This is Richard Scudmore's first time in Southampton! Staput Wood.

Take the highway exit and head all the way south, bypassing the Teste River, and it won't take long to get there.

Adjacent to the residential area, the road is a new shiny asphalt road, planted with verdant English holly, more than two meters high, neatly manicured and impermeable.

Arriving at the gate of the training base, Skudmore was immediately attracted by the unique, modern style of the security room.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

The security guard, dressed in a crisp police uniform, walked over and asked forcefully with a polite but dignified salute.

Scudmore pressed the window, "Hello, I'm the CEO of the Premier League, Richard Skudmore. ”

The security guard had obviously already received the news, and after listening to it, he immediately saluted again, only this time it seemed much more friendly, at least not as rusty as just now.

"Hello, Mr. Skudmore, please go this way, turn right at the intersection ahead, and it's the first team training area."

"Yes, thank you, dutiful sir."

With that, the security guard stepped out of the way, and the electric remote control opened the gate, allowing Skudmore's car to pass.

The roads in Staupwood are so clean that they look like they've just been washed with water, and there's not even a trace of a wheel in sight.

Each training area and both sides of the road are separated by two-meter-tall English holly trees, which are connected to the outer wall, so that people feel like they have entered a labyrinth when they enter.

But don't worry about getting lost, because the road signs are very conspicuous, and which intersection is going and where, it is clearly marked.

This makes Scudmore feel very comfortable, and Staupwood is simply too much better than the training bases of most Premier League clubs.

"Hello, Richard, welcome, welcome!"

As soon as the car stopped at the gate, Nicolas Cortez greeted him through the gate with a smile on his face.

As soon as Scudmore got out of the car, the executive chairman of the Saints reached out in front of him.

"Hello, Nikolai, I'm sorry to bother."

"Excuse me, Richard, you're always welcome!"

After a strong handshake between the two, Nicola Cortez continued.

"I'm sorry, Richard, Master Huan went back to China for a vacation before, you know, their Spring Festival is very, very important, they just came back yesterday, so ......"

"Well, I understand!" Richard Skudmore nodded.

This really can't be blamed on Yang Huan, because he came in too much of a hurry.

If it weren't for the fact that he had a good relationship with this young master Huan on weekdays, this kind of meeting without an appointment might not be possible at all.

This young master Huan is a busy man now!

"Young Master Huan just called, he is already on the way, let me receive you first!"

Richard Scudmore nodded, then looked around, "Well, why don't you just walk around?" ”

"Okay, please!" Nikolai Cortez laughed.

The two walked along the road of the Staupwood training base, and Skudmore didn't seem to want to visit the major venues and facilities, and Nikola Cortez didn't take the initiative to recommend it, so he just walked aimlessly.

Because Southampton beat Crystal Palace 4-0 after just playing a league game yesterday, today's training session will be postponed until the afternoon to give the players plenty of rest.

Therefore, the training base was a little empty, and I didn't see any players, but the staff was arranging the training ground in a good way.

However, after a small half-circle, Scudmore came to a stop outside a training ground.

There was a coach in the training ground, who was pointing and explaining to several players in front of him, and what he was talking about was faintly outside the training ground, and he couldn't hear it clearly.

It's just that when I see him occasionally demonstrating moves and explaining some skills, people guess that it should be about defense.

But it's not these or the Southampton players on the pitch that really attract Scudmore.

Despite the fact that these players are now well-known, such as Raphael Varane, Nastasic, Aporte Laporte, Luke Shaw, David Alaba and Balls, the first-team defenders are all there.

However, Scudemore's eyes were always on the coach.

Soon, he recognized it.

"That's Stamm?" Skudmore was taken aback.

Stam?

Manchester United's main central defender during the treble-winning period, the only mistake Ferguson admitted in his life, and the former world's top central defender.

How did he become a coach in Southampton?

I didn't hear about it before!

"You know him?" Nikolai Cortez smiled.

"Of course!" With that, Scudmore walked to the side of the training ground, and when he saw that Stam had finished his explanation and asked his assistant to take the players to train, he shouted softly, "Yaap! ”

Stam heard someone shouting at him and immediately looked over, but was clearly unfamiliar with the person outside the barbed wire.

But he came anyway.

It wasn't until he got closer that he suddenly remembered, "Hey, hello, Mr. Skudmore!" ”

The two met and exchanged a few times during their time at Manchester United.

"Heh, I didn't expect to see you here!" Skudmore was a little surprised, "How did you ......"

"yes, it's been almost a year."

"It's been almost a year?" Skudmore was a little surprised, they didn't hear from him at all.

The pervasive British media didn't even know that there was such a thing?

The Dutch bald man smiled, completely lacking the ruthlessness he used to have on the football field, and his smile was particularly kind, "Yes, I don't want to be harassed." ”

"Then how do you ......" Skudmore wanted to say, why didn't you go to Manchester United, or to Milan, or if not, you went to the Dutch team, how did you come to Southampton?

"Actually, after I retired, I worked as a scout, then as an assistant coach in Zwolle, and then as a technician at Ajax, specializing in coaching players defensively, probably because I thought I was doing a good job at Ajax, so I ......"

Speaking of this, Stam smiled again and looked back behind him, "Actually, Southampton is very good, this group of players has a lot of potential, and this club has this unique culture, which is very attractive to me, and I can learn a lot by working with some of the best professional technical teams in the world." ”

Oh, I see!

Skudmore understands that Stamm's goal now is to learn something, and he will definitely want to coach alone in the future.

"So what are you mainly responsible for now?"

Stam turned back and pointed to the pitch, "One-on-one coaching for some of the players, and then for a defensive training session of about 30 minutes, both for the first team and the youth team, and for the coaching staff. ”

Skudmore was a bit of a surprise.

Stam was undoubtedly the best centre-back in the world at the time, even compared to the likes of Nesta and Cannavaro.

Such players naturally have their own unique understanding and awareness of defense and football.

It is undoubtedly fitting that he should coach the young players and strengthen the defensive training.

It's just that Stam's experience can still adapt to the current development of football?

You know, today's football tactics are completely different from the era in which he lived.

The most typical is tackles, which are increasingly harsh in all leagues and referees in order to encourage attack.

As if seeing the suspicion in Skudmore's eyes, Stam smiled again.

"Actually, I had such worries, but after coming to Southampton, I found that this team, which is known for its crazy attack on the football field, also pays a lot of attention to defense, especially the organization of defense, the details of defense, and the reading and analysis of the game."

Speaking of this, Stam showed a look as if he had suddenly realized at the beginning, "You know, a lot of things have changed, and even become completely different, but football is still football, it still needs to attack, it needs to defend, so many things just change a shape, an angle, but the essence of things, has not changed." ”

Scudmore frowned, this is too profound, what do you mean?

But Stam didn't bother to analyze further, especially when he heard the shouts of his assistants behind him, apologized to Scudmore and Nikola Cortez, turned and ran back to the training ground.

On the contrary, Nicola Cortez, after seeing Stam leave, smiled and said: "The current tactics are quite demanding on the defenders, in a way, even higher than the frontcourt players, so in the way we develop the players, we have to make changes." ”

"In the past, defenders started from the youth team and accumulated little by little, but now, many of them play in midfield, some even play forwards, and then they are transformed into defenders, so their understanding of tactics and defense is naturally different from traditional defenders who have been trained defensively since childhood."

"However, on the football pitch, they still need to disrupt the opposition's attack and prevent them from scoring, so the experience of a traditional defender like Stam can still make a difference."

Scudmore couldn't stop nodding, and although he didn't understand, he felt as if he was powerful.

No matter how simple Stam and Nicolas Cortez may say, digging deeper, it's certainly very complicated.

There might even be a whole group of people in Southampton who specialise in this direction, and there could be a lot of former legends like Stam among them.

Looking at the training ground, Stam was even personally demonstrating very simple defensive moves, including how to kick, when to kick, and even saw that Stam personally demonstrated an indecent hip lift.

Could it be that the hips also affect the defense?

If yes, then Neuer's fat buttocks......

Well, perhaps, in the eyes of some bizarre researchers, Neuer's ability to become the world's top goalkeeper may have something to do with his fat buttocks, who knows?

Just as Scudmore was thinking about Neuer's fat buttocks, Nikola Cortez's phone rang.

After answering the phone, Nicolas Cortez smiled and said, "Young Master Huan has arrived!" ”

The two walked from the training ground to the training building, and saw that Yang Huan was already waiting for them in the lobby on the first floor.

After some greetings, I went directly to the conference room on the second floor.

As the saying goes, if you don't have anything to do, you can't go to the Three Treasures Palace, and Skudmore's sudden visit for no reason will definitely not be without a reason.

Therefore, after the coffee was served, Yang Huan asked straight to the point.

"Richard, I don't know if you're here today, what's the matter?"

Skudmore sighed, nodded and said, "Yes, Young Master Huan, I am here today, I do have a very important matter, I hope to be able to hear Young Master Huan's thoughts." ”

"Oh?" Yang Huan is a little funny, a very important event?

His first reaction was related to the fact that in the past, except for Southampton, Manchester City and Arsenal all stopped in the last 16 of the Champions League, which was ridiculed by the British media as a habitual team annihilation.

But what does this have to do with us in Southampton?

Yang Huan was very puzzled.