Drinking freshly squeezed orange juice at a pier in Ibiza, Teeo scratched the back of his head and laughed. Sitting across from him, the man with bronze skin and a white polo shirt, he was not an ordinary holidaymaker, but one of the best players of all time in the left-back position, and in order to better bring in Maldini for Milan, he specially flew to meet him.
Theo told ta reporters: "When I was a child, I grew up watching Maldini's games. Now, Maldini has invited Theo to play at Milan left-back. Te O explained why San Siro was the best place for him to develop, and with the help of another Frenchman, Milan's chief scout Geoffrey Moncada, he made him understand the game better.
"I'm very close to Maldini and he's got things right from the first time we met in Ibiza," Teow said. He told me I'm a very important player, very good, but I need to work hard every day. Thanks to this, I became a better player today, and we talked to Maldini every day who came to watch our training sessions. It was an honor to have maldini's help, the longest defender in the world, with us (and helped us a lot). ”
It's been two and a half years since he left Real Madrid, but Hernandez has no regrets about leaving the Bernabeu. The path of progress paved for him by Maldini is moving forward in an orderly manner. At that time, the value of 20 million euros was already a relatively high price for a left-back.
Hernandez had just finished training in The Miranello's idyllic setting and was eating lunch prepared by the remarkable Michele Persechini, who had been the club's chef since his heyday in the late 1980s. The son of former Marseille and Atletico Madrid defender Jean-François Hernandez said he was very happy at Milan. According to the latest reports, his contract extension with Milan is under negotiation.
Theo has grown violently in the Milan team coached by Pioli, and the 56-year-old Pioli is like a doppelganger of the Franciscan monks, who is perhaps the fastest-improving manager in Serie A. When Special Olympics was doing a face collection for his soccer game FIFA, he said: "I have met a lot of great coaches, but the only person who changed my career is Pioli. He has given me confidence from the moment I arrived at Milan and I need to have more confidence in the game, I am playing well now and thanks to his trust and help, I am very happy here. ”
In the past, Pioli has been described as one-dimensional, he blends the forward pressure concept with fluid position shifts that make Milan unpredictable, and from a tactical point of view, he is one of the most interesting teams in Europe. "In our reserve, the most basic thing is for our players to stay open, move around, and cover the field," Pioli told Darsen. "The more times you move, the more problems it causes your opponent. In modern football, the most basic thing is the wisdom of the players on the pitch. ”
Theo's performance in this area has improved by leaps and bounds, and over the past two and a half years, his interpretation of his character — passing the ball to the centre and then back to the flank before piercing the heart of the opposing defence like a knife – feels like a new development. Inside-cut full-backs are very popular right now. Pioli explains: "Theo has learned to break through from the middle so that our opponents don't have as many reference points. ”。
An example of this approach is a goal hernandez scored in last season's 7-0 win over Turin. Here, he received the ball and took Turin's winger Wilfried Singh to the inside instead of the outside.
Hernandez passed the ball to Diaz and continued his running, rushing through the midline. Diaz, meanwhile, hoped to find Rebic on the left and took away Turin's midfielder Mandra Gora while he did so.
There was a big gap in front of Theo, and he released fuel to start accelerating, leaving Singo in his rapids. All Rebich had to do was sneak into his teammates and watch...
Moves like these have become a hallmark of Theo and constitute a different way of playing left-back in the Maldini era. Theo explains: "When I cut to the middle, I feel more free because there's more space in the middle. "At Real Madrid, I didn't have the confidence to play more freely and forward, but at Milan I did. I can better connect with strikers and strikers. What do I like? Offense and forward thrusts. I played more freely and naturally scored more goals and assists. ”。
Hernandez's energy is incredible, and you can imagine that the technicians at Milan Labs haven't seen a full-back produce such energy since Cafu. The 24-year-old ran faster than the treadmill on zubietta's training ground when he was loaned to Real Sociedad, making him a viral player. In the sprint test, his Milan teammates could only be in his rearview mirror. Is he the fastest athlete? "Of course I am," he said with a laugh. 'Leo is also a very fast player, but there is no doubt that I am number one.
Portuguese striker Leo, who is in front of Theo, is bigger and taller, and he has reached another level this season. Pioli recently compared him to Henry, the left-wing duo wreaking havoc in the team's 3-0 win over Venice. Sport Milan responded with a debate about Europe's best left-wing partner: Is it Liverpool's Robertson and Mane, Real Madrid's Mendy and Vinicius, Bayern's Davis and Gnabry, or Theo and Leo? Hernandez said: "Well, we do know each other very well. ”。“ Leo's performance in one-on-one matches is different from other players, which creates more space for me so that opponents will not follow me. ”
Since coming to Italy, only three full-backs, Arnold, Guersons and Guerrero, have scored more goals than Theo in the top five leagues. It's reminiscent of remarks by Antonio Gagliardi, the former head of match analysis for the Italian national team and coach of The Country's elite coaching school, Coverciano.
"In modern football, the role is no longer a position, but a function," Gagliardi said, "taking Alexander Arnold as an example." Instead of judging him as a right-back, look at what he has done for Liverpool. His job was to be at the heart of an organisation, but for years we thought that role was limited to players in the No. 10 position, or the role That Andre Pirlo played in front of the backline. ”
"Full-backs are not like Totti, Zidane or Kaka," Hernandez insisted, "but now that football is changing, full-backs are definitely moving forward." Maybe I do consider myself an organizer. I love helping the team, whether it's an assist or a goal, I'm happy. But the important thing is that the team is happy with me and we won the game. ”
Last year, Special Olympics finally got a call from Deschamps to join the French national team and scored the winning goal in the UEFA Nations League semi-final against Belgium. He said: "It was one of my best moments last year. ”
Theo said his favorite World Cup memory was when his brother Lucas lifted the trophy in Russia in 2018. "The only memory that touches me is the World Cup that my brother won with the national team," he said, "and I watched him at home and it was a very proud moment." It was one of the most beautiful moments I had with him. ”
If he continues to take Maldini's advice and play for Milan, there is no reason why he will not accompany France to this year's World Cup in Qatar.
"My goal is to work hard every day and do my best to go to the World Cup. And my brother, the two of us together... It could be a dream come true. ”
(This article is compiled from theathletic)