The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 75 - 41: Wang Shuo Scores! Klopp’s Another Big Gamble! The Tractor vs. The Ferrari
Hainauer was chosen to be the ’1’ in the number 10 position.
As for the ’1’ at the very front, that was Wang Shuo.
Anyone could see that this was a tactic Klopp had tailor-made for the current Mainz team.
The two ’1’s up front were given immense creative freedom on the attack.
But in return, they also had to shoulder more defensive responsibilities.
This was especially true for Wang Shuo, who led the line.
The new signings were all clearly surprised by this tactical arrangement.
’Could a kid who isn’t even eighteen yet really handle such a heavy burden?’
Bancé asked himself honestly; if he were the one playing that advanced forward position, the pressure would be immense.
’At 1.92 meters and 90 kilograms, could I even do that much running?’
Only those familiar with Mainz and with Wang Shuo knew that Klopp had tailor-made this role for him.
The role existed in this tactical setup only because they had Wang Shuo first!
Once the tactics were set, all that remained was to drill them repeatedly.
For a team like Mainz, successfully establishing a single solid tactic and a consistent lineup was already a huge achievement.
...
"You’re taking bigger and bigger gambles these days!"
Mainz’s training sessions had always been run by assistant coach Buvac.
Klopp and Kramny stood watching from the sidelines.
The speaker was Kramny. He felt that Klopp was putting too much pressure on Wang Shuo.
"Don’t forget, he’s only seventeen. He’s still just a kid!"
Klopp smiled. "Have you ever seen a kid who is so ruthless with himself?"
After a pause, Klopp clapped Kramny on the shoulder. "You’re a good man, but you don’t understand Wang Shuo."
"Or at least, not well enough."
Kramny froze for a moment.
’Come to think of it, he was right.’
Strictly speaking, he had known Wang Shuo for less than half a year and had only really spent time with him for two or three months.
’How could I possibly claim to understand him?’
"He’s never said it, but I can guess. He’s a kid who came out of some very, very poor mountain region. It must have been incredibly difficult for him to make it here, to us. That’s why he’s more desperate for success than anyone else."
"Because he wants to change his own life, and the fate of his family!"
At one point, Klopp had felt the same way.
The difference was, he was lucky enough to be born in Germany.
Even a village in the Black Forest has a pretty good standard of living.
But Wang Shuo?
A seventeen-year-old kid who forced himself to train relentlessly for over a month, enduring an agonizing daily routine.
’What kind of willpower and determination does that take?’
Klopp felt that a kid like this deserved to succeed!
"Do you know what the biggest difference is between Wang Shuo and Bancé?" Klopp asked again.
These two forwards were the strongest contenders for Mainz’s starting striker position in the new season.
Kramny shook his head.
Bancé was from Africa. He also came from a poor background and was just as eager to succeed through soccer.
"Wang Shuo is more ruthless with himself. And he’s also smarter, more clever."
Hearing this, Kramny’s eyes narrowed. "How can you tell?"
Klopp chuckled. "He played so many games in the 2nd Bundesliga last season. Have you ever seen Wang Shuo get a card?"
Not only did he not get a card in the 2nd Bundesliga, he didn’t get one in the U19s either.
This proved that Wang Shuo was a very calm and rational player.
"Then look at Bancé. As he started to make a name for himself, he’s gotten a red card in each of the last three seasons, and it only got worse last season."
Anyone who’s played the game knows that getting a yellow card and getting a red card are two very different kinds of punishments.
The fact that Bancé had received a red card for three consecutive seasons proved he was not good at controlling his temper and was prone to losing it.
This was something that happened to a lot of professional players after they became famous.
Why was Bancé hit with a five-match suspension?
Strictly speaking, it was 3+2.
In last season’s home match for Offenbach against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Neuville scored a penalty in the 28th minute.
The decision was controversial.
So, in the 44th minute, just before the end of the first half, Bancé committed a vicious foul on Neuville during a defensive play near the halfway line.
It was a blatant act of revenge!
So, he received a red card and was sent off on the spot.
The score was 0-1 at the time, with Offenbach, who were fighting for survival in the league, trailing by a goal.
As Bancé was sent off, fans in the stands were berating and booing him. It was impossible to tell if they were Offenbach’s home fans or the traveling supporters from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
As Bancé walked toward the player tunnel, he turned and gave the middle finger to the fans in the stands.
After the second half began, Offenbach, already a man down, had their center-back Sigyn foul Nowitzki again in the 48th minute. He earned a second yellow and was sent off.
Borussia Mönchengladbach was awarded another penalty, and Nowitzki completed his brace. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
In the end, Borussia Mönchengladbach crushed Offenbach 7-1 away from home.
After the match, Bancé received a three-match suspension for the red card, plus an additional two matches for the middle finger gesture, totaling five matches.
That was why Klopp said that Bancé wasn’t actually very smart.
And he was a liability.
No one knew if, or when, that landmine would go off.
In comparison, although Wang Shuo was young, he was obviously more reliable.
Klopp had also been keeping a close eye on him, especially during the recent summer training camp.
He believed that with Wang Shuo’s personality, combined with that ruthless drive of his and the skill and traits he’d displayed last season, he was bound to deliver a surprise in the new season.
