Tang Long chose Iniesta as his sparring partner for a reason.
Compared to Pirlo, Harvey, and Beckham, who excel at precise long passes,
Iniesta's passing style is characterized by short passes and through balls!
Tang Long analyzed his position at Inter Milan and realized that if he made appearances, he would mostly act as a supporting player.
Unlike his teammate Kovacic, who could orchestrate the midfield with long passes.
In the AI Cloud Training Ground, Iniesta was expressionless, like an emotionless robot, as he began training Tang Long in short passes.
"Detected that the host's passing fundamentals need improvement, please follow me and start with the most basic passing drills!"
Iniesta and Tang Long maintained a distance of about 10 meters, moving forward in a parallel slow run.
Without stopping the ball, they passed it back and forth between their feet.
"Thump thump thump—"
"Thump thump thump—"
In the vast training field, only the sound of passing echoed.
This is the basic passing drill designed to foster connection with teammates while running and advancing.
Tang Long practiced this countless times in his youth.
Yet, in the Cloud Training Ground, mistakes still occurred.
Sometimes, the touch wasn't controlled well, and the ball was passed too far, out of Iniesta's reach;
Sometimes, the passing line lacked foresight, ending up behind Iniesta who was in motion;
And sometimes, the ball didn't stay grounded but bounced up!
This indicated inaccuracy in ball contact.
Don't underestimate this simple passing drill; it exposed Tang Long's lack of solid foundational skills.
Each time Tang Long made a mistake, Iniesta would pause to provide guidance.
Even demonstrating in slow motion to illustrate posture control during passing.
"Tang, don't lock your ankle too stiffly, this is passing, not shooting.
Yes yes, relax a bit, don't lean too far forward!"
Watching Barça's former main player coaching him like a youth team trainer,
Tang Long felt a bit dazed, as if he were dreaming~
This treatment was top-notch!
Top-notch!
A whole different level of top-notch!
Afterward, the two started practicing overlapping passing while running.
The difficulty gradually increased, integrating uneven speed runs into the overlap exchanging passes.
...
When Tang Long opened his eyes again.
It was already eleven thirty at night.
The table he had just cleared was previously bathed in the warm Mediterranean winter sunshine.
Now, the room was enveloped in darkness.
Tang Long got up to turn on the light, reflecting on the 5-hour passing drill he had just completed.
Indeed, Iniesta deserved his reputation, being a top-notch passing maestro in world football!
During the training with Tang Long, he never made a single mistake, even salvaging many of Tang Long's errant passes.
In his interaction with the Spanish midfielder, Tang Long discovered many personal flaws, like incorrect body posture during passing.
These were issues that had never been rectified in his previous training!
"Ding!"
"Congratulations to the host for completing the first session of [AI Intelligent Cloud Training]!"
"Sparring player for this session, Iniesta!"
Iniesta appeared before a projector, wearing black-rimmed glasses and wielding a pen like a teacher.
Pointing at the PPT screen!
It displayed that during the five-hour passing drill, Tang Long completed 6282 passes.
It also listed the deficiencies and drawbacks of Tang Long's passing in this session, offering suggestions for further improvement.
"This session's training rating: 6.5 points, looking forward to our next session, bye!"
Like a robot, Iniesta waved goodbye to Tang Long emotionlessly.
"Ding!"
"Passing stat increased!"
"Short pass 54——55!"
Though it was just a minor improvement.
Tang Long was nonetheless filled with anticipation for this kind of AI Cloud Training.
Being able to have world-renowned stars as sparring partners is something one can only daydream about in game simulations.
Plus, despite completing five hours of training,
Tang Long wasn't tired at all!
Normally, two hours of training would drain all of Tang Long's energy.
This is the biggest advantage of Cloud Training—
Restoring stamina, enhancing skills, all without being constrained by space or time!
If he could gain at least one point a day, one hundred days would mean 100 points, and with AI's real-time analysis and judgment in matches, Tang Long felt a surge of confidence for his future at Inter!
It was already midnight.
Tang Long gazed out the window, where the training base resembled a forest, with tall oak trees rustling in the night breeze.
The moonshine was cool.
In the Mediterranean climate's winter, the night's chilly winds would replace the bright sunshine, bringing a sharp coolness to the skin.
Tang Long was about to close the window when a head suddenly popped in!
"I CTMD!"
Startled, Tang Long stepped back, blurting out a curse.
Upon closer inspection, it was Bonazzoli!
Standing outside the window, Bonazzoli grinned at Tang Long inside the room.
"Bonazzoli, what are you doing?"
"My dearest Tang, fancy going out for fun?"
"Fun about what?"
"Going to the nightclub for some blondes!"
Bonazzoli was 17, a year younger than Tang Long.
He had been promoted from the youth team to the first team early in the season.
However, unlike Tang Long, Bonazzoli hadn't signed a first-team professional contract.
His employment relationship remained with the youth team, frequently toggling between the youth and first teams.
It was only in the past two months that he was stabilized, staying with the first team long term and moved into the dormitory prepared for him by the first team.
There wasn't much interaction between Bonazzoli and Tang Long in the youth team.
Yet he had a nice character, being warm to everyone, with the sort of enthusiasm that comes alive around people.
Tang Long's arrival made Bonazzoli so excited he was nearly in tears!
Boo hoo hoo~ Finally, a buddy to hang out with!
Previously, the entire training base, come nighttime, excluding some remaining staff, had only him staying there.
There was no other choice, money wasn't plentiful, and his youth contract only came with an annual allowance of 50,000 euros.
Rent a place in Milan with this money, and there'd hardly be any funds left for clubbing and dating?
Not worth it. Bonazzoli understood the math very well.
"It's great you came, I felt so bored at night alone here, let's sneak out and have fun, Tang!"
Bonazzoli didn't stand on ceremony, climbing in through the window, dragging Tang Long towards the door.
"I'm not going, I want to watch the game."
Tang Long pointed at the laptop on the table.
It was showing a game from the 2011-2012 season, Serie A's second round match between Juventus and Chievo.
"Watch the game? Which game? I'm taking you clubbing, there're even bigger balls to watch than soccer! Come on, let's go!"
"Sneaking out late, aren't you afraid of breaking a leg? Safety, first."
"Are you really 18? You sound like those old fogies in their forties, hesitating around. Don't you fancy Italian women?"
"Nah, if you want to go, go ahead. I'm seriously watching the game."
Tang Long paused and teased him, "If the girls drain you dry, wouldn't you risk missing your first-team contract signing?"
This struck Bonazzoli's weak spot!
He was regarded as Italy's rising front-line star!
The main center forward for the current Italian youth national team.
Yet, even though he'd been with the first team for six months, he still hasn't secured a first-team contract.
Whereas Tang Long, who had only just arrived, had beaten him to it!
Feeling a bit trumped, Bonazzoli pretended to brandish a fist at Tang Long before grumblingly climbing back out the window.
Before leaving, he intentionally left a footprint on the white wall.
Tang Long helplessly chuckled.
Returning to the table, he resumed watching his game footage.
After having completed the task of watching 1,000 match recordings last time.
The system assigned a new task of watching 500 full match feeds.
Yet this time, Tang Long's selection was more strategic.
He decided to watch 500 Serie A matches.
After all, the style of Serie A games differs from other leagues and international cup matches.
...
At half past two in the morning.
Bonazzoli drunkenly returned to the base.
As he staggeringly passed by Tang Long's dormitory, he noticed the window light was still on.
With an alcohol-fueled mumble, he murmured,
"T-this kid must be crazy, doesn't like Italian girls, j-just likes watching matches, a lunatic, hiccup~ yep, a lunatic, truly a lunatic!"