Gao Shen was still in Birmingham when he received the news that Leeds United had pulled off an upset against Manchester United.
In the third round of the League Cup, Manchester City had an away match against Birmingham.
Gao Shen also used a lineup composed of substitutes and rotated players, but still came away with a 2–0 win.
Giroud and Sturridge each scored once.
When Gao Shen heard that Leeds United had defeated Manchester United 4–3 at home, his first reaction was surprise.
"Is that real or fake?"
The news spread quickly.
Gao Shen followed the updates all the way from Birmingham back to Manchester, and the more he watched, the more excited he became.
"Could old Ferguson be so mad he keels over?" Gao Shen laughed.
He even had the urge to call and "comfort" Sir Alex Ferguson.
After returning to Carrington, Gao Shen immediately called Su Qing to get an overview of the match. Then he watched the game in his office with Carlo and the others.
Honestly, the game was electric.
The biggest issue was that none of Manchester United's starting defenders were on the pitch, including the goalkeeper.
Their main central defender was Fellers. That alone spoke volumes about Ferguson's team selection.
As a result, the entire first half turned into an all-out offensive battle.
3–3. The first half was thrilling.
But it also exposed major issues.
"The defense is still not solid enough. Look at the moment when Maguire had to defend Owen one-on-one. It was dreadful," Carlo said, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"As for the other two goals, Leeds United still has plenty to improve defensively. But their attack was really impressive."
Just as Carlo finished, Brian Kidd chimed in from the side.
"You're using Premier League standards—top Premier League standards at that. Where are Championship teams supposed to get players like Berbatov and Giggs?"
"That's true," Carlo acknowledged.
Facing a strong Manchester United attack, Leeds United's defensive weaknesses were exposed.
The Koulibaly-Maguire pairing looked fragile in the first half.
Sarri clearly made adjustments in the second half, as did Manchester United in midfield and up front, which led to a more balanced second half.
Gao Shen had no issues with how the two center-backs performed. After all, they were young.
Koulibaly was only 20, Maguire just 18. Facing seasoned players like Owen, Berbatov, and Giggs, holding their ground in the second half was already commendable.
If they could really shut out Manchester United, wouldn't that make Leeds United unstoppable?
"Besides the tactical adjustments, the key to holding out in the second half was Courtois's steady performance," Lopis analyzed.
"There were a few moments where you could see he was quicker to dive against United."
"Spinelli?" Gao Shen asked.
Lopis nodded. "Italian goalkeeping training has some unique characteristics, like using the feet to launch attacks, and being more aggressive in dealing with crosses. You see all of that in Buffon."
Buffon, the gold standard for Italian goalkeepers, nearly flawless.
"Courtois is tall, and when he trained in Belgium, he had a habit of taking a step forward before diving. But that doesn't suit today's game anymore. The ball moves faster and lighter now."
"So when you watch his save against Berbatov's shot, you can clearly see he moved laterally first, then dove. The speed of his drop was noticeably faster."
"This is part of the evolution in Italy's goalkeeper training methods."
Professionals can always spot the subtle differences.
After Lopis's explanation, it made a lot of sense.
Gao Shen knew Spinelli had been focusing on Courtois's footwork. Courtois had started out as a winger and had good technique with his feet. Now, he was being trained to strengthen that skill further, especially in terms of long kicks.
Back in Belgium, their team lacked a proper center forward. Long balls were usually wasted, ending up with the opposition. But now, with tall players like Benteke and Bolasie up front, long kicks had become a viable option.
Aside from Courtois, many of Leeds United's young players were progressing rapidly.
Pogba, for instance, was performing better with every match.
"Beating Manchester United is nothing. It was a huge upset and something to be proud of, but we still have a long way to go," Gao Shen said rationally.
Setting aside the rest, even in the League Cup, no one knew how far Leeds United could go. They could only take it one match at a time.
"I think we can expect good things. Paco Cerullo and Juan Villa are both very dependable," Carlo said with a smile.
Speaking of those two, he truly admired their courage.
When people mention Barcelona's La Masia, they think of youth training, the legendary Cruyff, the reformer Van Gaal, and now Guardiola.
But what many overlook is that Cruyff, Van Gaal, and Guardiola are just the jewels in the crown.
Take Guardiola's autobiography, for example. He briefly discusses the reforms he implemented when coaching Barcelona B. On closer examination, nearly all of his strategies focused on one thing: the identification and utilization of youth talent.
Does that matter?
Absolutely.
Real Madrid's biggest issue with youth development is that academy players don't make it into the first team.
That's also tied to Real Madrid's business philosophy.
There's a saying: Barcelona's goal is to beat Real Madrid. Real Madrid's goal is to conquer the world.
Chelsea's youth academy is also top-tier. They've recruited countless talents globally. Their youth team has great results, but how many of them make it to the first team?
Why not?
From Mourinho to Scolari to Villas-Boas, every manager was chasing immediate results. Who had time to gamble on youth?
This is a common problem.
The stronger a club is, the better its youth academy tends to be. Whether they train players from scratch or recruit semi-developed talent, their academies are always strong.
The real challenge is how to scout and use them effectively.
That's where Guardiola's B-team reforms succeeded.
But think deeper: is that truly the foundation of a youth development system?
Obviously not.
If you can't develop talent in the first place, no matter how good your selection process is, it's like trying to build a house without bricks.
The real core of youth training lies in nurturing talent.
Put simply: "I can do without, but you can't."
Gao Shen may be a Real Madrid fan, but he had to admit, Barcelona's Dream Team III had a revolutionary impact on modern football.
What's good is good. What's bad is bad. Facts matter more than feelings.
At the heart of football is control of the ball.
And the Bundesliga giants proved that when Bayern Munich spent heavily to hire Guardiola.
By 2021, was there a single team in Europe that didn't emphasize possession?
Is there a top coach who doesn't value passing and control?
Barcelona's youth coaches and development experts are now scattered across Europe and beyond.
That's the reality.
When the world votes with its feet, that's the direction to follow.
Facing the truth leads to progress. Staying complacent leads to stagnation.
But while every club is trying to poach Barcelona's youth experts and coaches—some even nabbing sporting directors or technical directors—few have touched the true foundation of Barcelona's youth academy.
That is, a mysterious department within La Masia: the Methodology Department.
Van Gaal once said, "The world is proud of Barcelona. What sets them apart is that they use the same philosophy to train players at every level."
The methodology department exists to preserve that philosophy.
Its role is to evolve with the times, study the most cutting-edge training methods from around the world, and design the most scientific, tailored training plans for both La Masia and the first team.
This is the engine behind Barcelona's seemingly endless stream of talent.
In 2021, the year Gao Shen traveled back from, no one doubted that both European and global football were studying player development assembly lines.
Barcelona was the best and most advanced in that field.
Of course, that was in 2021.
In 2011, Barcelona was still summarizing and analyzing the success of Dream Team III and continuously refining their methodology.
In his previous life, Gao Shen had seen a video of Paco Cerullo, head of the methodology department, teaching young players. He used Messi's match clips to analyze and explain concepts. There was a quote from that video that Gao Shen particularly liked:
"Time defines our lives. We are not defined by space, but by the time we spend in that space."
"In real life, a tenth or a hundredth of a second means nothing. But in football, it can mean a goal, a win."
It sounded philosophical, even mysterious. But from that starting point, one could see that whoever does more, faster, more accurately and clearly within a given time, wins the duel and the game.
The methodology department's job is theoretical research, training curriculum design, and development.
These theories help young players understand the essence of football. These training methods shape their performance on the pitch.
In the future, the leaders of Barcelona's methodology department would be 65-year-old Paco Cerullo and 57-year-old Juan Villa.
Credit for their availability goes to Barcelona president Rosell and vice president Bartomeu, who slashed budgets across the board as soon as they took office.
From Guardiola's backroom staff to La Masia's annual ten-million-euro investment, everything was cut. And what seemed like the most "useless" area—the research and methodology department—was naturally shelved.
This gave Gao Shen the perfect opportunity to poach talent and become the gravedigger of Barcelona's youth system.
When Rodolfo Borrell, himself a Barcelona product, heard the news, he immediately reached out to Gao Shen and recommended the two veteran coaches who had served at the club for 20–30 years.
Gao Shen personally accompanied Borrell to Barcelona to meet Paco Cerullo and Juan Villa.
At the time, Barcelona had no active methodology department and had stopped investing in research. With management continuing to cut costs, both men were disheartened.
So when Gao Shen approached them with an offer and his vision of combining big data with methodology, their eyes lit up.
They hit it off immediately and both joined Leeds United.
Since Leeds didn't yet have a complete youth setup, they currently worked with the first team and two youth squads.
Given how young Leeds United's senior squad was, it made a perfect testing ground for their research.
(To be continued.)