The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 130 - 49: New Leader: Wang Shuo! Klopp’s Team Is ’Sick’ Again! Wang Shuo: I Will Create the Miracle

Chapter 130: Chapter 49: New Leader: Wang Shuo! Klopp’s Team Is ’Sick’ Again! Wang Shuo: I Will Create the Miracle

"Rangnick is a master tactician as well. His Hoffenheim side currently builds its entire offense around Ibisevic. The key is that Ibisevic is in excellent form, and Hoffenheim’s advantage in the midfield is clear."

Speaking of which, Tuchel mentioned a name. "The signing of Gustavo was absolutely crucial."

The top teams in the Bundesliga this season all share one common trait: they’ve all made excellent signings.

Hoffenheim goes without saying.

Hainauer, signed by Mainz, could also be considered one of the best signings of the first half of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Augusto was another outstanding signing.

VfL Wolfsburg’s Misimovic has also been very impressive. In contrast, Griffith and Dzeko, their dual center-forwards, have been rather average in their goal-scoring so far.

Behind both Wang Shuo and Ibisevic is the all-out support of Mainz and Hoffenheim, respectively.

But in terms of overall strength, Mainz is a significant step below Hoffenheim.

This put Wang Shuo at a distinct disadvantage in this competition.

The fact that he’s kept up until now was already quite remarkable.

Look at Bayer Leverkusen’s Helmes.

At the start of the season, he was neck and neck with Ibisevic and Wang Shuo, but now he’s fallen behind.

Helmes hadn’t scored in three consecutive rounds.

Clearly, the player’s confidence had taken a hit.

But Wang Shuo was still holding on!

This refusal to give up made Tuchel admire him all the more.

"I heard you want to go for the European Golden Boy Award?" Tuchel asked, concerned.

"Now that I’ve been nominated, of course I want to win it."

"In that case, you’ll need to build relationships with Bild, Kicker Magazine, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. They all have votes."

When it came to voting, everyone knew how it worked. It could never be completely fair.

Sometimes, votes could even be traded.

"It’s already being arranged. I’ll be doing exclusive interviews with them one after another."

This was jointly organized by the Mainz Club and Thomas Essien.

Off-the-pitch factors were just one part of it. What was more important was performance on the pitch.

Especially at a small club like Mainz.

Only with concrete, on-pitch performances could he persuade everyone to vote for him.

"No more talk. I’m going to get some more practice in."

With that, Wang Shuo started to jog back to the training ground.

He only took a couple of steps before turning back around.

"Thomas, I’ll treat you to lunch. There’s something I need your help with."

He could tell that Tuchel was in a good mood.

’Now should be a good time to talk to him about a trial for Zhao Yifan. There shouldn’t be any problem. At the very least, he could give him a chance for half a year, or even a year and a half.’

...

「On the evening of November 7th, in the 12th round of the Bundesliga, Mainz played Hannover 96 at home.」

This season’s Hannover 96 was a very bizarre team.

Under the guidance of renowned German manager Dieter Hecking, the team’s record had been a complete rollercoaster.

And to be clear, "rollercoaster" was not a compliment here.

In the first round, they lost 0-3 away to Schalke 04.

Then, in Round 4, they thrashed Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-1 at home, only to turn around and get crushed 0-4 away to Bayer Leverkusen in Round 5.

Next, in Round 6, they pulled off a 1-0 upset against Bayern at home and drew 1-1 away with Dortmund.

This was followed by a crushing 2-5 defeat at home to Hoffenheim.

In recent matches, they drew 1-1 at home against Werder Bremen in Round 10 and lost 0-3 away to Hertha Berlin.

In the last round, they took down North King Hamburg 3-0 at home.

What kind of team was this, exactly?

At Bruch Road Stadium, Wang Shuo experienced it firsthand.

Hecking set up a 4-2-3-1 formation for this match.

The two center-backs and two defensive midfielders created a cage, locking down Wang Shuo.

Furthermore, it was obvious they had spent the past week running targeted drills.

No matter where Wang Shuo ran, there was always a player nearby who could immediately mark him tightly.

With Wang Shuo contained, Mainz’s entire offense seemed to be frozen.

And in the 16th minute, on a counter-attack from Hannover 96, Finnish striker Forsell sent a pass. Midfielder Schlaudraff controlled the ball, got past Pekovic, and then took a shot inside the box and scored.

0-1!

"Lately, Mainz’s form has really been getting worse and worse."

"Especially as the season progresses and fatigue sets in, the players’ performances are much worse than at the start of the season."

"Now it’s up to Wang Shuo to see if he can turn the tide once again."

"In the last few matches, Mainz has only managed to break through thanks to Wang Shuo’s performance in crucial moments."

...

"Rely on Wang Shuo?"

In front of the visiting team’s dugout, Hannover 96’s head coach, Dieter Hecking, wore a faint, confident smile.

Under the stadium lights, his glasses reflected a slight gleam, as if shining with a wise light.

"Wang Shuo won’t be able to save Mainz in this match. Mark my words!"

Hecking said it with absolute certainty.

Because for this match, he had positioned three Germany National Team-level players around Wang Shuo. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Christian Schulz and Frank Farrenhorst were partnered at center-back.

Both of these center-backs had been called up to the Germany National Team multiple times.

Hanno Balic, once one of the most highly-regarded national team midfielders in the German Football Scene, formed the double pivot alongside Bastian Schulz, a player from the direct lineage of the Hanover youth academy.

The left-back was German Youth National Team starter Constantin Lausch, and the right-back was United States international Steve Cherundolo.

As a renowned Bundesliga manager, Hecking knew full well that the core of Klopp’s Mainz team was now Wang Shuo.