Chapter 16: The Head Coach's Test

Team practice the next day.

Head coach Pepe Mel announced directly before training that the team will be rotated for the next round of the Copa del Rey against Guadalajara.

"We will be playing with a substitute lineup in the first round of the Copa del Rey in two days!"

"At the moment we are still bottom of the league so I will try to avoid double-teaming the team as much as possible, to save our strength for the rest of the league and get ready for relegation."

"However, even though it's an away game and we're fielding a substitute lineup, I still hope that we can all work hard for a win!"

After Pepe Mel briefly explained the situation.

The starters were also relieved that the double-header week was, after all, a great test of stamina.

The bench players, on the other hand, are starting to get excited.

It's the King's Cup, but at least it's a chance to perform.

However, Su Yun was puzzled.

He looked at the head coach and then at the rest of his teammates and asked with a frown, "Coach, according to you, am I considered a starter? Or a substitute player?"

The scene was quiet for a moment.

"Sue, you start the next game."

Pepe Meier smiled mysteriously and did not answer Su Yun's question positively.

Now Su Yun was even more baffled.

He thought to himself, is this the head coach who thinks it's okay for a goalie to play a doubleheader a week, or is he still a substitute in his mind?

Looks like one game wasn't enough!

Thinking of this, Su Yun decided that he must perform well in the next match and try to stabilize the main position as soon as possible so that he could earn more appearance fees.

The head coach then announced the starting lineup straight away.

When the list came out, both those who were on the list and those who were not were stunned.

Because of the players in this list, there is not a single starter, not even a major rotation player, all of them are fringe players of the team, or reserve team players.

Especially the backline.

Two wingbacks, plus two center backs, have never been paired together.

The four of them looked at me, I looked at you, and they were all dumbfounded as well.

Is the head coach really not joking when he puts out a back line like that?

Even if they were playing a League Two team, they'd probably give it a blowout!

Head coach Pepe Mel was very pleased after seeing the reaction of his players.

That was the effect he wanted.

Because this was the test one would set for Su Yun.

In fact, Pepe Mel still has something to say that he didn't say, and this game he actually communicated with the management. In view of the team's relegation situation is not optimistic, so strategically give up the King's Cup to avoid a double-front war.

Of course, it would be even better if this group of substitutes could really win the game, and it would also test Su Yun, just so they could kill two birds with one stone.

Team practice then began.

The players on the starting roster make up the A-Team and the starters make up the B-Team.

The training is all about the B team helping the A pair to gel their lineups.

But once practice started, it didn't seem to have much to do with bonding, and it completely turned into the starters crushing the subs.

The substitutes improvised a back line that worked together like a mess.

Repeated cheap shots.

Looking at Su Yun was also very anxious.

Not even twenty minutes into practice and already ten shots on goal have been completed.

Luckily, there was Su Yun standing on the goal line all the time, and he made consecutive world-class saves in the face of the starter's shots, which saved the city's goal.

But the sky is the limit.

It's hard to prevent home invasions day and night.

How could Su Yun not expect that the opponent did not kick the ball in, but the ball was kicked in by his own defender.

On a drive, Santa Cruz overpowered the A's center back with a powerful header.

Suyun reacted with great speed, and although he didn't catch the ball, he still knocked it away.

But the ball didn't fly far.

An own defender stepped up to clear the ball, and the kick was bared to the inside of his own goal.

Su Yun, who had just gotten up from the ground, was directly speechless.

On the contrary, it was Santa Cruz who was very happy to see Su Yun get defeated.

"Haha... Su, aren't you great? How come instead you still can't defend against your own defenders?"

"Bah... Villainous." Su Yun fished out the ball inside the goal and kicked it away.

"Hahaha..."

Looking at Su Yun cursing, Santa Cruz laughed even more.

The next day's practice followed, and things still didn't get much better for the substitutes.

Su Yun also gradually began to realize that if the training continues at this level, it is estimated that the King's Cup match, the probability is going to be ruined.

His current one was strong, but he wasn't invincible yet, okay?

This would probably not be a matter of conceding or not conceding a goal, but a matter of conceding a couple of goals if it came down to an official game.

There's also his own no-goal bonus, which is probably going to go down the drain along with it!

No, we must think about whether there is any way to solve this crisis.

After training, Su Yun, who had returned to his apartment, was not idle.

He found several videotapes of the game, from Casillas, from Kahn, from Buffon, and from other top world-class goalkeepers.

After a little thought, he chose Casillas', after all, in the same La Liga.

He wanted to see if the world's top goalie, would offer him any methods.

After looking at it for a while, Su Yun did not find anything particularly useful.

But just as he was about to turn off the screen, the image of Casillas directing his defenders to set up a human wall suddenly gave him some inspiration.

His eyes lit up and he hurriedly used his consciousness to enter the system.

"System, Goalie Command Defense: 99. What does this attribute do?"

"Host, this attribute refers to the goalkeeper's ability to judge the situation on the field and collaborate with the backline to avoid confusion and disjointed division of labor among the backline players."

Sure enough! No wonder I always felt that I could see the problems with the backline on defense.

That means that all one needs to do next is command the backline and work in concert with the backline, and won't that solve the problem?

Su Yun, who had a solution, immediately decided that he would give it a good try during tomorrow's training.

The next day, the team continued practice with offensive and defensive drills.

Only, today's training was dominated by the substitute team's offensive sets, and Su Yun never got the chance to test the attribute of goalie commanding the defense.

It wasn't until practice was almost over that the impatient home team, finally, struck back.

This time, Su Yun had indeed gained insight into his opponent's offensive intentions just like before.

He hastened to command his teammates loudly.

"One man on the side is enough! Defense Santa Cruz! Get back to the center to assist the defense! Come on, back to the center for defense!"

His teammates were thinking the same thing at this point, so with another defender, they all contracted to the middle of the field and defused the opponent's attack.

Seeing that the attack was destroyed, Su Yun let out a long breath of relief.

It seems that the attribute of commanding the defense is really effective!

There's hope for tomorrow's game.

But none of the other players saw it that way, in their minds, wasn't this a normal defense? This defense by the backline doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, a goalie, does it?

Head coach Pepe Mel, however, showed some surprise.

He looked at Su Yun suspiciously.

I thought to myself, "This kid, was it a coincidence that he was directing his teammates to play defense just now? I don't think he's ever done that before, right?