Cromwell lowered his head and looked at the captain's armband in his hands.
He was still too shocked to recover.
He was only seventeen!
But he understood better than anyone how much weight that armband carried.
It felt so heavy in his palm that he almost could not breathe.
Even so, he did not shrink back.
Once he ca back to his senses, he imdiately turned toward his teammates and shouted, "From today on, I'm the captain. Co on, let's train seriously and make a big impact once the new season starts!"
Quite a few people cheered.
Whether they were local Swansea players or players who had transferred in from elsewhere, many of them had recently been infected by Cromwell's optimistic personality.
A lot of them were willing to support him, especially because he also had a heart that refused to lose.
In training, he competed with everyone. That was the original nature behind his pursuit of fun.
Swansea's whole squad officially began training.
...
After training ended that afternoon, Lynn had everyone change into the new season's ho kit.
The coaching staff also dressed neatly, and together they went to the Liberty Stadium to take the new season's squad photo.
Lynn sat in the middle of the front row with a smile on his face.
With coaches and players arranged across four rows, Swansea finally looked like a proper big family!
The Swansea squad list for the 2000–2001 season was as follows:
Goalkeepers: Owen Glendower, Lee Morgan.
Defenders: Hanno Balitsch, Danny Gabbidon, Isambard Brunel, Martin Albrechtsen, Manuel Friedrich, Arthur Wellesley, Tobias Rau, Patrice Evra, Fabio Grosso.
Midfielders: Jas Cook, Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Kahlenberg, Mark Nilsson, Christian Poulsen, Benoît Pedretti, Horatio Nelson.
Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimović, David Villa, Angelos Charisteas, Robert Badenberg, Cristiano Ronaldo.
After the squad photo was taken, Lynn booked out a Western restaurant in Swansea called TRUFFLE, and the whole team went there for a al.
The special thing about this restaurant was that it only opened twenty-four hours a week: from Wednesday to Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. each day.
The pricing was also fixed: a £22 buffet.
No matter what you wanted to eat or how much you ate, the price was the sa.
For a restaurant to be this willful, naturally its food had to be attractive enough, and its reputation had to be excellent.
The entire Swansea squad arrived in great numbers, turning the restaurant into a point of focus. Passers-by outside stopped one after another to look in.
...
While the Swansea players were eating, across the street outside the restaurant, David Livingstone stood beside a tree, holding a cara and photographing the scene inside.
He still harboured hostility toward Lynn.
By now, that hostility had even developed into hatred, because Lynn had tricked him.
Recently, many people had also agreed with the articles in his column.
For example, the two transfers that had broken the Third Division transfer-fee record: David Villa for £1.5 million and Ibrahimović for £2 million.
In David Livingstone's column, those two deals were described as proof that Swansea were fools with more money than sense.
£1.5 million and £2 million — even among lower-to-mid-table Premier League clubs, that kind of money could buy a first-team regular.
But Lynn had bought two players from a Segunda División club and a Swedish league club.
After learning the details, the outside world was also worried that David Livingstone's view might beco reality.
Lynn had money, and he was willing to spend money on Swansea City, but if he spent it recklessly, not only would it be aningless, it would also drag the club down.
After Livingstone photographed the Swansea squad al, he published an article the next day attacking Lynn's behaviour.
"Lynn Is Turning Swansea into a Street Gang!"
In his column, Livingstone emphasized that the new season was about to begin, yet Swansea City were still having a feast with their players.
...
After training ended the next morning, Lynn ran into Walter Raleigh outside the club.
The two had lunch together and talked about recent public opinion surrounding Swansea. Lynn did not give Walter any valuable information; he only talked about his personal view.
"Whatever anyone says now is aningless. One year from now, two years from now, we can evaluate the transfer business I've done today."
After the noon break, Lynn stayed in his office to think before heading to the training ground.
The starting lineup for the new season had already roughly taken shape in his mind.
Goalkeeper: Owen Glendower.
Defenders: Danny Gabbidon, Isambard Brunel, Manuel Friedrich, Tobias Rau.
Midfielders: Jas Cook, Benoît Pedretti, Oliver Cromwell, Fabio Grosso.
Forwards: Ibrahimović, Villa.
A classic 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield.
Players such as Evra, Charisteas, Poulsen, Kahlenberg, Nilsson, Balitsch, and the others would not lack playing ti, because the Third Division schedule was extrely demanding.
There were twenty-four teams, aning forty-six league matches in total. If there were promotion play-offs, there would be even more.
There were also three cup competitions.
The Football League Trophy, contested by the forty-eight clubs from the Third Division and Second Division.
Then the League Cup and the FA Cup, both starting from the first round.
Conservatively estimated, Swansea would play more than fifty matches across the whole season.
This group of players had a very young average age, so naturally Lynn had to prepare for rotation.
However, in terms of developnt and usage, he still had to distinguish between priorities.
It went without saying that players with higher potential would be developed first.
Now he had to consider how to use the cards.
First were the playing style cards, the P Cards.
He had six of them.
Green Pitch Speedster.
As the na suggested, it naturally refined a player's speed and made the player focus more on using his pace advantage.
This card's priority target would naturally be an attacking player.
Since the team had no pure winger, Lynn thought it over and decided to use this card on a forward. Between Ibrahimović and Villa, the choice was obvious: it would be used on Villa.
Forty-Five-Degree Cross.
This was to be used on a wide player. Since there were many players who could play on the left side of midfield — Evra, Grosso, Nelson, and others — the left side could not be fixed for the ti being.
On the right side, however, there was only one first-choice right midfielder: Jas Cook.
There was no need to hesitate. The card would be used on him.
All-Action Runner.
This style card could not be used on defenders or forwards.
If a forward ran all over the pitch, the team's attack would lose its focal point. If a defender ran all over the pitch, what would happen to the defence?
So the target had to be chosen from midfield.
A defensive midfielder needed to focus on defending. A central midfielder or attacking midfielder was more suitable.
Without question, this card belonged to Cromwell.
Decoy Runs to Pull Open Space.
This card required a forward to actively move along the front line, dragging defenders away and creating space for teammates. It required the forward to beco more proactive and flexible.
Between Ibrahimović and Villa, Lynn still chose Villa.
Green Pitch Speedster plus Decoy Runs to Pull Open Space did not conflict with each other. Together, they would make Villa even more agile and dangerous.
Target Man.
This card could belong to no one but Ibrahimović.
His height and physical presence in the penalty area were obvious threats.
If he could also provide link-up play as a target man instead of simply fighting alone, his partnership with Villa would beco even more dangerous.
Tracking Back.
This card was clearly also ant for attacking players.
For defenders, tracking back was instinctive. Only attacking players who were lazy and unwilling to defend needed to have the necessity of tracking back and participating in defence shaped into them.
Right now, the team had no winger. Or rather, winger Cristiano Ronaldo still needed to grow slowly. Wide midfielders already had defensive duties by nature. The only players who needed extra emphasis on tracking back were the forwards.
This card would be used on Ibrahimović.
In terms of defensive initiative, Lynn trusted Villa to be self-aware. As for the arrogant Zlatan, he needed repeated reminders.
The six P Cards were now allocated.
Next ca the distribution of the eight player skill cards, the S Cards.
One-Touch Play.
This skill naturally needed to be developed in the player most crucial to attacking and defensive transitions. As the team's midfield core, Cromwell had to improve his technical ability quickly.
This card belonged to him.
Outside of the Boot.
Many basic football techniques could use the outside of the boot, such as passing, dribbling, and shooting. But at present, the player who most needed to improve this ability was a forward, because it would be more useful in finishing.
After thinking about it, Lynn assigned this card to Ibrahimović.
Long Throw.
As the na suggested, this card should be given to a player who often took throw-ins.
Danny Gabbidon.
Super Sub.
Substitute forward Charisteas was the first choice.
Deft Touch.
This skill card would improve a player's ability to stop and control the ball. When people criticized a player for being technically rough, they often said, "His first touch goes three tres away."
The less ti a player had to act, and the greater the defensive pressure, the more he needed sharp reactions when controlling the ball.
After carefully considering it, Lynn gave this card to Villa.
Two-Footed Play.
This skill card could improve a player's weaker foot and balance the ability of both feet.
In the end, Lynn still gave this card to a forward.
It went to Ibrahimović.
Aggressive Interception.
This increased a player's defensive interception coverage.
There was no need to think about it. This card would go to defensive midfielder Pedretti.
The final card: Goalkeeper Long Throw.
Other than Glendower, it would be useless on anyone else.
After deciding on the card distribution, Lynn thought for a while about the future priority of card exchanges.
A P Card required thirty points. That was definitely out of consideration for now. It was possible that for the entire upcoming season, he would not exchange for a single P Card.
An S Card only required three points. Winning one match would allow him to exchange for one card.
Among the eight exchangeable S Cards, the one with the greatest functional improvent was definitely Super Sub.
Because rotation would be necessary and frequent, Lynn planned to exchange for at least five Super Sub cards first in the future.
Then ca technical improvents.
One-Touch Play, Deft Touch, Two-Footed Play, and Outside of the Boot could all be used on every player in the squad, so the number needed would be huge.
It was possible that even the points accumulated over an entire season would not be enough to give all those cards to every player.
After settling his thoughts, Lynn prepared to head to the training ground and assign the cards to the players.
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