Almighty Coach

The new season was about to begin, and the team was in the final stages of preparation.

At this time, drilling tactics became the main task of the coaching staff.

The lineup of the Dingtian Soccer Club changed little this year, and the players were quite familiar with Herman’s tactical systems. They needn’t learn new tactics. They just needed to practice new tactical changes on present tactics.

The time left for physical training also began to dwindle, and it would become more valuable as the new season began. For example, players had strength training nearly every day before the new season, while during the season, training twice a week would be quite good.

Meanwhile, the coaching staff also arranged actual competition training to allow players to familiarize themselves with the use of tactics.

The players of the club were divided into two groups for confrontation. Group A were all main players, and Group B were the young players and those who had nearly no opportunity to enter the field.

A professional team contained about 30 players, but in official games, only 14 players could play on the court at the start, including 11 starters and three substitutes. Even the squad list for official games contained 18 players, including a substitute goalkeeper. Therefore, at least one-third of the team had no chance to play on the field, and it would be no problem for them to form a team.

Furthermore, in the Dingtian Soccer Club, there was a large gap between the levels of the players. Main players included some world-class star players and national team players who were quite expensive and talented. Those players who nearly had no chance to enter the field were in the second-class even in domestic leagues.

Owing to the great gap of strength, this kind of practice match tended to be one-sided. How could those players who had nearly no chance to enter the field rival the main players? Because of the gap of strength, the group of main players could easily practice new tactics in the training match.

Standing on the sidelines, Coach Harman was watching the field with no expression on his face.

The score was now 4-0 with Group A in the lead, but this result was unexpected.

"Group B played well today. They run actively, and although there are plenty of mistakes, their coverage is excellent." Looking at his watch, Harman continued, "I thought Group A would have a much bigger lead so far, but they have only scored four goals."

"Two of those goals depend on Neol’s personal capability," assistant coach Draco added, "so only two of the goals were really because of their tactical coordination."

"Group A made no obvious mistakes in tactics, but several of their attempts at tactical coordination were destroyed by Group B. Players in Group B may not be sufficient in personal capability, but they are also our players, and they know the tactical intentions of Group A," said assistant coach Georg.

"I’m afraid it’s more than that." Watching his watch again, Harman murmured, "70 minutes."

Surprised at first, the two assistant coaches then understood what Harman meant after seeing the players performance.

"This game has lasted for 70 minutes, and the match on the field is still very intense and the game still holds a fast pace. I’m not surprised at the performance of Group A, but the fact that Group B is still keeping up is completely unexpected," Harman said slowly.

"In terms of ball possession, Group A owns absolute advantage. I have informed the data analysis team to record the covering distances all the players run," Draco said.

...

"How could the covering distance of Group B be more than that of Group A?" Looking at the report by data analysis team, Draco was astonished.

"Of course. During the whole game, Group B was in a passive position at all times. They have to run constantly to defend against the attacks of Group A. Since they have to follow the pace of Group A, there is no doubt that they will cover a longer distance in passive defense," the analyst explained.

"I know what you said. But I want to know, how did they manage to run the whole time? Could their physical strength bear it?" Draco said.

"About this question, you should ask Claude. He is in charge of physical training, and he will give you a reasonable explanation. What I can provide is only data for your tactical analysis." The analyst was an old member of Harman’s team. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, thanks." Holding this report, Draco headed for Claude’s office.

Claude was as busy as a bee. Since Franz returned to Europe to recuperate, the physical training work of two coaches had all been on his shoulders.

"Claude! Look at this!" Draco rushed into Claude’s office, saw the gaunt Claude, and handed him the report.

"What’s this?" Claude asked.

"Data from the data analysis team about the game today," Draco answered.

"Ah. Put it aside. I’ll look at it after I finish what I’m doing," Claude said.

"No, you should see it now." Pushing the report closer to him, Draco continued, "Look at the covering distance. Group B exceeded Group A unexpectedly."

"What’s so strange about that? The underdog must constantly defend, so the covering distance will naturally be greater," Claude answered.

"But they are Group B! Don’t you know their capabilities? Have you watched today’s game? They run all the time..."

Claude interrupted him. "I’m sorry. I only watched the first half. You know I have too much work to do. It’s impossible for me to watch the whole game."

"So, you didn’t watch the second half?" Draco sighed and said, "Well, let me explain to you what happened, then."

"During the whole second half, the players of Group B ran all the time. Unexpectedly, they could keep up with the pace that Group A set. More importantly, they were not at a disadvantage..." Draco introduced the second half.

"You mean some players of Group B level off with Group A in terms of energy expenditure?" Claude grasped the gist of the problem.

"Yes. When the game lasted for over 70 minutes, players’ physical capabilities should start to descend quickly. Normally, the energy expenditure of Group B would be more obvious. After all, there is a big difference in the individual quality of the players. Those young players of Group B cannot compare with the main players."

He paused and continued, "But today was different. Those young men played till the last minute. Although they lost the game by a large margin, they performed well on the whole. Their weaknesses in technical and tactical coordination are still evident, but they are less inferior in physical quality."

Claude’s expression finally became serious. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he said, "Recently, I handed over the training of young players to the young Coach Li. I have too much work at hand and I can’t keep track of it all."

"You mean the new Dai Li is an expert on physical training?" Draco asked at once.

"I was impressed by the fact he made players lose five kilograms in three days. But in terms of physical training, we need to judge it based on data." Claude thought and then said, "I intended to give Group B a morning off and do a physical test for them alone in the afternoon. Then we will know whether they have made progress or not."

...

Several assistant coaches were missing on the training ground, but Chowtai Kim’s face was filled with undeniable joy.

Some assistant coaches were selected for the players’ physical test, Chowtai Kim couldn’t help looking in another direction across the training ground.

Because of the distance and the huge wire fence in the middle, he could only see the shadows but not the details.

"I heard they are testing the young players on our team. Dai Li is in charge of them, and Claude wants to know how his training is going." He couldn’t help thinking of the scene he had stumbled upon a while ago, when Dai Li was leading the young players to do an outbreak movement.

"Outbreak? Well! Could that useless training have any effect? The result of this physical test must be pretty bad!" Ambition appeared in his eyes.

"If so, should I recommend myself to Claude to train those young players? Great. That’s it. That’s a unique opportunity. With my rich coaching experience, the chance of success is quite high. What a great opportunity! I can’t miss it."

In his mind, he was imaging taking over Dai Li’s position and showing his ability in training work. Then he would get Claude’s trust and finally enter Harman’s coaching team.

...

Early the next morning, Claude summoned all the physical coaches and their assistant coaches.

"I called you together to announce some adjustments to our work." After clearing his throat, he took out his coach board and opened one page.

"Coach Chowtai Kim." He looked at Chowtai Kim.

Hearing his name, Chowtai Kim involuntarily took a deep breath, full of expectation.

"From now on, you will take over training young players from Coach Li," Claude said.

Chowtai Kim was so happy. He hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. He had replaced Dai Li and become physical training coach of the young players.

Dai Li was removed as expected. I knew it. His training method is not suitable for soccer at all. You know nothing about physical training in soccer! It must be because of the terrible result of yesterday’s physical test. It is absolutely right for Claude to choose me to replace you. Finally, it’s my show time!

Chowtai Kim looked at Dai Li with an intentional expression of pity in his eyes.

At this time, Claude said again, "As for Coach Dai Li, from today on, you are going to share some of my work. The main players’ cycle training is on you!"

What? Main players’ cycle training! Chowtai Kim’s proud face immediately turned pale...