69novels Chapter 23 You can't let Maguire do the bull tail dribble.
Chapter 23 You can't let Maguire do the bull tail dribble.
Two days have passed since that 4-1 victory over Marseille.
On the treadmill in the gym, Jiang Ming was already drenched in sweat, with sweat dripping down his face and onto his soaked workout clothes.
His eyes lit up as he stared at the system panel in front of him.
[Mission Objective: Accumulate 94 runs per 100km]
"Just 6km left! Only 6km to complete the mission!"
Thanks to the gym membership he got from that competition, he's been spending the last two days at the gym, finally pushing his progress to the final stage.
At this moment, Mbappe came over, patted his arm, and said with a puzzled look, "Jiang, you've been spending days in the gym, running on the treadmill every day. This can't go on, can it?"
"If running aerobics could improve your fitness, that would be fine, but you've been training extra for several days, and I haven't seen any progress."
"What do you know?" Jiang Ming wiped the sweat from his face without turning his head.
"I'm about to break my personal best! Do you know what it feels like when a marathon runner is about to set a personal best?"
Mbappe smirked and rolled his eyes: "Fine, fine, then I'll congratulate you in advance on your breakthrough..."
He really couldn't understand what Jiang Ming had been obsessed with these past few days, how he could feel like he was breaking through while running?
Jiang Ming ignored his complaints, his eyes fixed on the progress on the system panel, watching the numbers jump up little by little:
96km...
98km...
100km!
Just as the number jumped to 100, the system notification sounded precisely on time:
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission objective: Run a total of 100km]
[After going through all sorts of hardships, relying on your body, which is like that of a prison king just released from jail, you managed to run 100km. Now you feel like you can hold more oxygen in your chest.]
Although you're still far from your peak physical condition before you were ruined by alcohol and sex, it's at least enough for you to handle the upcoming matches.
[Reward: Stamina +10]
Endurance: 27-37
"It's finally done!"
Jiang Ming abruptly pressed the stop button on the treadmill, and his legs went weak as soon as he got off, collapsing onto the gym floor.
His chest heaved up and down dramatically, like a bellows, as he frantically inhaled.
Mbappe was startled and quickly crouched down: "No, did you really have to run like that?"
Seeing Jiang Ming lying on the ground, panting heavily, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.
In all his years, he has never seen a player of the same age with such physical fitness.
They were the same age, but he was like a dimensional being defeated by Jiang Ming.
This guy... could he have secretly changed his age?
Otherwise, how could a 17-year-old have worse physical fitness than a 40-year-old?
Jiang Mingchong waved his hand, said nothing, and closed his eyes to feel the changes in his body.
Before long, a warm current surged up from all over my body.
The soreness I felt after running was visibly subsiding, and even my labored breathing gradually calmed down.
He knew all too well what this change meant.
Previously, his stamina, to put it bluntly, was at the level of an ordinary college student who lay in his dormitory all day with sugary drinks; he would be out of breath after running just a few steps.
Now that 10 points have been added, it has brought him directly to the physical fitness level of a normal person!
This is no small improvement; it's a qualitative leap!
Jiang Ming scrambled to his feet and jumped twice, immediately feeling much lighter.
Just then, the system notification sounded in my mind again.
[Ding! Quest triggered: The Elf Resurrection Plan - Phase Two]
[You, once hailed as a football prodigy, lost your elfin spirit after your release from prison.]
To bring back the lively spirits in the eyes of the world, you decide to start training from your feet.
[Mission Objective: Complete a total of 1000 dribbles past opponents]
[Reward: Agility +10, "Special Skill: Ronaldinho's Elbow Dribble"]
After reading the mission details, Jiang Ming fell into deep thought.
I just finished the first phase of the endurance task, and the second phase is already here.
So this is a chain of tasks? The next one is automatically triggered after you complete one?
The rewards even included Ronaldinho's cow tail trick...
Shouldn't this thing be something he already has with him?
Speaking of which, he hasn't dared to do any fancy technical moves on the field lately, mainly because his physical condition was too poor before and complicated moves were too physically demanding.
Therefore, in previous matches, all the dribbling techniques he used were the simplest and most energy-efficient ones, such as shoulder drop and change of direction; he didn't dare to use any fancy moves.
Now that the system has made this a special skill, does that mean he can't do this move on the field yet?
Thinking about it, he remembered the free kick against Marseille.
To be frank, that shot was simply a high-quality shot made by relying on his own footwork stats.
It lacked the unpredictable, bizarre curve of Ronaldinho's free kicks.
Is the technique for taking free kicks also designed as a unique special skill?
Jiang Ming pondered for two seconds, then couldn't sit still any longer and decided to go to the field and try it out for himself.
He grabbed Mbappe, who was still muttering to himself, and said, "Mbappe... your brother Jiang wants you to be his sparring partner, okay?"
Mbappe was taken aback for a moment, then his excitement instantly returned: "Sparring partner? You're finally not spending time at the gym anymore?"
"Sure! The boss's on the training field right now! Let me beat you a couple of times, and who knows, if he sees I do well, he might start me in the next league match!"
Without waiting for Jiang Ming to speak, he grabbed Jiang Ming's arm and rushed out of the gym, acting as if he couldn't wait.
……
On the outdoor training field, Jardim stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the players who were training.
Tomorrow the team will face Caen at home, and he needs to keep a close eye on the players' training to make sure everyone is in top form and doesn't falter at home.
Just then, Jiang Ming and Mbappe rushed over. Jiang Ming called out from afar, "Boss!"
Yardin looked up and saw it was the two of them. He nodded, not too surprised.
As a result, Mbappe darted ahead of Jiang Ming and ran up to Jardim, shouting, "Boss! I want to challenge Jiang to a one-on-one duel! You'd better watch here! If I win, you have to let me start in the next game!"
After hearing this, Yaldin shook his head helplessly: "Don't try that on me, kid. You think you can trade a one-on-one for a starting position? No way. Go practice your skills."
After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Jiang Ming: "What? Finished your gym workout?"
Logically speaking, Jiang Ming has already basically secured a place in the first team, so there's no need for him to spend every day in the gym.
Normal players should be spending this stage on the training field, practicing passing and cutting with their teammates, getting familiar with their positioning, and improving their team cohesion.
But a few days ago, this kid approached him and said he wanted to do more aerobic exercise to improve his physical fitness.
If it were any other player, Jardim might have simply refused to participate in such a disruptive training program.
But Jiang Ming is different. This kid's physical fitness is really terrible, but he is also extremely hardworking.
Yaldin couldn't bear to refuse, so he made an exception and allowed him to train alone for the next few days.
Jiang Ming nodded honestly: "I just finished training and felt pretty good, so I dragged Killian over here to try something new."
"Okay, then you guys find an empty spot to practice on your own. If you need any help, just call Karl over and he'll lend you a hand."
Yaldin waved his hand dismissively, not taking it seriously, and sent them away with a wave of his hand.
……
"Let's get started!" Mbappe shouted excitedly from the opposite side.
"Don't rush, let me warm up my feet first." Jiang Ming waved his hand.
He actually wanted to test whether he could actually perform the cow tail movement.
He stood there, his mind replaying the details of Ronaldinho's signature move:
With a gentle flick of the outside of my foot, before the ball completely slips out of my control, I quickly scoop it back with the inside of my foot...
The first step was to gently flick the ball outward with the outside of his foot, which Jiang Ming did very easily.
But when he tried to retrieve the ball in the second step, his foot suddenly got stuck, and his movement was a beat too slow.
The ball slipped right past his feet and rolled a long way.
"Feed? What are you doing?" Mbappe looked completely bewildered, standing there scratching his head.
Jiang Ming ignored him, picked up the ball, and tried twice more.
The result was the exact same problem both times.
The first step is easy and effortless, but the second step is impossible to connect. Either the ball slips away, or the movement is crooked and awkward, lacking any sense of agility.
Now he finally understood the key point. He looked down at his 44 points of agility on the system panel and fell into deep thought.
"So that's how it is..." Jiang Ming murmured, "It's because my agility is too low, and my movements can't be connected."
Once he understood this, he felt relieved; it turned out the system had already presented the answer to him long ago.
After all, you can't expect Maguire to do a bull-tail dribble, can you?