On June 12, 2022, Gao Nuo's parents returned home. Before they left, they inevitably reminded Gao Nuo to take good care of himself, then left him a brand new Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, enrolled him in driving school, and arranged for a cleaning company to clean his home twice a week. The couple finally said goodbye to their son with reluctance.
The Premier League still had two weeks before pre-season preparations began, so Gao Nuo embarked on a joyful journey of leveling up.
Every morning, he did physical training in his backyard: stamina, speed, strength…
In the afternoon, he used a training card and then went to driving school to learn to drive…
In the evening, the English teacher hired by Manchester United Football Club came to Gao Nuo's home for tutoring…
Before going to bed, he used two more training cards…
In between, he played two friendly match instances…
Two weeks passed quickly. During this time, Gao Nuo's English teacher, a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed woman, hinted multiple times that they could develop a friendship. However, our little straight man was solely focused on training, leaving the beautiful teacher dejected by being ignored.
After two weeks of relentless effort, Gao Nuo's attributes had improved.
Gao Nuo, 18 years old
Height: 192cm, Weight: 90kg
Current Attributes:
Ball Control: 10
Passing: 6
Shooting: 8
Positioning: 8
First Touch: 8
Strength: 12
Stamina: 9
Speed: 14
Explosive Power: 16
Willpower: 18
Comprehension: 13
The maximum attribute value is 20. Other attributes are currently hidden attributes.
Because the system suggested Gao Nuo continue training Ball Control, as it would make it easier to secure a starting position, Gao Nuo focused on Ball Control training during all his time, except when learning Positioning with Drogba.
In terms of attributes, Ball Control, Positioning, and First Touch all increased by two points. Ball Control had already reached 10 attribute points. Gao Nuo's success rate in dribbling improved significantly in the second friendly match instance.
What pleased Gao Nuo even more was the improvement in his physical qualities. Strength, Speed, and Explosive Power all increased by one point.
Not only was this due to nearly 15 hours of training every day, but Gao Nuo also followed the system's advice on diet, eating a lot and healthily every day.
The system detected that Gao Nuo's body fat percentage decreased from 13% to 10%, and his weight was 5 kilograms lighter than before. Gao Nuo now looked somewhat lean, but he was definitely a prime example of 'looks thin in clothes, muscular without them.'
Of course, the rapid improvement during this period also stemmed from Gao Nuo's very low starting point and poor foundation.
In the two friendly match instances, Gao Nuo tried the expert difficulty in the first one, but the result was, of course, that he was out of his depth and performed poorly. In the second one, he obediently leveled up on amateur difficulty. The two rewards yielded 19 training cards and 6 stamina potions.
Currently, Gao Nuo still had 32 training cards and 7 stamina potions.
After the season started, a maximum of two training cards could be used per day, and the use of stamina potions had little impact; at most, he would rest for half an hour before continuing to train.
This meant that as long as Gao Nuo didn't waste resources and steadily played friendly match instances that matched his ability, he could basically achieve item freedom.
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On June 26, 2022, Manchester United began pre-season preparations, and Gao Nuo also started training with the team at the training camp.
At Manchester United's first joint team training session, everyone from the Manchester United first team and youth team was present, except for Cristiano Ronaldo, who had family matters.
Many of the first-team veterans became interested in this yellow-skinned Chinese player, especially after Gao Nuo used his physique and speed to overpower Harry Maguire in a practice match.
At that time, Gao Nuo carried the ball on a counter-attack, executed a one-two pass with Hansen Allen in the center to get past the full-back. Facing Harry Maguire's defensive cover, Gao Nuo dribbled past him with a burst of speed, and a powerful touch of the ball. Harry Maguire, caught off guard, could only resort to his signature move, tackling the young man in front of him to the ground.
However, the moment Gao Nuo fell, he executed a backward roll, stood up smoothly, and immediately turned to chase the ball. Although the final shot didn't go in, the series of actions stunned everyone on the field.
After training, Vice-Captain Bruno Fernandes, the team's future core Rashford, led the way, joined by Luke Shaw, Varane, Fred, and Captain Harry Maguire, who had a close-up view of Gao Nuo's incredible moves, and a group of other first-team players. They all playfully surrounded Gao Nuo, both to get to know this new Eastern guy and to ask if he knew Chinese Kung Fu.
Gao Nuo performed a few Kung Fu moves and joked that Chinese people learn martial arts from a young age. Everyone laughed, and Gao Nuo quickly became familiar with the first-team regulars.
After the excitement, Gao Nuo quickly grabbed his phone, transforming into a fan, taking photos with the first-team players and asking for autographs.
Thus, a unique scene, where a fan 'hosted' a group of stars, unfolded in the Carrington training ground's changing room.
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After a few days of enjoyable training, on July 1, 2022, Erik ten Hag officially took charge of Manchester United. Gao Nuo was not unfamiliar with this new head coach.
Erik ten Hag, 52 years old, began his coaching career in 2002, having served as head coach for Bayern II, Eredivisie club FC Utrecht, and Ajax.
Erik ten Hag cumulatively led Ajax in 210 matches, with 156 wins, 25 draws, and 29 losses. Last season, Erik ten Hag led Ajax in 43 matches, achieving 33 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses, winning the Eredivisie title.
During his time coaching Ajax, Erik ten Hag led the team to two KNVB Cup titles, two Eredivisie League titles, and one Johan Cruyff Shield. In the 2018-19 season, Erik ten Hag also led Ajax to the Champions League semi-finals.
The new Dutch coach was very adept at training and utilizing young players, and had his own unique methods in working with players.
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After observing Gao Nuo's performance in training and practice matches, Ten Hag evaluated Gao Nuo as follows: "Gao has excellent physical talent. Although he is 192cm tall, he is very fast, has a huge stride, full of explosive power, and is good at using physical confrontation to gain positional advantage. His technical level is on the lower side. Overall, he is a smart player who knows how to leverage his strengths on the field."
Therefore, Gao Nuo's individual training focus was placed on Positioning and Passing. After all, in the right-winger position, after a breakthrough, the choice to pass is often more frequent.
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The news of Gao Nuo signing with Manchester United did not attract much attention until he appeared in a warm-up match for Manchester United. Only then did the England media introduce this Chinese player to the public, with a very simple description: good physique, fast speed, and nothing more.
Chinese media were not familiar with Gao Nuo. After digging a little deeper, they learned that he was a product of Luneng Football School, who was lucky enough to sign with Manchester United. This did not spark much interest from the media or fans; they simply knew that there was a Chinese person named Gao Nuo playing abroad.
Gao Nuo also didn't care about these things, diligently training, training, and training every day.
With the basic tactical knowledge rewarded by the system, Gao Nuo's tactical execution ability in practice matches, however, impressed the coaching staff.
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