Capítulo 95: Is there such a good thing as this?
After the exit of De Bruyne from Werder Bremen, there were some issues with the operation of the midfield.
The players seemed not very used to Lin appearing in the forward position; hence, their coordination was not well-established.
Lin, in his winger position, instilled a sense of confidence in them.
However, when in the offensive midfield position, his teammates had their doubts.
Upon noticing this, Lin voluntarily withdrew and actively cooperated with his teammates.
Seeing him retreat and take the initiative to receive the ball, Fritz had no choice but to pass the ball to him.
Upon receiving the ball, Lin immediately faced pressure from several Schalke players.
The commentators were also worried for him, as losing the ball in that position would be dangerous.
But Lin did not give the opposition a chance and skillfully passed the ball.
"The pass was ordinary, nothing exceptional about it!"
The commentators objectively remarked.
A few minutes later, the ball came again to Lin's feet.
Before controlling the ball, he observed the positioning and running routes of the players on the field, and then attempted a long pass.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of understanding between him and his teammate, the pass went unchallenged, resulting in what seemed like a mistake.
Lin shook his head, took the responsibility, indicating that it was his mistake.
He overestimated his teammate's positioning. If this was with the Spanish national team or even the youth national team, some players would have understood his intention and formed a brilliant partnership.
However, at the club, the players were not familiar with his style of play, making such coordination difficult.
It seemed that a simpler approach was needed.
Schalke's players, seeing Lin make such an unexpected mistake, began to relax.
Due to his impressive reputation and previously breaking through their defense, Schalke's players were apprehensive of Lin.
Seeing him in an unfamiliar attacking role initially worried them, thinking he might have some special tactics.
However, after playing for more than ten minutes, they realized:
Is that it?
If this is the only level of play, then they could relax!
With not much time left in the game, Schalke, wanting to turn the game around, didn't have time to play games with Werder Bremen.
They began to intensify their attack, attempting to rewrite the score and secure all three points in the remaining time.
With their main midfielders injured and out of play, if they couldn't secure a victory in such a significant advantage, they would have a hard time explaining to their over fifty thousand fans in the stadium.
The top scorer of the Bundesliga last season, Huntelaar, appeared very eager to score. He gestured for the ball multiple times in the front, hoping to become the hero who changed the score.
But Werder Bremen knew of his threat and defended against him very tightly, not allowing him good opportunities.
Instead, it was the substitute Drakles and Schalke's number 10, Holtby, who had a few threatening shots during the game, nearly changing the score.
Seeing their team being suppressed, the Werder Bremen coaching staff began to worry.
"We placed Lin in the offensive midfield position, and the team's offensive coordination in the front cannot be established. The threat has decreased significantly. Is this choice really reasonable?"
Assistant coach Rolf expressed his concerns, as the situation on the field looked like they were going to lose the game.
"We need to be patient. He hasn't been on the field for long, we can't judge yet!"
Another assistant coach, Hennebach, remained calmer. Having witnessed Lin's miraculous performances multiple times, he had deep trust in him.
The decision to play in the offensive mid position was voluntarily made by Lin. He must have his reasons for doing so, and if we can't figure it out, then let's choose to believe in him!
After resolving the opponent's wave of attacks, the ball returned to Werder Bremen's possession.
Upon receiving the ball, Lin started to change his style of play. He didn't pass the ball immediately when faced with pressure from the opponents, instead, he attempted to break through, a rarity for the offensive midfield.
Because if they lost the ball, it would lead to a transition from attack to defense, creating vulnerabilities in their backline, which could easily lead to the opposition scoring.
Many strong teams emphasize the timing of counterattacks, liking to counterattack when the opponent is launching an attack.
Schalke's players also didn't expect Lin to choose to dribble past opponents. Previously, whenever he received the ball, he had always chosen to pass it.
This reduced their vigilance, seemingly forgetting that he used to be a sharp winger capable of dribbling past opponents.
A player adept at dribbling can get past defenders whether they are on the wing or in the middle.
After dribbling past the pressing players, Lin's passing options increased significantly.
He passed the ball to the wing to Elia and quickly moved forward to receive the pass.
Elia and Lin cooperated multiple times, skillfully passing the ball to him after observing the opponent's positioning.
Lin received the ball, looked into the penalty area, and saw Petersen making a sprint at the edge of Schalke's penalty area.
Petersen was running very eagerly but perhaps didn't notice that he had moved into an offside position.
Instead of passing to him, Lin continued with the ball and, in cooperation with another forward, Huntelaar, took a long shot from outside the penalty area.
The shot was too straight, and the goalkeeper easily caught the ball.
Lin signaled Petersen with a thumbs-up, indicating that he ran well and should keep up the effort.
Petersen thought the ball was going to be passed to him, but in the end, he did not receive the ball.
In the past, he might have been angry for not receiving the ball, but now that he recognizes who the team leader is, he dared not complain.
He carefully recalled that he might have run a bit too fast, and not even the opposing defenders were around him?
Schalke's players were surprised that the opponents dared to make such a breakthrough in the midfield.
This was a fortunate success; if his dribble had failed, it would have been a disaster.
Although there was a long-range shot from the opponent, Schalke's players were not concerned.
Defending Werder Bremen's attack without Lin pressuring them made it too easy for Schalke's players.
They even felt a sense of going back to the previous season when they easily defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 at home.
The opponents were still the same - no improvement!
As the game continued, Werder Bremen's players gradually adapted to Lin's rhythm.
Their opponents thought Lin didn't perform well in the offensive midfield and even found him mediocre.
But Werder Bremen's players didn't see it that way.
Amid a sudden change in the main midfielders, they did not have time to adjust. In such a short time, Lin ensured successful coordination with his teammates and guaranteed the success rate of passing and receiving, without any turnovers.
This was enough to prove his skills!
After adapting to their teammates' playing style, Lin's coordination with them continued to improve.
Compared to before, he became more relaxed in passing and receiving, and his ball control became more rational.
He organized Werder Bremen's midfield very well, greatly boosting the confidence of his teammates, who were more willing to proactively cooperate with him.
Schalke was still unaware, completely unaware of the impending danger.
In the 83rd minute, Schalke launched another attack, putting a lot of players in the front, trying to break through Werder Bremen's goal with a numerical advantage.
Schalke's intense attack in front of Werder Bremen's goal made a lot of noise, but their attacks were not effective.
Several shots either hit the defending players or were saved by the goalkeeper.
Their wave of attack was smoothly resolved by Werder Bremen.
Now, it was Werder Bremen's turn to counterattack, and the ball quickly came to Lin's feet.
Lin, expecting to be pressed by the opponents as before, was surprised to find that their players did not rush up immediately.
Observing for a moment, Lin saw Schalke's players gasping for breath.
Though they were trying to intercept, their fatigue seemed to limit their actions, making them look somewhat sluggish.
After the crazy pressing in the first half, Schalke's players were quickly running out of energy, having not fully recovered from the previous UEFA Champions League match, and now, after such intense play, they had almost nothing left.
Schalke's players were starting to run out of steam!
This was good news!
It was what Werder Bremen was waiting for!
He raised his hand, gesturing for a big attack, indicating to his teammates to push forward.
It's our turn to surround Schalke's goal!
His teammates understood and began running wildly.
Petersen was running most actively, he remembered Lin's words: "Don't worry about anything else, just keep running forward!"
He learned from his previous mistake, he didn't rush to the front, always keeping himself at the same level as the opposing defenders.
This way, the opponents couldn't catch him offside.
Schalke's defenders were underestimating him, thinking he was just running aimlessly since the forwards were moving into open spaces, but he ran straight, slipping between Schalke's two defenders.
"Why are you running here? Do you expect to have a shooting chance?" The Schalke defenders frowned upon his eager running, wondering why his teammates didn't pass the ball to him.
Moreover, with his poor positioning and running choices, they considered Petersen a distraction, someone to divert their attention.
So, they ignored Petersen and focused on marking Aaron Hunt and Elia.
Normally, based on Lin's previous play, he would pass to these two players for coordinated attacks.
However, surprisingly, this time Lin didn't pass to them.
While sprinting, he glanced at the positioning of his teammates upfront, quickly making a decision.
Lin's pass was a curved ball grazing the grass, carrying some bend.
This pass was quite challenging as it went over Schalke's outermost defender Uchida and landed precisely in the front of the penalty area.
At that moment, Petersen had reached the ideal spot.
As Petersen ran, he pondered how his teammates would bypass the two defenders with the ball. How would he position himself to receive the pass and score?
Suddenly, the ball appeared before him, and the defenders were nowhere to be seen.
What a stroke of luck! Without hesitation, he took a shot.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder