To better play to Wang Shuo’s strengths, Klopp’s team didn’t press as high up the pitch as Mainz used to.
"In this system of Klopp’s, 18-year-old Wang Shuo was given enormous space to perform."
"Wang Shuo’s presence, in turn, allowed Klopp’s tactics to achieve a certain marvelous balance."
"Dirty work, grunt work—Wang Shuo did it all."
"At Mainz, once the ball was in the final third, Wang Shuo was the director."
"When he should run, where he should run, whether to make a long pass or a short one..."
"Wang Shuo is like the beacon of the Mainz attack, giving all their opponents headaches."
Kicker Magazine revealed that after the match, they interviewed Bayern’s center-back, Demichelis.
The Argentine, renowned for his football intelligence, believed, "Conceding that goal was a punishnt for us!"
"We made a very foolish mistake: we underestimated Wang Shuo."
"He’s a very special player. It’s like he can always read our intentions and always makes the right choice."
"But that should be impossible."
Demichelis appeared very confused and troubled.
...
Ever since his first appearance in the papers, Wang Shuo had developed a habit of reading them.
Every ti he saw reports in major newspapers praising him, he would feel ecstatic and secretly gloat.
On the evening the match ended, Wang Shuo treated the entire first team to a al.
It cost a lot of money.
But it was worth it.
Both Kramny and Thomas Essien supported Wang Shuo’s decision.
For a striker to perform well, the unwavering support of his teammates is absolutely essential.
Building good relationships in the locker room is also a crucial skill.
"I’ve truly never seen anyone with bad teammate relationships who could still succeed on the pitch," Thomas Essien said earnestly.
Wang Shuo ca from a rural background and had a humble start, so he was never one to show off, nor was he ever arrogant or complacent.
Even now, he still felt that he was sorely lacking compared to others.
For example, Manchester United’s Ronaldo was already a starter for them at 18.
Then there was ssi, who at 18 was already a FIFA World Youth Championship winner and its best player. He was also performing exceptionally at Barça, and his buyout clause had risen to 150 million euros.
And England’s Rooney was only 16 when he scored the goal that ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run.
’Compared to guys like them, I’m still way too far behind.’
’I have to work even harder.’
After reading the reports from the German dia, Wang Shuo secretly went online and started surfing Chinese websites.
The news was all over the major web portals.
Though Wang Shuo tried to remain level-headed, he couldn’t help but feel a thrill reading it all.
On a sports forum, amidst the many posts from fans discussing and praising him, Wang Shuo saw a question.
A fan was asking on the forum if the second round of the DFB-Pokal would be broadcast live.
The match was to be held at Mainz’s Bruch Road Stadium against Cologne from the 2nd Bundesliga.
Cologne’s strength had been significantly affected this season.
Their head coach, Dom, had left to manage Dortmund, and their striker, Hels, had gone to Bayer Leverkusen, weakening the team considerably.
The forum administrator revealed that there were currently no broadcast feeds for the match in Germany. They would likely have to ask Chinese students in Europe to go to the stadium and provide a live update with pictures and text.
But the problem now was that they couldn’t get tickets.
It couldn’t be helped. With Mainz’s promotion to the Bundesliga and their excellent performance, match tickets had beco increasingly hard to co by.
DFB-Pokal tickets were also cheaper, and with Cologne as the opponent, tickets were indeed scarce.
But for Wang Shuo, this was not difficult.
After thinking for a mont, Wang Shuo imdiately called Jiang Pengju.
"If their people want to co to the stadium, I can get them tickets. But you have to make it clear to them that I’m not guaranteed to play in this match."
The match was midweek, between two league fixtures, and it was a cup ga. Klopp would definitely want to give Bancé so playing ti.
Starting players like Wang Shuo would most likely be rested.
Of course, it was a ho ga, and the fans were paying custors, so Klopp would still try to win.
So, whether Wang Shuo would play was really hard to say.
Of course, Jiang Pengju knew that Wang Shuo was essentially setting him up to be the middleman and build goodwill.
The major forums back in China all had financial backers and wielded considerable influence.
Jiang Pengju was organizing campus football tournants, so he needed publicity and promotion. Connecting with these people would certainly be beneficial.
More importantly, by doing this, Wang Shuo was telling everyone that Jiang Pengju had a direct line to Wang Shuo.
"Alright, I’ll talk to them. I’ll also post on the forum and let the fans decide if they want to take the chance."
In less than half an hour, Jiang Pengju replied.
As soon as they heard the tickets were from Wang Shuo, they imdiately agreed to arrange for soone to go and provide live coverage.
"They told a lot of fans back ho are asking if a trip could be organized to co to Germany and watch a match in person."
"Just to watch a ga?"
Wang Shuo was a bit surprised.
’A trip from China to Germany for a few days must cost a fortune.’
"They mainly want to co see you," Jiang Pengju said with a laugh over the phone.
After so thought, Wang Shuo nodded. "I’ll have to discuss it with my agent. The most I can do is provide so tickets and information. I definitely can’t organize the actual travel itineraries."
"Of course," Jiang Pengju agreed.
"It’s fine. Just ask your agent when you have a chance. Your career cos first; everything else is secondary."
Wang Shuo then asked about so matters back ho.
Mainly, when were his old teammates from Huairun Football School coming to Europe for their trials?
By now, Wang Shuo had gained a decent understanding of German football.
He had only gotten this far by relying on the Ball God System.
’My teammates don’t have a System.’
In his judgnt, when his teammates arrived in Germany, they would at best start with the U19s. Their developnt definitely wouldn’t be as rapid as his.
Zhao Yifan, the most talented and skilled of the bunch, had always been second only to him at Huairun Football School, but he was a midfielder.
Competition for that position might be fierce at other clubs, but that wasn’t the case at Mainz.
Besides, the Mainz U19 head coach was Tuchel, and Wang Shuo knew him well.
At this thought, Wang Shuo figured he’d find a chance to chat with Kramny to feel him out, then talk to Tuchel, and have Thomas Essien make the arrangents.
’It would be best if Adidas could sponsor it.’
It couldn’t be helped.
’After all, Huairun Football School was dirt poor.’
As Coach Gao used to joke self-deprecatingly, "If I could pay off our debts by selling my ass, I’d have sold it long ago!"
So, every little bit they could save would help.
The thought of his teammates from back ho made Wang Shuo think of his family.
’No, I have to go train!’
’If it doesn’t kill , I’ll train like my life depends on it!’
’I’ll grind all these other players into the dust!’
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