บท 100: Five Goals in a Single Game
After losing a game, the team's atmosphere became quite heavy.
Players who used to fool around on the training ground also became much quieter these days.
It felt like a layer of gloom hung over the entire Werder Bremen team, unshaken by the wind or rain.
Lin was not in a good mood and practiced shooting alone on the training ground.
Losing was acceptable, but losing at home to Leverkusen was a bit hard to accept.
Are Leverkusen really stronger than Bayern Munich? They could hold off Bayern but were defeated by Leverkusen with four goals!
The head coach, Schaaf, couldn't help but sigh as he saw the players' emotional state, "As expected!"
The team had been too smooth sailing before, leading the players to develop a false sense of superiority.
But in reality, Werder Bremen wasn't that strong!
Compared to the previous season, they only had Lin and De Blain in the front, who were relatively strong points.
In the midfield and defense, their strength hadn't increased; in fact, it had weakened a bit.
Müller is a good goalkeeper, cheap and efficient, but compared to last season's main goalkeeper, Wiese, he fell short.
His timing for coming out wasn't as good as Wiese, and his teamwork with teammates wasn't as seamless as Wiese's.
More importantly, he didn't possess the dominance Wiese had! Wiese's powerful spirit on the field greatly boosted the team and instilled confidence in the players.
The strength of the four defenders was average. Besides Papastathopoulos being slightly stronger, the rest didn't possess anything special.
From the beginning of the season until now, Werder Bremen had hardly fixed its backline selections.
Players such as Lukimya, Prödl, Schmidt, and Selassie had all been tried, but Schaaf was still not very satisfied.
The defensive midfielder position was actually the team's biggest weakness.
Although the captain, Fritz, could both attack and defend, he couldn't excel in any one area; he could only be used as a utility player in the back, having played as both a full-back and defensive midfielder positions.
As for Junuzovic and Ekici, they were both stronger in attack than defence, with some organizing and offensive capabilities, but weak in defence, resulting in Werder Bremen's midfield lacking solidity and being frequently exploited by opponents.
If Werder Bremen's midfield didn't have De Blain, an excellent organizer in the front, Schaaf could still tolerate the performances of these two.
After all, the team needed their organizing abilities.
But with De Blain already in the front, Junuzovic and Ekici's organizing capabilities became redundant and less important.
Instead, the team needed them to provide defensive strength and hardness in the defensive midfielder position to ensure the team's defensive line wasn't easily threatened.
However, the two of them clearly couldn't do this, which led to opponents regularly breaking through their midfield, easily reaching the 30-meter area and threatening the goal.
These areas all needed reinforcement, but these weren't the most important things at the moment.
The most crucial thing at the moment was to pacify Lin's emotions. Since the loss, Schaaf had noticed he wasn't as cheerful as before.
So, after training, he called Lin to his office intending to have a private chat.
"Coach, do you need me for something?"
Lin had just come down from the training ground, still covered in sweat, and didn't want to dirty the coach's office chair, so he stood and spoke to Schaaf.
The coach teased, "Well, sit down. Don't worry about dirtying my genuine leather sofa, if it gets dirty, we'll just deduct it from your salary."
Schaaf joked, and Lin smiled, "Coach, you can't deduct my salary. My salary and bonuses are paid by Barcelona."
Schaaf was taken aback and hadn't paid attention to this, but upon hearing Lin, he looked a bit embarrassed. It seemed like Werder Bremen had been profiting off Lin without spending a penny.
This seemed a bit unfair; no wonder the kid wasn't interested in staying with the club!
It felt like the club was being too stingy!
No, he had to talk to Allofs about this and get Lin some bonuses.
Regardless, Lin had scored so many goals for the team; it was unfair not to give him any bonuses.
"Cough, I'll talk to Allofs about it. It doesn't matter if Barcelona pays your salary, but we'll cover the bonuses here!"
Lin smiled sincerely, "Will the bonuses be the same as the ones from Barcelona?"
Schaaf didn't know how much bonuses Lin received from Barcelona, but he heard he had signed with the youth team.
Like a young player such as himself, under a youth team contract, there probably won't be much money in annual bonuses, right?
Even though Werder Bremen isn't a wealthy powerhouse, they can still afford tens of thousands of euros in bonuses.
"Yes, I will talk to Allofs about it, and you can just get ready to receive the bonus when the time comes!"
"Well, thank you in advance, coach!"
If someone is giving him money, especially a generous amount, Lin naturally wouldn't refuse.
However, the coach probably doesn't know how much money he's getting from Barcelona, and when he finds out the amount... Haha, just thinking about it feels very interesting!
"Alright, let's talk about the last game!"
After chatting, Schaaf finally gets to the point.
When Schaaf starts talking about the game, Lin quiets down and listens attentively.
"We lost in the last game, I know you all feel upset!"
"But professional football is like this, there's no team that doesn't lose, even the mighty Barcelona often has slip-ups in La Liga, and Bayern has been defeated by Leverkusen too!"
"We will lose, it's a very normal thing. Don't treat it like it's the end of the world, don't think it's your fault!"
Schaaf reminisces about his own playing days and says with deep emotion, "Even weaker teams can defeat stronger opponents, relying on strong perseverance, excellent teamwork, defeating formidable opponents, and experiencing the joy of victory - that's the charm of football."
"We were a weak team at the beginning of the season, no one took us seriously."
"Thanks to your excellent performances alongside De Bruyne, we had it easy."
"But now we're second in the standings, there will be many teams researching us in the league, finding ways to restrict your performance."
"That's why we can't win as easily as we did at the start of the season. At this point, the team's performance will fluctuate, maybe even fall into a trough. These are things you need to go through."
"Life's path isn't always smooth, there will inevitably be setbacks and obstacles. What you need to do is not blame yourself."
"Instead, find solutions to difficulties, help yourself and the team emerge from the low point."
Lin nodded. He knew the coach was serving him motivation, but this motivation was effective.
At least for now, he felt much better.
Seeing Lin's improved mood, Schaaf breathed a sigh of relief.
Young players still lack experience, as they go through these things more, they won't be affected as much.
"Alright, now let's talk about the team's tactical approach for the future!"
...
De Bruyne felt upset watching the team's loss on TV at home.
The next day, he found Lin on the training ground and had a chat with him.
"I plan to make a comeback in the next away game against Hoffenheim, what do you think?"
Lin gave him a glance, making sure he wasn't joking, then lifted his foot, pretending to kick towards his ankle.
"Hey, what are you doing, it's very dangerous you know?"
De Bruyne was startled and quickly dodged his attack.
"Not bad, good reflexes, it seems you've really recovered."
What Lin did was just a test, not a real attempt to kick De Bruyne.
"That's right, I've been diligently following the doctor's recovery plan these days, basically haven't left my house, so of course I've recovered well!"
De Bruyne seemed a bit fidgety at home, so today, he appeared particularly talkative.
It had been over two weeks since his injury, and De Bruyne felt good. He felt like he could play again.
But for his own well-being, Lin refused.
"Let's wait for the next game. This game will be away, running around can be troublesome and tiring, it might cause your injury to recur!"
De Bruyne wanted to say more, but Lin mentioned the warning from the medical expert he consulted before.
After that, De Bruyne gave up on the decision to resume playing.
On careful thought, Lin's point made sense.
Hoffenheim was second to last in the league, an easy opponent.
Even in an away game, Werder Bremen had enough ability to defeat them.
If De Bruyne wanted to make a comeback, it would be better to wait until the 16th round when Werder Bremen faces Frankfurt. By then, it would be almost a month since De Bruyne's injury, and he could return without any concerns.
Moreover, he hadn't trained with the team for over two weeks. Before officially coming back, he needed to slowly ease back into training, getting used to the rhythm of the game.
How could he come back immediately after recovering? This could easily lead to a recurrence of the injury!
...
On December 2nd, the 15th round of the Bundesliga began.
Werder Bremen visited the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, where they faced Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim had a terrible record this year, with only three victories, eight losses, and three draws, placing them third from the bottom on the points table.
In the 14 rounds of matches, they conceded 36 goals, an average of 2.57 per game, making them the worst defense in the Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim seemed to have studied Werder Bremen's defeat in the last game and attempted to replicate Leverkusen's tactics to counter them.
However, the difference in strength between Hoffenheim and Leverkusen was substantial, and with their poor defense, they were quickly overwhelmed by Werder Bremen.
The match turned into a personal showcase for Lin, with him scoring three goals in the first half, thanks to Schaaf's new tactics liberating his attacking ability.
By securing a win against Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen could maintain their second position on the points table.
Hoffenheim's players seemed to lose their motivation after conceding multiple consecutive goals.
Their coach made two substitutions in the 37th minute, hoping to change the game's tide, but Hoffenheim's situation didn't improve.
However, in the second half, Hoffenheim played more vigorously and the game became more intense.
Shortly after Hoffenheim scored their first goal, Lin scored another, reflecting Werder Bremen's strong determination to win.
After another goal, Hoffenheim's morale completely crumbled, and they ultimately accepted defeat at their home ground.
This victory allowed Werder Bremen's players to regain their smiles and the previous gloom following the losses vanished.
Furthermore, De Bruyne had fully recovered from his injury and began training with the team again, raising the team's spirits even more.
His potential return in the next match against Frankfurt could significantly improve Werder Bremen's chances.
The first half of the Bundesliga season was nearly over, and the upcoming matches against Frankfurt and the following cup game at Bayern Munich's home ground would be critical for Werder Bremen.
Schaaf reminded the team not to underestimate Frankfurt and to focus completely on the present match, and to avoid making the same mistakes they did against Leverkusen.
He emphasized the importance of giving their all and not taking anything for granted, despite De Bruyne's return.
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