The God of Football starts with passive skills

Chapter 15 The Call of the First Team

Mainz is very poor.

They were so poor that even their office was very rudimentary.

Therefore, for a long time, Christian Heidel did not work at the Bruchweg Stadium.

Even now, he still often works at his BMW.

Many of Mainz's important contracts were actually signed here.

Of course, as a relatively unknown force in German football, not many people pay attention to these things.

As a friend of Heidel, Klopp is also a frequent visitor to the BMW House.

But this is the first time we've rushed in like this, right after finishing a round of league matches.

"What's wrong, Jürgen?"

Heidel sat in his spacious, bright office, looking at Klopp with some curiosity.

Why didn't you answer your phone?

Klopp was clearly out of breath from the long drive.

"I was watching the game over there at the stadium when the power went out," Haider explained casually.

"You have no idea, this iPhone made by the Americans has such a big screen, it consumes too much power, it can't even last a day, it's not as good as Nokia or Siemens at all."

That last sentence was purely a complaint about his own phone.

Klopp chuckled, "That's not what you said when you bought it. You said it was the future."

"I've been scammed. This phone is terrible."

Klopp gave a "I don't believe you" look.

He had known Haider for over a decade, and the two had such a good relationship; how could he not understand Haider's personality?

This guy has a strong ability to accept all new things and loves to try them.

Klopp was clearly not there to discuss cell phone issues with Haider.

He came to discuss Bayern Munich scouting Wang Shuo for their U19 youth team.

Christian Haider had heard of this name before.

He joined the team in mid-March, and his youth training contract was signed at that time.

But Haider didn't care.

I heard several times afterward that he performed well in the U19 youth team, and Kramny also had a high opinion of the Chinese player.

Especially today.

He also heard that Wang Shuo led the U19 youth team in Lower Olm to a 4-3 comeback victory against Bayern U19.

And he pulled off a hat trick.

"Bayern sent someone to scout him?" Haider was still quite surprised.

“It’s absolutely true, Hoeneß has already called his agent.”

Hearing this, Haider became serious.

Bayern Munich scouts players regularly, but for Hoeness to personally make the call is anything but simple.

"You want to keep him?" Haider frowned.

It's not easy.

Looking across Germany, when Bayern Munich wants to poach a player, it's very difficult for other German teams to refuse.

Especially teams like Mainz.

Moreover, Klopp's current situation is not conducive to him stepping in to persuade him to stay.

Because he was unable to make any real and effective promises.

The team is not performing very well in the German second division at the moment.

According to the contract extension Klopp previously signed with Mainz, if the team fails to gain promotion to the top division this season, Klopp will likely choose to leave Mainz.

Given his current reputation in German football, he has no shortage of interest and favor from Bundesliga teams.

The most likely candidate is Borussia Dortmund.

Of course, if the team succeeds in gaining promotion to the top division, Klopp will choose to stay on as per his contract.

In this situation, what can Klopp do to retain the players?

"I want to promote him directly to the first team and let him play for the first team," Klopp said, expressing his thoughts.

Haider nodded. "I have no problem with that. You can make the decision."

"But he's not old enough."

"age?"

"Yes, he was born in September 1990."

Heidel clicked his tongue.

As the general manager of Mainz, he is certainly familiar with the rules of the German professional leagues, especially player registration.

This is common sense.

A brief silence fell between them as they pondered the question.

"In the past two seasons, more and more teams in the German second division have begun to value and promote young players."

"For example, last season, 1860 Munich promoted the Lars Bender and Sven Bender brothers."

“Last December, Kaiserslautern promoted Alexander Eiswein, and this February, Paderborn promoted Junior Hoilette.”

"But all of these players have one thing in common: they come from the team's youth academy and are 18 years old at the end of the season, which is in accordance with the current regulations of the German professional league."

"I know, but there are exceptions, aren't there?"

"You mean Sahin of Dortmund and Lewis Holtby of Aachen, right?"

Klopp nodded.

These are the only two young players in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga so far to have applied for special participation permits.

Holtby was in December 2007.

Interestingly, he was also born in September 1990, a situation very similar to Wang Shuo's.

"This is very troublesome. You know, Sahin and Holtby are both recognized as talented players in the country, but even so, it took Dortmund and Aachen a lot of effort to apply for special participation permits for them."

At this point, Haider looked at Klopp and asked, "Do you think it's necessary for us to do this for Wang Shuo?"

"Have!"

Klopp blurted it out, and he said it with great certainty.

But soon, the Mainz coach shook his head and sighed in disappointment.

"As you saw in the game against Aachen this evening, I did my best, but our players seemed to have suddenly forgotten how to play football."

"Especially our attacking players, it seems like they've lost their scoring ability. I really don't have any good solutions."

The two had known each other for over a decade, and Heidel understood Klopp's temperament.

Klopp wouldn't have said that if he wasn't truly at his wit's end. This precisely reflects Klopp's current helplessness.

He knew the team had problems, and he knew roughly where the problems lay, but he couldn't solve them.

“I’ve discussed this with Zeliko. In the past few seasons, you need at least 60 points to get promoted from the 2nd Bundesliga.”

"Now, with only 7 rounds left in the league, we have 43 points, and there is basically no room for further mistakes."

"And don't forget, in the remaining 7 rounds, there's an away game against Cologne, and matches against teams like Augsburg, Kaiserslautern, and St. Pauli, all of which are tough games."

Both Klopp and Haider place great importance on data analysis.

Mainz was one of the first teams in the German professional leagues to adopt data analysis and video analytics.

Therefore, Haider easily gleaned a clear signal from Klopp's words.

To get 60 points, they need to get at least 17 points in the remaining 7 league matches.

At most, we can only lose one more game.

However, Heidel was well aware of how poor Mainz's performance had been over the past period.

"Both Zeliko and I believe that Wang Shuo is a player who can bring changes to our attacking line, and he is the kind of player we need right now."

"Nobody knows what he can change, but it's at least an opportunity."

Upon hearing this, Haider nodded emphatically and said, "I understand."

“I’ll go to Frankfurt tomorrow and try to persuade those people and do my best to get permission to compete, but it will definitely take some time.”

Klopp laughed, "Then I'll promote him to the first team first, so Dremler won't make a move."

After a pause, Klopp snorted coldly, "I don't believe Hoeneß would dare to come to the first team and ask me for players!"

Haider listened with a wry smile.

Hoeness was indeed in the wrong when Klopp almost took over as Bayern Munich.

Given their current relationship, it's unlikely that Hoeneß will approach Klopp.

Of course, Haider could tell that Klopp was still angry.

Coaching Bayern Munich is a great honor for any German head coach.

Including Klopp.

But he must be seething with anger towards Bayern right now.

……

Wang Shuo had no idea what had happened yesterday.

The next morning, when he arrived at the training ground, Kramny told him some news.

"Pack your things and get to the first team immediately!"

First team?

Wang Shuo packed his things, completely bewildered, and headed to the first team, which was 200 meters away.

The first team has only one training ground, which is a bit larger than a standard football field and is right next to the north stand of Bruchweg Stadium.

The players' locker room, rest area, gym, training equipment room, and coaches' offices are all located in a white steel structure building in the northwest corner of the stadium.

When Wang Shuo arrived at the training building that all the Mainz youth team players wanted to set foot in, it was just the time when the first team players were arriving to report for duty.

On the opposite side of the first team's training ground, Klopp and Buvac were leading the first team coaching staff in setting up the training area.

"You must be Wang Shuo?"

Just as Wang Shuo was about to push open the door to enter the training building, a loud voice came from the side.

Turning my head, I was struck by a player wearing a Mainz red jersey, a tall and robust man.

Compared to many German players around him, his skin looks more like that of an Asian player, being somewhat dark-skinned.

With just one glance, Wang Shuo recognized him as Mainz's current captain, Macedonian center-back Nichols Nowitzki.

"Yes, I am Wang Shuo. Hello, Captain."

After his trusted center-back Friedrich transferred to Bayer Leverkusen, Nowitzki took over the team's captain's armband.

“Jurgen just told me to come with me.”

After saying that, Nowitzki pushed open the door and walked into the training building.

The Macedonian walked ahead, explaining the layout of the training building to Wang Shuo as they went.

Where is the gym, where is the rest area, and what's in the rest area...?

This training building is a bit small, but it has everything you need.

The locker room wasn't very big either.

When Wang Shuo went inside, there were already many people busy changing clothes and tying their shoelaces.

"guys!"

Nowitzki was clearly very influential in the locker room. He clapped his hands loudly, and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at him.

It was only then that they noticed Wang Shuo standing next to him.

别看王硕是1米8，只比1米9的诺维斯基矮10公分，但马其顿人足足比他壮了一大圈。

Wang Shuo felt the captain's aura, and also felt the strange looks from his other teammates in the locker room.

Some were wary, some curious, some delighted, and some even harbored hostility or disdain.

The locker room was small, but the twenty or thirty players inside all had their own different interests and demands.

Especially given Mainz's current situation, the locker room is even more chaotic.

"This is our best performing player in the U19 team, Wang Shuo from China, who is only 17 years old."

"Due to his age, he is not yet eligible to play for the first team; he only participates in training with the team."

Wang Shuo clearly sensed that after Nowitzki said those words, many people in the locker room visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Here, Your Majesty, you will sit next to Nevin and use that cabinet.” Nowitzki pointed to the left.

"it is good."

Wang Shuo had no choice but to walk over immediately.

This player is also someone whose height and build are comparable to Nowitzki's.

He is the team's starting center-back.

"Hello, my name is Wang Shuo, and I come from China."

Wang Shuo walked up to the cabinet, saw the tall center-back, and smiled as he reached out his hand.

The other person wasn't particularly enthusiastic, but still politely shook hands with Wang Shuo.

"Hello, Neven, Neven Subotic, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, currently plays for the United States team, but I have Serbian citizenship."

Wang Shuo was stunned for a moment.

Is it so messy?
As Wang Shuo entered the first team's locker room, his agent, Thomas Essien, arrived at Bruchweg Stadium with another person.

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(End of this chapter)