Chapter 116: Adaptation

Years later, when Long Bisheng recalled his year in Newcastle, his thoughts would always be interrupted by a jumble of fragmented memories. It seemed as though these disorganized snippets were a true reflection of what he had experienced that year.

"This is the Longbenton training ground. For the next year, you will train on Pitch 4. Pitch 1 is reserved for the first team, Pitch 2 is the backup, and Pitch 3 is for the reserves. Pitch 4 is where you, the youth squad, will train. You will be training alongside the Newcastle Under-19 team, and I do not want to hear a single Englishman mocking the quality of our team a year from now."

On the first day of training in Newcastle, Xia Liquan delivered these words to all the players. He commanded great respect among the young squad; unlike Ding Yu, with whom the players felt comfortable joking, they remained strictly obedient in Xia’s presence.

From that day on, every player in the Yunjia Tianyu U-17 squad became a reflection of Long Bisheng. Their intensity in training left the locals stunned, especially after they had their first taste of competition against the Newcastle U-19s.

The Yunjia Tianyu players possessed decent technical skills, but they were significantly inferior to their opponents in terms of physical contact and the clever application of the rules. Li Jie looked clumsy against the sharp, agile breakthroughs of Theo Walcott; despite his decent turn of pace, he was shaken off his feet time and again by the opponent’s quick turns. Zhang Yi and the wingers were stifled by the attacking prowess of Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, unable to make any impact. Long Bisheng faced a formidable opponent in Steven Taylor, a young defender sent down from the first team. Although the rising star of the Newcastle backline was neither as tall nor necessarily as physically strong as Long, he used superb positioning to neutralize Long’s aerial advantage, while his attempts to force a breakthrough on the turn were intercepted by Taylor time and again.

The final score of that match was 2-4. Had it not been for the efforts of Dai Guangming and Hu Gandang, who anchored the midfield, Yunjia Tianyu might have suffered an even worse defeat.

"Now you know where the gap lies, don't you? Back home, you are second to none, but just as there is a gap between Chinese and English football, the difference between you and your English peers is equally clear. Over the next year, you will participate in the Northeast England Youth League, and you will face the youth teams of all the top clubs in the region. Your results will not be counted in the league standings, but that is not what we are after. We want to see what level you can reach in matches that closely resemble professional leagues and what you can learn from them. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts in the application process, we could not get you into the FA Youth Cup. In that competition, you would have faced the best youth teams in all of England." Xia Liquan paused. "However, participating in the U-19 league is not bad; after all, it is an atmosphere completely different from what you are used to back home, and you will face more 'real' matches rather than the single invitational tournament you get once a year in China."

All the players were stung by the match and Xia’s words. As he said, they were the elite at home. Few teams across the country could rival them, and they had secured two championships and one third-place finish in their three years at the football academy. They were confident that if they participated in this year's domestic youth invitational, the title would almost certainly be theirs again.

Unfortunately, just like the gap between Chinese and English football, being kings at home did not mean they would possess the same competitive edge upon arriving in England. Compared to these English players of the same age, the gap was obvious, though not insurmountable.

The English U-19 leagues were divided by region. In the Northeast league where Newcastle was based, there were few household names, aside from Leeds United—who had been relegated to the Championship that season—Sunderland, and Middlesbrough. The other teams were clubs like Darlington, Stockport County, and Doncaster, playing in the lower tiers of the English football pyramid.

Even the U-19 teams of these clubs were difficult to handle. England was the cradle of modern football and one of the countries with the most professional clubs in the world. From the Premier League down to the lower divisions, and including a vast number of semi-professional and amateur teams, these clubs often possessed long, storied histories. One might find a club in the third division that had been around for over a century—something not even the top giants of continental Europe could always claim.

These long histories meant that these clubs had complete systems for scouting and developing young talent. Even if they couldn't always retain the players they produced, their youth teams often achieved excellent results and boasted a group of highly capable young players. Yunjia Tianyu rarely held the upper hand in these confrontations.

In the first month, the Yunjia Tianyu U-17 squad played five youth matches, finishing with a dismal record of two draws and three losses. This result left everyone feeling embarrassed. In reality, during the first half of these matches, Yunjia Tianyu was often no less capable than their opponents in both attack and defense. However, the intensity of the games was unlike anything they had experienced in China. The transition speed of their opponents was consistently lightning-fast, forcing the Yunjia players into a passive role of chasing the rhythm. This led to physical exhaustion in the second half for most of the players, which was precisely when the opponents would equalize or launch winning counterattacks.

While the Yunjia Tianyu players were not inferior to their opponents in individual skill or collective coordination, they remained in a passive position. Xia Liquan offered no explanation, forcing the players to reflect on what was going wrong. Meanwhile, in training, Xia consciously increased the frequency of fast-paced attacking and defensive drills to help the players adapt to the English style of play.

In the second month, Yunjia Tianyu finally secured a victory, defeating the Stockport County U-19s. The result left the players ecstatic. In this match, Yunjia Tianyu was not led by the nose; instead, they used constant short passing to control the tempo, causing their opponents to slow down without realizing it. They scored twice in the first half—thanks to a follow-up shot from Dai Guangming and a powerful header from Long Bisheng—and managed to maintain their physical condition in the second half, successfully defending the lead.

"I am satisfied with this match." Xia Liquan, who had been stern for an entire month, finally smiled after the final whistle. "I am not satisfied just because you won... In fact, you had chances to win two of the matches last month. But I wouldn't have been happy with those wins, because last month, you played like reckless brawlers, charging blindly without knowing your own strengths or weaknesses. In this match, I saw you start to use your brains. You avoided the opponent's strengths and utilized your own advantages. Very good, excellent. Remember, in any league, the first thing you must do is familiarize yourselves with its style, and then play in the way that best utilizes your abilities. That is more important than anything else."

While there was an inherent physical gap between the Chinese and European or South American players due to racial differences, finding ways to compensate for those disadvantages while leveraging their own agility and flexibility was more important than any single victory.

Over the next six months, the performance of the Yunjia Tianyu U-17 squad gradually stabilized. They began to trade wins and losses with other youth clubs, and their ranking in the Northeast England U-19 league climbed steadily. As they trained, an increasing number of scouts from various clubs began to gather around the training pitch—not only from England but also from second- and third-tier European leagues in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Austria.

During this period, the standout performer was surprisingly Long Bisheng. While others were still adjusting to the brutal physical contact and high tempo of English football, he adapted faster than anyone else. His physical attributes were even superior to the average European, which helped him translate his abilities onto the pitch faster than his teammates. Although his technique still appeared raw compared to his peers, he was more effective in a match environment. As Pei Wei had once said, technique can be polished over time, but physical prowess is a gift of nature.

Perhaps for this reason, after Christmas, when the "FIFA virus" struck and first-team manager Jose Mourinho decided to call up eight players from both the Newcastle reserves and the Yunjia Tianyu U-17 squad for first-team training, Long Bisheng had the honor of being included. He joined Wu Bufan, Hu Gandang, Dai Guangming, and four other older U-17 members for a week of first-team training.