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I AM the Football Star

Chapter 588 - 156: Preparing for the Playoff, the National Team Big Shots (Part 3) · Oct 30, 2026

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Chapter List (1252)

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551 Chapter 551 - 149: Bloody Battle in St. Petersburg, Light of the National Team vs. National Team Killer! 2026-10-30
552 Chapter 552 - 149: Bloody Battle in St. Petersburg, Light of the National Team vs. National Team Killer! 2026-10-30
553 Chapter 553 - 149: Bloody Battle in St. Petersburg, Light of the National Team vs. National Team Killer! 2026-10-30
554 Chapter 554 - 149: Bloody Battle in St. Petersburg, Light of the National Team vs. National Team Killer! 2026-10-30
555 Chapter 555 - 150: Here Comes the Bicycle Kick You Wanted! 2026-10-30
556 Chapter 556 - 150: Here Comes the Backheel You Wanted! 2026-10-30
557 Chapter 557 - 150: Here Comes the Backheel You Wanted! 2026-10-30
558 Chapter 558 - 150: Here’s the Bicycle Kick You Wanted! 2026-10-30
559 Chapter 559 - 150: Here’s the Bicycle Kick You Wanted! 2026-10-30
560 Chapter 560 - 150: Here’s the Bicycle Kick You Wanted! 2026-10-30
561 Chapter 561 - 150: Here’s the Bicycle Kick You Wanted! 2026-10-30
562 Chapter 562 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
563 Chapter 563 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
564 Chapter 564 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
565 Chapter 565 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
566 Chapter 566 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
567 Chapter 567 - 151: Who Approves, Who Opposes? 2026-10-30
568 Chapter 568 - 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The World’s First Club to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
569 Chapter 569 - 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The First Club in the World to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
570 Chapter 570 - 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The World’s First Club to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
571 Chapter 571 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The World’s First Club to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
572 Chapter 572 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The World’s First Club to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
573 Chapter 573 152: A New Benchmark for Justice! The World’s First Club to Use VAR! 2026-10-30
574 Chapter 574 153: Consecutive Player of the Month, Facing Italy’s New Divine Striker 2026-10-30
575 Chapter 575 153: Consecutive Best Player, Facing Italy’s New Divine Striker (Part 2) 2026-10-30
576 Chapter 576 - 153: Consecutive Best Player, Facing Italy’s New Divine Striker (Part 3) 2026-10-30
577 Chapter 577 - 153: Consecutive Best Player, Facing Italy’s New Divine Striker (Part 4) 2026-10-30
578 Chapter 578 - 154: Worthy of the Name Divine Striker, the National Team Finally Opens Its Doors! 2026-10-30
579 Chapter 579 - 154: Worthy of the Name Divine Striker, the National Team Finally Opens Its Doors! 2026-10-30
580 Chapter 580 - 154: Worthy of the Name Divine Striker, the National Team Doors Finally Open! 2026-10-30
581 Chapter 581 - 154: Worthy of the Name Divine Striker, the National Team Doors Finally Open! 2026-10-30
582 Chapter 582 155: European Competition Dark Horse—Do Not Force What Is Not Meant to Be 2026-10-30
583 Chapter 583 155: European Competition Dark Horse—Do Not Force What Is Not Meant to Be 2026-10-30
584 Chapter 584 155: European Competition Dark Horse, Never Force What Isn’t Meant to Be (3) 2026-10-30
585 Chapter 585 155: European Competition Dark Horse, Don’t Force What Isn’t Fated_4 2026-10-30
586 Chapter 586 156: Preparing for the Playoffs, the National Team’s Big Shots 2026-10-30
587 Chapter 587 156: Preparing for the Playoffs, the National Team’s Big Shots_2 2026-10-30
588 Chapter 588 - 156: Preparing for the Playoff, the National Team Big Shots (Part 3) 2026-10-30
589 Chapter 589 - 156: Preparing for the Playoff, the National Team Big Shots (Part 4) 2026-10-30
590 Chapter 590 - 157: You Damn Well Should Have Let Him Play! 2026-10-30
591 Chapter 591 - 157: You Damn Well Should Have Let Him Play! (Part 2) 2026-10-30
592 Chapter 592 - 157: You Damn Well Should Have Let Him Play! (Part 3) 2026-10-30
593 Chapter 593 - 157: You Damn Well Should Have Let Him Play! (Part 4) 2026-10-30
594 Chapter 594 - 158: If Anyone Can Save Italy, It’s Lu! 2026-10-30
595 Chapter 595 - 158: If Anyone Can Save Italy, It’s Lu! 2026-10-30
596 Chapter 596 - 158: If Anyone Can Save Italy, It’s Lu! (Part 3) 2026-10-30
597 Chapter 597 - 158: If Anyone Can Save Italy, It’s Lu! 2026-10-30
598 Chapter 598 - 159: The Shadow of Bei Strikes, Curved Moon Blade! 2026-10-30
599 Chapter 599 - 159: The Shadow of Bei Strikes, Curved Moon Blade! 2026-10-30
600 Chapter 600 - 159: The Shadow of Bei Strikes, Curved Moon Blade! 2026-10-30

Chapter 588: Chapter 156: Preparing for the Playoff, the National Team Big Shots (Part 3)

Not to mention players like Morici who got in through the ”backdoor” due to Kolber’s injury.

What’s more... Kolber himself is also considered a ”versatile player,” similar to Lu Yang.

Besides, Lu Yang and Morici both clearly understand that having just been selected for the national team, they are now facing a crucial play-off match.

Don’t even think about starting; even getting a chance to come on as a substitute would be considered lucky.

What are the fans expecting from the players on the field at that moment?

What is the Head Coach expecting?

It’s for you to make an immediate contribution to the team!

At this point, you can reduce your touches, reduce unnecessary cooperation and passes with teammates.

But you must make a very noticeable difference to the team’s attack.

So just now, on the field, Lu Yang and Morici kept making threatening passes with Perrotta, Ancelotti, attacking midfielders, and left-back Praxedes.

Ancelotti has just recovered from a minor illness and is not quite daring to make strenuous sprints.

But he plays in a shadow forward position that doesn’t require constant sprints but does require sudden bursts at key moments.

So he held back a bit, and naturally, the effect wasn’t good.

The coordination between Lu Yang and Morici with him had many issues that were probably Ancelotti’s fault.

But in Vincent’s view, it’s simply that Lu Yang and Morici’s passes were too wide!

Ancelotti is quite adept at dribbling, and if you pass the ball at his feet, he might twist and turn and create some opportunities!

Why insist on through passes and overhead balls?

Assists in the national team aren’t as simple as those in Serie B.

Also, Perrotta is a massive central forward standing at 1.93m, a super fulcrum.

He is quite good at receiving and creating, but this requires Morici and Lu Yang to time their forward runs well.

Morici and Lu Yang are new here, and as midfielders making reckless forward runs, it might seem a bit excessive, right?

As a result, they made a few mistakes. It was their fault, but understandable.

The coordination with Praxedes and the others was the same.

So, although there were many problems, they could be resolved with careful communication and adjustments.

Once the attacking issues are solved, Lu Yang and Morici would have the chance to play.

But Vincent clearly doesn’t plan to give them this opportunity.

”Do you think I can give them ample time to adapt?” Vincent asked Maniero.

”Then why did you recruit them?” Maniero replied, ”The veteran national team members, even without training, are ready to fight. What do they need to practice for?”

”While maintaining their form, testing if Lu Yang and Morici can bring some new changes is the purpose of this training camp!”

Vincent squinted his eyes slightly, ”But this time, I want to try new combinations. Drake’s form has noticeably declined recently, and I want to try using Candreva as a defensive midfielder.”

Drake, defensive midfielder for Rome, Italy’s main defensive midfielder, turning 33 this year.

Drake’s performance in Italy’s last qualifying match was poor.

Dino Candreva, a central attacking midfielder for bottom-half Serie A team Udinese, 28 years old. Has played in various positions in his youth, a versatile midfielder for Italy coming off the bench.

Defensive midfielder?

Candreva?

This...

Does he really think everyone is like Maniero?

That everyone can play as both a central attacking midfielder and a defensive midfielder?

Anyone notice even the excellent Morici moved back from defensive midfield to central attacking midfield?

Maniero was completely puzzled.

The pioneer and master of positioning the organizational core deeper is right here in front of you, and you’re telling me you want Candreva to play defensive midfielder?

If someone says you don’t understand football, generally, only someone as renowned as Guardiola could dare to play a central attacking midfielder as a defensive midfielder.

But if you claim you do understand football, wouldn’t you know that I, Maniero, am the most qualified to speak on this?

”Candreva cannot play as a defensive midfielder; when he plays as a midfielder and central attacking midfielder, he’s not the brains of the operation,” Maniero spoke up.

”Oh? But I’m quite optimistic about him becoming the new brain for Italy!” Vincent said, ”In recent seasons, his performance at Udinese has been outstanding!”

Maniero had a thousand words that boiled down to one phrase: MMP.

I have nothing more to say to you!

And so, Lu Yang and Morici’s first national team training didn’t go smoothly.

Most of the time, they weren’t even involved in the team training sessions.

It made it seem as though the two of them were particularly bad.

No kidding, there might actually be people in the team who think that.

After all, Lu Yang and Morici aren’t Euros and obviously can’t be liked by everyone.

The national team also has internal competition.

...

November 17th.

Seria B, round twelve, San Remo VS Empoli.

Missing Lu Yang, Morici, and Bernulin, San Remo looked like they were missing their soul, pressed hard by the opposition in the first half.

If you say San Remo’s players aren’t excellent, that would also be incorrect. San Remo’s players at each position are nearly top-tier in Serie B.

But without the core and deputy core, any team would struggle to function smoothly in the short term.

In the 55th minute of the second half, Empoli got lucky and executed a brilliant play, breaking through San Remo’s defense to score.

Sotu on the sidelines didn’t have much to say.

There’s no way around it; this is the consequence of missing Morici and Lu Yang.

Yes, it had nothing to do with Bernulin.

With Morici, he wouldn’t have given the opponent the opportunity to repeatedly break through the midfield with passing plays.

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