Chapter 1040: The National Team’s Unique Approach

In the end, the first day was spent with introductions from all the players there and also a light training to let the players adjust to the new environment.

It turned out that it wasn’t just Higo who felt left out here. Besides some veteran players, a lot of people here were newcomers, and they were just fortunate to have a friend or two in this crowd.

No wonder the group didn’t mesh well enough earlier.

However, it was clear that Moriyasu-sensei didn’t intend to let this go on for a long time. No, he just mixed the whole crowd, forcing each one of them to get paired with a new person like they were a bunch of students who came to the school for the first time in their lives.

In this session, Higo was paired with Gen Shoji, a senior defender who played for Gamba Osaka in J-League.

Unfortunately, he was a man of few words, and with Higo being this awkward in a new crowd, the interaction between the two was painfully quiet.

Overall, though, with so many mini-games that the coaching staff prepared for the team, Higo could say that this was a great start to begin his journey in the national team, and it also helped him get to know more about some of the senpai here.

Of course, the intensity of the training wasn’t that high, and this time, Higo didn’t think too much about it.

He still remembered what Kageyama-sensei, the coach of the Young Samurai in the World Cup U-20 a few years ago, said when it came to the national team.

"At the end of the day, the players are managed by their own club, so we cannot afford the responsibility if something bad like an injury happens during the camp. It is better to lighten the training than increase that risk, and almost all the national team coaches in the world agree with that."

It seemed that Moriyasu-sensei also applied that method, not forcing the players to push themselves too far in the training section.

Of course, this method carried a great risk, as that meant some slackers could sabotage the team’s training. In fact, that was what happened in the Young Samurai team a few years ago, as the boy remembered vividly how he was persuaded not to try too hard in the training session.

However, it was a completely different matter in the senior national team here, as they were all professionals who yearned to fight for the country. For them, this was a true honor, and there was no way in hell they would try to sabotage their own path here.

In the end, Higo left the training ground with a satisfied grin, feeling like today was quite productive.

’Yeah, I am not that exhausted, and yet I can feel the impact of the training. This method is definitely way better than in Schalke.’

However, the surprise didn’t just end at that point. No, Higo was still getting shocked by the team’s training method, as later, after the dinner was over, the coach separated them all into a few small groups for a discussion time.

"Naga! You will lead Morita—Hidemasa, I mean, Higo, Matsubara, Inagaki, and Furuhashi!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The most senior member of the team, Yuto Nagatomo, rose instantly before leading those five names to a small corner in the canteen area.

Higo himself just tagged along, and it seemed that he wasn’t the only one who was confused about this situation. No, the ones who were called Inagaki and Matsubara were on the same boat, not knowing what they should expect in this situation.

Moreover, it wasn’t just them here. More smaller groups also made their way to find a comfortable spot around and started their discussion there.

If anything, this only made the boy more curious about what they wanted to do.

"You three must be confused about what is going on here, right?" Nagatomo asked with a smile, as if this had happened so many times in the past.

"Yeah, I mean, it is not normal, right?" The defensive midfielder, Sho Inagaki, asked. "I have never done any smaller group discussion like this. Usually, we just have to listen in a meeting room as the boss starts talking about whatever comes to his mind."

Even though Higo didn’t say anything, he still nodded along, as it was also the case for all the coaches in his career.

Yeah, even Kumiko herself was the same, so when he faced a different method like this, the boy wanted nothing more than to take a note and tell the girl about this matter once the meeting was over.

"Well, it is no wonder that you don’t know anything, since this is the method that Moriyasu-san only applied in 2019. This is one of his innovative training methods to combat what Arsene Wenger said was the biggest weakness for Japanese football players. Any of you know about that?"

Higo frowned immediately, swearing that Kumiko had told him about this in the past. Unfortunately, his memory failed him, as nothing truly came to mind right now.

Hell, his brain couldn’t even find any information about that name, for God’s sake!

"It is the fact that we are being too obedient, right?" Sho Inagaki suddenly murmured, snapping Higo from his own thoughts. "Arsene Wenger said that we are good at following the order, but once the team needs creativity, no one could step up and improvise."

"Exactly!" Nagatomo nodded in satisfaction.

That was when Higo remembered his girlfriend’s story of a head coach who started his career in Japan before taking a big leap to England, where no one knew him, just for the man to be one of the biggest names in the game.

"The thing is, this weakness has been discussed for so many years, and each head coach has their own method to combat this situation," Nagatomo explained.

"As for what Moriyasu-san is trying to do, well, listen carefully here..."

And with that, Higo leaned forward as well, knowing that he would be in a unique training session that he had never done before in his career.