Chương 106: Superstar Treatment!
In the hospital, Arnautovic has regained consciousness.
After an examination, the doctors diagnosed him with a brief coma caused by a concussion and recommended that he be observed in the hospital for a period.
Rest is required, and until the doctor confirms his full recovery, he is advised against intense physical activity to avoid exacerbating his condition.
This means he will miss at least a month of matches, but thankfully, the winter break is approaching, and during this period, they only have one German Cup match to play.
For Werder Bremen, this is a silver lining amidst their misfortune.
However, their opponent in the German Cup match is Bayern Munich, and with the absence of their main striker, their chances of winning seem even lower.
"Werder Bremen is in a tough spot. Not only did they draw the strongest opponent in the Bundesliga, but they also received the bad news of their main striker's injury before the game. This could pose a significant disadvantage for the match."
Before the match, various pundits were skeptical of Werder Bremen's chances of winning away.
Their strength is already inferior to that of their opponents, and now, with their main striker injured, the situation seems even more unfavorable.
Furthermore, the German Cup's third-round match takes place just four days after the league, undercutting Werder Bremen's time to rest.
Additionally, Bayern Munich's 17th-round match is scheduled two days earlier than Werder Bremen's, indicating that their opponents have more time to rest, recover, and adjust their physical condition.
This situation is a complete reversal of their previous strategizing against Bayern Munich, and now they are facing a physical crisis.
In the 6th round of the league, Werder Bremen managed to draw against Bayern Munich at home, largely due to Bayern's focus on conserving energy for a three-day Champions League match.
The physical strain from that match nearly caused Bayern Munich, who competes on three fronts, to collapse.
After being drawn by Werder Bremen, Bayern had to travel to Belarus with a depleted lineup and lost their only Champions League match of the season with a 3-1 defeat to BATE Borisov.
Since then, Bayern has placed greater emphasis on player rotation to manage their energy levels for their three-pronged strategy, giving more playing time to substitute players, which has begun to show its effect.
The saying "not afraid of the Bayern tiger, but afraid of Bayern's substitutes" is becoming a dreadful reality.
Addressing the growing strength of Bayern has become a headache for Werder Bremen's coaching staff.
Simultaneously, Bayern's coaching staff is strategizing on how to limit Werder Bremen's attacking system.
"Despite Werder Bremen's overall lack of strength, they have two focal points. If we shut down De Bruyne and Lin, we should be able to neutralize the majority of their attacking prowess or even incapacitate their ability to attack entirely," Assistant Coach Grande emphasized, displaying Werder Bremen's typical offensive tactics on the tactics board.
Furthermore, another assistant coach, Herman, expressed concern, "Agreed on limiting De Bruyne, but they also have Lin in the front line!"
Even without De Bruyne, Werder Bremen's front line organization is predominantly managed by Lin, who also possesses excellent organizing and attacking capabilities in his own right!"
"I haven't forgotten about that, and that's what I'm going to discuss next!" responded Coach Heinkes with keen interest.
Heinkes's strategic discussions demonstrated his experience in dealing with such situations.
The concerns about limiting Lin's attacks led to the consideration of players suitable for this strategy.
Martinez is undoubtedly a contender, given his exceptional defensive abilities. However, relying solely on him would not be enough. Their need to limit De Bruyne as well meant that they also required a defensive midfielder with excellent skills, for which the obvious choice was Gustavo.
However, even with these two, the organizational capacity of the defensive midfielder would significantly decrease. Moreover, considering changing the formation to 4-3-2-1 and introducing Kroos to orchestrate the backfield could also be an option.
The depth of Bayern's bench made Heinkes ponder over the selection of a particular player.
On the other hand, Werder Bremen is experiencing a completely different problem – the concern over their lack of a suitable main striker.
"Shall we play Kruse or push Hunt further forward?" This reflects the dilemma faced by Werder Bremen regarding their forward line options.
Kruse, like Arnautovic, is a striker, albeit slightly less capable, whereas Hunt's speed is an advantage, yet his height is a concern when playing in the striker position against Bayern's defense.
Regardless, with limited resources, they can only make do with what they have.
In the end, Schaaf chose Kruse, a product of their academy, to fill the void left by Arnautovic.
...
December 18th arrived quickly, the day of the third round of the German Cup.
This was the last match before the Bundesliga's winter break, and many teams that had been eliminated had already started their holidays after the end of the league.
As the winter break approached, many top clubs, eager to sign new players from the Bundesliga, sent numerous scouts to the matches to observe the potential talent.
Among these matches, the highly anticipated clash between Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich garnered the most attention.
Due to his outstanding performances since being loaned to Werder Bremen this season, De Bruyne has drawn the interest of Chelsea Football Club.
In addition to George Evans, who has been continuously tracking and observing him, Chelsea's senior scout, Pete Davies, also arrived at the Allianz Arena for this match.
"Kevin has been performing remarkably well in the recent games since recovering from his injury."
"He is currently leading the Bundesliga's assists chart and has scored 8 goals in the first half of the season. If this continues, he is certain to surpass 20 assists and 10 goals in the entire season!"
George reported his work to the senior members of the club with great excitement. The club had sent such a senior official, so they must be considering bringing De Bruyne back, right? As a scout who had witnessed De Bruyne's growth and improvement, he felt a sense of pride.
However, after he finished his report, Davies' response was rather indifferent, showing little interest in De Bruyne's statistics.
On the contrary, upon seeing the player wearing the green jersey number 10 enter the field, his eyes lit up, and he pointed to the player's back and asked, "Is that the Bundesliga's Messi?"
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