This is the first time Richard Scudmore has come to Southampton! Stapletwood.

From the expressway exit, head south and bypass the Tester River, and arrived soon.

Adjacent to the residential area, the road is a brand new and shiny asphalt road. The roadside is covered with emerald green British holly, which is more than two meters high and is neatly trimmed and airtight.

When he arrived at the gate of the training base, Scudmore was attracted by the unique modern-style security room at a glance.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

The security guard in a well-deserved police uniform walked over and asked vigorously with a polite but majestic salute.

Scudmore pressed the window, "Hello, I am the CEO of the Premier League, Richard Scudmore."

The security guard obviously had already received the news. After hearing it, he immediately saluted again, but this time he seemed much more friendly, at least not as unfamiliar as before.

"Hello, Mr. Scudmore, please go here. Turn right at the intersection ahead, and it will be the first team training area."

"Okay, thank you, sir."

After saying that, the security guard stepped back, the electric remote control opened the door, and let Scudmore's car go.

The roads in Steptwood were clean, as if they had just been washed with water, and there was no trace of the wheel mark.

Each training area and the sides of the road are blocked by two-meter-high British holly trees, connected to the outer wall. After people come in, they feel like they have walked into a maze.

But don’t worry about getting lost, because the road signs are very conspicuous, and the signs are clearly marked at which intersection to go.

This made Scudmore feel very comfortable. Compared with the training bases of most Premier League clubs, Steptwood is so much better.

"Hello, Richard, welcome, welcome!"

As soon as the car stopped at the gate, Nikola Cortez saw him come out of the gate with a smile on his face.

As soon as Scudmore got off the car, the Saints' executive chairman reached out to him.

"Hello, Nikola, I'm so sorry, I took the liberty to bother."

"Where is saying anything, Richard, we welcome you at any time!"

After the two shook hands hard, Nikola Cotes continued.

"Sorry, Richard, Young Master Huan went back to China for vacation. You know, their Spring Festival is very, very important. I just came back yesterday, so..."

"Well, I understand!" Richard Scudmore nodded.

This is indeed not a fault for Yang Huan, because he came in too haste.

If I hadn't had a good relationship with this Young Master Huan on weekdays, this kind of meeting without an appointment would have been impossible.

This young master Huan is now very busy!

"Young Master Huan just called and he was already on the way. Let me receive you first!"

Richard Scudmore nodded and looked around, "Well, why not just walk around?"

"Okay, please!" Nikola Cortez smiled.

The two were walking on the road to the Stapletwood training base. Scudmore seemed to have no intention of visiting the major venues and facilities. Nikola Cotes did not take the initiative to recommend it, but just walked aimlessly.

Because I just finished a league game yesterday, Southampton broke Crystal Palace with four to zero. Today, the team's training will be postponed until the afternoon, giving players sufficient rest time.

Therefore, the training base is a little empty and I didn’t see any players, but the staff were leisurely setting up the training ground.

However, after a little bit of a circle, Scudmore stopped outside the training ground.

There was a coach in the training ground, pointing fingers and explaining to the players in front of him. What he was talking about was vaguely standing outside the training ground, and he couldn't hear clearly.

When I saw him occasionally demonstrate movements and explain some skills, I guess it should be about defense.

But these are not the ones that really attract Scudmore, nor are they the Southampton players on the court.

Although these players are now quite famous, such as Varane, Nastasic, Laporte, Luke Shaw, David Alaba and Berth, the first team defensive players are all there.

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

Soon, he recognized it.

"That's Stam?" Scudmore was shocked.

Stam?

The main central defender of Manchester United during his triple-winning championship, Ferguson's only mistake admitted in his life, was the world-renowned top central defender.

Why did he become a coach in Southampton?

I didn't hear any news before!

"Do you know him?" Nikola Cortez smiled.

"Of course!" As he said that, Skudmore walked to the side of the training ground. Seeing that Stam had his assistants and asked his players to train after the explanation, he shouted softly, "Yap!"

When Stam heard someone calling him, he immediately looked over, but was obviously unfamiliar with the person outside the barbed wire.

But he still came over.

After he approached, he suddenly remembered, "Hey, hello, Mr. Scudmore!"

The two met several times and had exchanges during their time at Stam at Manchester United.

"Ha, I didn't expect to see you here!" Scudmore was a little surprised, "Why are you..."

"Yes, it's almost a year."

"It's almost a year?" Scudmore was a little surprised. They didn't receive any news at all.

The omnipresent British media didn't even know that this was the case?

The Dutch bald man laughed, not as fierce as he used to be on the football field, and his smile seemed particularly kind, "Yes, I don't want to be harassed."

"Then why are you..." Scudmore wanted to say, why didn't you go to Manchester United or Milan? If you can't do it, you just go to the Dutch team. How did you come to Southampton?

"Actually, after I retired, I worked as a scout, later as an assistant coach in Zwolle, and later as a technician in Ajax, specializing in coaching players' defense. Maybe I think I did a good job in Ajax, so..."

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

Oh, so that's it!

Skudmore understood that Stam's current goal is to learn things, and he will definitely hope to coach alone in the future.

"What are you mainly responsible for now?"

Stam turned around and pointed to the stadium, "Teach one-on-one targeted tutoring some players, and is responsible for a defensive training course of about 30 minutes, both the first team and the youth team, and in addition, they are working with the coaching team."

Scudmore was really surprised.

Stam was undoubtedly the world's top central defender at that time, and was even no less than Nesta, Cannavaro and others.

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

It is undoubtedly the most appropriate for him to coach young players and strengthen defensive training.

But can Stam's experience still adapt to the current development of football?

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

The most typical one is tackle. In order to encourage offense, all leagues and referees' penalty for tackles is getting more and more severe.

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

"Actually, I have had such concerns, but after coming to Southampton, I found that this team, which is known for its crazy offense on the football field, also attaches great importance 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 that he had suddenly realized it, "You know, many things have changed, and even become completely different, but football is still football, and it still needs attack and defense, so many things have only changed in one form and an angle, but the essential things have not changed."

Scudmore frowned. This is so profound. What does it mean?

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

On the contrary, Nikola Cortez, after seeing Stam leave, smiled and said: "The current tactics require a very high level of defense, and to some extent, they are even higher than those of frontcourt players, so there must be changes in the way of training players."

"In the past, the defenders were accumulated bit by bit from the youth team, but now, many of them play in the midfield, some even play in the forwards, and then transformed into defenders. Therefore, their understanding of tactics and defense is naturally different from the traditional defenders who have received defensive training since childhood."

"However, on the football field, they still need to destroy the opponent's offense and stop the opponent's goals. Therefore, traditional defenders like Stam can still play an important role."

Scudmore nodded constantly. Although he didn't understand, he felt very powerful.

No matter how simple Stam and Nikola Cotes say it, in-depth research, it must be very complicated.

There may even be a complete set of people specializing in this direction in Southampton, and there may be many legendary stars like Stam.

Looking at the training ground, Stam was even demonstrating a very simple defensive move, including how to play and when to play. He even saw Stam personally demonstrated an indecent move of lifting his hips.

Could it be that the hips will also affect the defense?

If so, Neuer's fat ass...

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

Just as Scudmore was thinking of Neuer's fat ass, Nikola Cotes' phone rang.

After answering the phone, Nikola 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 first floor lobby.

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

As the saying goes, if you don’t go to the Three Treasures Hall without any trouble, Skudmore suddenly visited for no reason, and it would definitely not be without reason.

So, after someone gave me a cup of coffee, Yang Huan asked straight to the point.

"Richard, don't you know what's wrong with you here today?"

Skudmore sighed and nodded, "Yes, Master Huan, I'm here today. It's really a very important event. I hope to hear Master Huan's thoughts."

"Oh?" Yang Huan was a little funny. It was a very important matter?

His first reaction was related to what he had just passed. Except for Southampton, Manchester City and Arsenal both stopped in the Champions League quarterfinals, which was ridiculed by the British media as a habitual team-breaker.

But what does this have to do with our Southampton?
Chapter completed!