Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 15: The Coach's Determination

The next day, Lin Quan got up early.

After breakfast, he took his football and rode his bike to the training base.

Werder Bremen's training base is very close to the Weser Stadium, which is a landmark building in Bremen.

So even for someone like Lin Quan who is new here, as long as he knows the direction of the stadium, he won't get lost.

Because the team is on vacation, the club is also in a semi-vacation state.

The security guard at the base, Uncle Grayford, was very surprised that someone came for training at this time.

"Hey, kid, are you really a player for our team?" He looked Lin Quan up and down. He had never seen him in the team before, and Lin Quan wasn't wearing Werder Bremen's jersey, so he was very suspicious of Lin Quan's identity.

"Absolutely, if you don't believe me, you can call the club management, Mr. Essien, Mr. Aloffs, or even Mr. Klaus Fischer, the club president, if you have his number."

Lin Quan stood calmly at the gate of the base, facing the security guard's questioning without any nervousness.

After Grayford heard Lin Quan confidently mention several names of the club's management, and he appeared calm and composed, he was already eighty or ninety percent convinced.

However, Germans are quite rigid, or to put it nicely, they're meticulous.

He actually called the club manager, Mr. Aloffs, to confirm Lin Quan's identity.

Mr. Aloffs had just met Lin Quan yesterday, and when he heard Grayford report that Lin Quan came to the club for extra training, he was very surprised.

So he personally drove over and took Lin Quan into the team's training base.

"That's the youth team training ground over there, this is the main team's training ground, the locker room is over here, and this is..."

After introducing all the facilities of the training base, Mr. Aloffs paused for a moment and said with emphasis: "Taking the initiative to do extra training is a good thing, but you must control the training volume, don't overdo it and injure yourself.

You're still young, you have plenty of time, there's no need to rush!"

Although he wasn't very optimistic about Lin Quan perfectly integrating into Werder Bremen's tactical system, he admired or liked hardworking players like Lin Quan.

Especially when a player is still young, being able to resist the temptations outside the field, settle down, solidify one's foundation, and strive to improve one's skills, is a very valuable quality.

Lin Quan nodded. After the interaction, he felt that Mr. Aloffs was easy to get along with.

It's evident that he has feelings for the club, but seeing his troubled look, the rumors outside that he wants to leave are probably true.

In the dimension Lin Quan crossed from, Mr. Aloffs left Werder Bremen in 2013.

That season, Werder Bremen narrowly avoided relegation until the last match, perhaps the poor results were the main reason that prompted him to leave.

In other words, if the team's performance improves this season, Mr. Aloffs may not necessarily choose to leave.

However, this is not directly related to Lin Quan. He's just here on loan to play for a year, and after the loan contract expires next year, he's likely to leave.

By that time, whether Mr. Aloffs and head coach Thomas Love stay or leave doesn't have much to do with him.

... In the following days, Lin Quan went to the club for training diligently every day.

The training mainly consisted of ball drills and non-ball drills, which were some routine training contents for professional teams.

At the beginning, the training volume was not too large, mainly to prevent injuries. Later, after his body adjusted, the training volume gradually increased.

Once the training volume reached a certain level, it stabilized and no longer increased.

At his age, he was at a critical stage of physical growth, and excessive training could cause irreversible damage to his body.

Every time Lin Quan trained, Mr. Aloffs would quietly observe from the sidelines.

A week later, another person appeared on the sidelines.

Lin Quan didn't know this person, but seeing how familiar he was with Mr. Aloffs, he had some guesses about his identity.

These two didn't disturb Lin Quan's training, they just occasionally came over to take a look, and then exchanged a few words.

"Thomas, what do you think of him?"

Mr. Aloffs had observed Lin Quan for two weeks, and he already had a very good understanding of Lin Quan's technical ability.

He was a young player with very solid skills, delicate footwork, and a lot of agility.

In him, Mr. Aloffs saw shadows of Xavi Hernandez and even Messi.

It seemed like he combined the strengths of these three individuals, possessing both organizing ability and finishing ability.

Truly a product of La Masia, indeed a gem!

However, unfortunately, there was no real game practice at the moment, so he couldn't verify his judgment, and he didn't dare to confirm whether his judgment was accurate.

So he brought along his good friend and colleague, the club's head coach, Thomas Schaff, to come and watch Lin Quan's training together.

Schaff stared attentively for a while before gently responding: "The technique is very good, but he's too young."

There are many potential new stars in football, but few of them actually make it in the end.

Take the Golden Boy Award for example, players who win the Golden Boy Award, during the period when they win the award, their performance is certainly recognized by everyone.

However, their professional careers afterwards are not always smooth sailing. Many of them fail to make it, and are dubbed as super flops.

For example, Anderson, the European Golden Boy who was bought by Manchester United for a high price, completely failed to perform at Manchester United, leading to criticism of the €20 million transfer.

And Anderson joined Manchester United when he was at least 19 years old, while Lin Quan is only 16 years old this year.

The risk placed on him is probably greater than the risk Sir Alex Ferguson placed on Anderson.

Mr. Aloffs obviously didn't agree with this view: "I think we shouldn't deny his abilities just because he's young. Don't forget, you hold the record for the youngest appearance in Werder Bremen's history. If the coach back then also denied young players like you, could you have stood out?"

"Schaff, you've changed, you've become conservative. Is it because of the poor performance of the team that you've become conservative, lost your previous calmness and confidence?"

After hearing his friend's words, Thomas Schaff fell silent. He couldn't help but wonder: have I really changed? Three seasons ago, the club was still in the title-contending group in the league, but in the last season, it suddenly collapsed and fell directly into the relegation zone.

The situation worsened last season, and the team was on the verge of relegation at one point.

This summer, including the main goalkeeper, Wiese, fourteen players left, half of whom were key players.

In such a situation, the pressure for the team to avoid relegation in the new season is unprecedented, and it can't afford any mistakes.

And he, perhaps, is under such enormous pressure, that he has become conservative! "You're right, I shouldn't be so conservative!"

"With our current lineup, even if we're extremely conservative, we can't guarantee that we'll avoid relegation. If that's the case, we might as well take a risk!"

(End of this chapter)