The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 115 - 47: European Golden Boy Award! Is He Really Wang Shuo? The Bundesliga’s Great Transformation in 10 Years

Chapter 115: Chapter 47: European Golden Boy Award! Is He Really Wang Shuo? The Bundesliga’s Great Transformation in 10 Years

Change!

Although the league season had only just begun, everyone believed this would be the main theme of the Bundesliga this year.

After eight rounds of matches, two newly promoted teams were ranked first and third.

And if that wasn’t absurd enough.

On the top scorers’ chart, three strikers transferred from the 2nd Bundesliga occupied the top three spots.

How were Bundesliga stars like Luca Tony, Klose, and Kiesling supposed to feel about that?

The winds of change had begun to blow in the Bundesliga ever since Bayern hired Klinsmann as their coach.

Every team was actively seeking to make changes.

It was under these circumstances that Bruno Labbadia took the helm at Bayer Leverkusen.

Interestingly, he also came from the 2nd Bundesliga.

He was the head coach of Fiat last season.

Although he had failed to secure promotion to the top flight, he still caught the eye of Bayer Leverkusen.

With a year still left on his contract, the Pharmacy not only paid his release clause but also gave him their full support.

That was how Helmes came to the Pharmacy from Cologne.

They loaned Brazilian center-back Enrique from Barça and signed midfielder Renato Augusto from Brazil.

They also heavily promoted young players from their own U19 team...

Bruno Labbadia had unleashed a powerful wave of reform at the Pharmacy.

It was a movement that rivaled even Klinsmann’s at Bayern.

Now, the Pharmacy was ranked 4th in the Bundesliga.

And Bayern?

They were in 12th place.

In the 9th round of the league, Bayer Leverkusen was set to host the leaders, Mainz, at their home stadium.

This was an old rival for Labbadia.

Although Wang Shuo hadn’t played for Mainz in their matches against Fiat last season in the 2nd Bundesliga, Labbadia had heard about him and was thus being rather cautious.

The day before the match, after training ended, he announced the starting lineup for the next afternoon in the locker room and added a special instruction.

"Tonight, I want you all to watch game footage of Wang Shuo at Mainz. Study this player carefully."

"Don’t let him score at the BayArena!"

After saying his piece, Labbadia turned and left.

He was confident the players would listen.

Not just because he was the head coach, but because he was a national team player in the Bundesliga’s 100-goal club!

A head coach who was once a player themselves often finds it easier to earn the players’ trust.

...

After the head coach left, the locker room became captain Simon Rolfes’s domain.

He, too, repeatedly rallied his teammates.

Things were looking great for Bayer Leverkusen at the moment.

Everyone was at an ambitious age, a stage in their lives where they were focused on building their careers.

Take the German goalkeeper, Adler, for example.

The kid had been very unlucky.

After the 2008 European Cup, Leman retired, and Adler should have stepped up to become the national team’s number one.

But unexpectedly, he injured his shoulder, and the starting spot was taken by Enke.

It wasn’t until mid-October, during the most recent national team training camp, that he finally became the starter, and his performance was decent.

But his position wasn’t secure yet.

Rolfes, Kiesling, Helmes, Manuel Friedrich, and others were all national team players, but none of their positions were secure.

Now, every one of them was giving their all, wanting to prove themselves, get re-selected for the national team, and play in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

And that went without saying for the Brazilian center-back, Enrique.

He couldn’t get any playing time at Barça, so his loan to Bayer Leverkusen was all about adapting to the pace of the European leagues.

Midfielders like Vidal and Augusto also needed to establish themselves in the European leagues.

"Everyone, as long as we take down Mainz at home this round, we can definitely take another step forward!"

Hearing Rolfes’s resonant shout, everyone in the locker room responded in unison.

"Manuel, are you familiar with Wang Shuo?" Rolfes asked with concern.

Manuel Friedrich was the former captain of Mainz and had played for the team for over a decade; his feelings for the club were extraordinary.

But as a professional player, he had to do everything in his power to help Bayer Leverkusen win.

"I’ve heard of him. He’s fast, and from the game footage, his footwork is pretty good," Friedrich said, unwilling to say more.

On the pitch, he would give his all. But being a spy? That wasn’t part of his job description.

"Wang Shuo had a trial with our team," said Stefan Reinartz, a defensive midfielder from Bayer Leverkusen’s U19 youth team, with a laugh.

The forward sitting next to him, Richard Sukuta Pasu, and the right-sided player Marcel Risse also started laughing in unison.

Others might not know, but they were no strangers to Wang Shuo.

"Wang Shuo’s physical game is weak. His speed is okay, and his skills are so-so, but he’s not as amazing as everyone claims," Marcel Risse said with a dismissive look.

"When he came for his trial, his performance was terrible. And apparently, he did just as poorly at the other teams he tried out for before. Richard was even his partner on the forward line in an internal scrimmage."

Pasu, who was of Congolese descent, grinned, flashing a set of dazzlingly white teeth. "I agree. He’s definitely been overhyped."

Friedrich glanced at the others, his eyes landing on the three young players from the U19s.

The three of them were not only part of Bayer Leverkusen’s "Direct Lineage" from the youth academy, but they were also members of the Germany U19 team, which had just won the European U-19 Championship that summer.

And they were all key starters!

They were at that age where a newborn calf doesn’t fear a tiger—they looked down on everyone, thinking they were the best in the world.

But they were struggling to get playing time at Bayer Leverkusen, so naturally, they found the sight of Wang Shuo even more irritating.

The kid who had a terrible trial back then had suddenly transformed into a Bundesliga sensation?