to understand the inevitability behind that chance through repeated observation and analysis.

By grasping that inevitability and clarifying the entire process, Yang Yang could score such goals again in the future.

And the more Yang Yang watched, the more he was able to figure out. More and more details revealed themselves to him.

The devil is in the details!

And it was precisely these details that had created this wonder goal.

“See anything?” Old Ice’s cold voice echoed in the empty training ground.

“A lot of things,” Yang Yang replied.

“Then give me the short version.”

Yang Yang gestured in the air, and the screen immediately rewound to the moment of the shot and zoomed in.

“I didn’t notice it during the match, but looking closely, I see that when I struck the ball with my left foot, my right foot’s positioning was excellent, perfect for generating power.”

“You’ve always been good at that,” Old Ice said flatly.

Many things on the football pitch are universal, such as how to generate power.

While diligently practicing [Beckham’s Crossing], Yang Yang had already realized how important it was to place his planting foot in the right position before making a move. If the foot was too close to the ball, it was hard to generate power; too far, and you couldn’t strike the ball properly.

Having practiced [Beckham’s Crossing] for over a year, Yang Yang was quite good in this regard.

“When I was doing strength training with Winston Bogard, he mentioned the concept of generating power from the core muscle group. That is, making good use of your core strength. Only by skillfully using your core can you maximize the power of your entire body.”

“And to maximize the power from your core and your whole body, you have to use fluid and coordinated movements before the shot to turn your body into a fully drawn bow. The shot is like an arrow being released. The more fully the bow is drawn, the faster and more powerful the arrow.”

“Correct,” Old Ice replied coolly.

For some time, Yang Yang’s long shots had lacked power. He always thought it was because he wasn’t strong enough, but now it seemed that a lack of strength was only part of the problem. The other part was that he didn’t know how to generate power correctly.

It was only recently, after starting strength training with Winston Bogard, that this aspect was gradually being developed.

With your planting foot in the right spot, your body extended, and your movements coordinated, you can use your core to generate power throughout your body, channeling it through your leg and into the ball. Only then does the focus shift to striking the ball on the right spot.

A precise strike point ensures the player transfers all their power into the ball, which naturally results in higher speed and greater force.

After understanding the entire process behind this wonder goal, Yang Yang had a much clearer plan for what to do next. On one hand, he would continue to refine his four Star Skills, improving his ball control and technique. On the other hand, he would continue to focus on strength training.

In essence, power is transferred through the muscles: twisting from the waist, using the core muscles to drive the thigh muscles, which in turn transfers power to the calf, and finally, through technique, into the ball, where it is converted into force.

This entire process applied not just to shooting, but to many other aspects of the game as well.

It was only at this moment that Yang Yang truly and completely understood why Winston Bogard had always scheduled him for strength training exercises like the bench press, deadlift, squat, and power clean.

Moreover, having well-trained core and leg strength would also be extremely helpful for winning aerial duels.

“Everything you’ve said is correct, but you must be careful. Don’t just train blindly; you need to maintain muscle flexibility. Pursuing strength alone is useless. Speed and agility are your greatest weapons right now.”

“I understand,” Yang Yang replied, taking the lesson to heart.

This was something Bogard had always emphasized, and Yang Yang had always been disciplined with his strength training. Unlike other types of training where he would put in extra sessions whenever he had time, in the gym and the swimming pool, he strictly followed Bogard’s plan.

It wasn’t until this wonder goal that he truly felt his own progress.

And this, in turn, gave him a much stronger sense of confidence.

…

…

Wonder Goal!

A Brace!

Wonder Boy!!

…

Countless such headlines appeared in the major media outlets of the Netherlands the next day.

Yang Yang scored a brace, leading Ajax to defeat the league leaders Alkmaar. This pushed Ajax’s league ranking up one spot, placing them directly in a Champions League qualification zone, and earning Yang Yang unanimous praise from the major media outlets.

The media and fans had already been generous with their praise for Yang Yang’s outstanding performance this season, but this time, they once again unleashed a torrent of compliments, especially for his first goal.

Many considered it the most brilliant wonder goal of the round, and even of the last few rounds of the Eredivisie.

At the same time, many media outlets focused more on Yang Yang’s progress.

Dutch Telegraaf journalist Michel van der Steeg mentioned in his column that over the past two years, Yang Yang had been continuously and rapidly improving, constantly working on his technical flaws to become a more well-rounded and outstanding player.

“Remember last season? Many people heavily criticized Yang Yang’s technique and fundamentals. One media outlet even claimed that his ball control errors could fill their own compilation album. But this season, we have to admit with astonishment that Yang Yang’s improvement is obvious, and he has made many brilliant plays controlling the ball.”

“In the first half of the season, many believed Yang Yang wasn’t strong enough for physical challenges. But now, we can see that he has progressed very quickly in just six months. And in this match against Alkmaar, he even scored a wonder goal.”

“It’s worth noting that he scored this goal with his left foot, while Yang Yang has always been a right-footed player.”

Van der Sma stated in his commentary that the eighteen-year-old Yang Yang was full of unknown potential, and it was far too early for anyone to make definitive judgments about him.

“Perhaps next year’s Yang Yang will be a completely new and even more shocking Yang Yang.”

“He’s always bringing surprises and unexpected moments to the fans.”

Previously, Kuyt had scored a brace, followed by a hat-trick, and all the Dutch media were praising him to the skies. But after he failed to score this round, and with Feyenoord’s crushing 1-4 defeat, the mood turned pessimistic again.

Yang Yang scored a brace and had been scoring in several consecutive matches, maintaining a relatively stable efficiency.

With ten rounds left in the league, the two-goal gap between them no longer seemed so significant.

Thus, after this round of matches, the Dutch media once again began to hotly debate the race for Top Scorer.

More and more media and fans believed that Yang Yang, who had already scored twenty goals—the best single-season goal tally for an Ajax player in nearly a decade—had a real chance to challenge Kuyt’s status as a Dutch star striker and become this season’s Top Scorer.

At the same time, many media outlets proactively offered suggestions to Yang Yang, pointing out a historical record that was now within his reach: the Eredivisie single-season goal record set by his idol, Ronaldo, in 1995.

Back then, at the age of eighteen, Ronaldo had won the Eredivisie Golden Boot. To this day, he remains the youngest player in the history of the Netherlands to score more than twenty-five, and then more than thirty, goals in a single season.

After scoring his twentieth goal, Yang Yang was no longer far from the historic record set by his idol, Ronaldo.

With ten rounds left in the league, averaging one goal per match, it was a realistic hope for Yang Yang.

Of course, many media outlets still supported Kuyt.

Feyenoord’s star striker was a streaky scorer; once he regained his form, the goals would quickly return. Plus, Feyenoord themselves played attacking football, so it wouldn’t be difficult for Kuyt to score more goals.

As a result, the Dutch media and fans were mostly split into two camps: those who supported Ajax’s Yang Yang, and those who supported Feyenoord’s Kuyt. The two sides debated with great enthusiasm.

This was quite in keeping with the long-standing tradition of internal squabbles in the Netherlands.

As for Yang Yang himself, as he was leaving the swimming pool at noon the day after the Alkmaar match, he received a phone call from Raiola.

The gifts he had carefully prepared for the Ajax staff, coaching team, and first-team players had arrived.