Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 19: System Revives Again

On July 20th, two weeks into the team's training camp, the club brought in the first opponent for a warm-up match - Kottbus.

For Werder Bremen, choosing Kottbus as the first opponent for a warm-up match was obviously a carefully considered decision.

This is a club from the German second division. They briefly advanced to the Bundesliga for two seasons but quickly got relegated due to their inadequate strength.

The opponent's strength is not strong, probably half a notch weaker than Werder Bremen.

Playing against them helps the young players in the team build confidence. With many senior players leaving the team for the new season, they have to rely on these young players to carry the torch.

However, young players' mentality is not stable enough and they are prone to collapse in the later stages of the season, just like Arsenal, who go all out in the first half of the season but falter in the second half for some reason.

In addition to helping the team's young players build confidence, choosing a relatively weak opponent means their defense won't be under too much pressure. They can focus more on attacking and better test the results of the team's offensive tactics.

In this match, both Lin Quan and De Bruyne made it into the squad.

The difference is that De Bruyne was named in the starting lineup, while Lin Quan was only a substitute.

Lin Quan's attitude towards this was very calm. He never thought he would immediately get a starting position, after all, his current physical fitness is not enough to play a full game.

Being a substitute and coming on at a critical moment in the second half when the opponent's energy is declining, to seize the opportunity to change the game, is much less challenging than starting and wrestling with opponents with full energy.

"Ding Ding, come on, I'm rooting for you!"

Lin Quan fist-bumped De Bruyne to encourage him, and De Bruyne nodded shyly.

The match started quickly. 23,000 spectators came to Weser Stadium for this friendly match, with about half of the seats empty.

This is not surprising, considering that the team has lost many senior players and is now playing a friendly match against lower-level league opponents, which doesn't have much appeal to the fans.

After the match started, Werder Bremen quickly took the initiative.

Kottbus chose to defend in their own half and counterattack.

This is a very pragmatic choice. When facing a stronger team, a slightly weaker team, if it recklessly goes out to attack, it's easy to be torn apart by the opponent.

Especially against Werder Bremen, a team with strong attacking capabilities, if defense is not reinforced, if a disaster happens, it will have a very unfavorable impact on the mentality of the team players for the new season.

"They've indeed chosen to defend!"

Assistant coach Rolf frowned, nervously speaking up.

"Yeah, as expected!"

Schaaf remained calm, as if he had anticipated the opponent's choice.

"There are too many defensive players in their backline. We can't penetrate through the ground, we can only rely on crosses from the wings, but the effect may not be good!"

Another assistant coach, Henebach, was also worried. Breaking through dense defenses is a universal challenge, and he was concerned about whether these young lads on the field could handle it.