novelraw Chapter 304 - 74: A Genius’s Dilemma
Chapter 304 - 74: A Genius’s Dilemma
More and more teams were now adopting a specific strategy when they played against Dortmund.
Hold a steady defense for the first hour, then go all out on the attack in the final thirty minutes.
The old fox Heynckes did exactly that.
Despite conceding an early goal, Bayer Leverkusen remained steadfast and played a solid game.
The Pharmacy under Heynckes’s management was markedly different from the Bayer Leverkusen coached by Labbadia last season.
Labbadia’s tactics had been more aggressive, somewhat similar to Klopp’s coaching style.
And Heynckes?
He was, in fact, more cautious.
In this match, for instance, he employed a 4-4-2 formation with Tony Kroos on the left flank.
In the second half, after the 65-minute mark, Bayer Leverkusen began to press forward with almost everything they had.
Bayer Leverkusen picked up three yellow cards, and Dortmund received one as well.
Finally, in the 74th minute, a corner kick from Tony Kroos precisely found his captain, Friedrich, who headed the ball past the keeper, Weidenfeller, and into the net.
1-1!
The two sides settled for a draw.
It was a result both teams could accept.
Dortmund remained at the top of the table, and Bayer Leverkusen hadn’t lost ground.
More importantly, Hamburg had drawn 3-3 away against Schalke 04 in this round.
After ten matches, Dortmund had a record of eight wins, one draw, and one loss, putting them at 25 points.
Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg were both on 22 points.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile, had 21 points.
...
When the match ended, after celebrating with his teammates, Wang Shuo noticed Heynckes waving at him from the sideline.
Wang Shuo immediately ran over.
"Hey, Joseph!"
Gao Huairen’s experience when he first came to Germany to play football had been quite unusual.
He had come to Germany supposedly to recover from an injury, but ended up staying and refusing to return home.
At the time, he played for Borussia Mönchengladbach, which was coached by Heynckes.
Because of this connection, Wang Shuo felt a special sense of gratitude toward Heynckes.
In terms of seniority back home, Heynckes would be considered his grand-master.
When Wang Shuo had first come to Germany for trials, Gao Huairen and Thomas Essien had contacted Heynckes on his behalf.
But Heynckes had his own problems at the time and simply couldn’t spare any attention for Wang Shuo.
Now, seeing Wang Shuo make a name for himself, Heynckes felt a mix of gratification, shame, and a touch of regret.
If he had paid just a little more attention to Wang Shuo back then, perhaps things would have turned out completely differently.
Heynckes praised Wang Shuo for his performance this season.
"You’ve made obvious progress this season, but you have to keep pushing. The next two or three years will be your period of fastest growth. You have to seize this opportunity to break through. Your future achievements will be determined by what you do in these next couple of years."
Heynckes’s words were, in fact, a warning to Wang Shuo not to become arrogant or complacent.
Wang Shuo nodded, taking the advice to heart.
’Even though the media loves to talk about so-and-so being a late bloomer, the reality is probably quite different.’
’Take Luca Tony, for example. He came up through the youth academy at Modena, which was in Serie B at the time.’
’And that was Serie B during the 90s, when Serie A was at its peak—the era of the Little World Cup.’
’Then there was Van Nistelrooy. He was in the youth system at Deboer, then went to Heerenveen.’
’You call that being a late bloomer?’
’When they call these stars ’late bloomers,’ it’s only in comparison to the absolute top-tier superstars.’
’Geniuses like Owen, Raul, and Piero, who made a name for themselves at powerhouse clubs from a young age, are one in a million.’
’But nearly every famous player got their start when they were young, and then progressed step by step.’
’By the time a player is around 23, their professional career is already beginning to mature.’
’That’s why there’s the saying: you have to make your name early.’
Wang Shuo also shared some of his own recent insights from playing.
From their few previous interactions, Wang Shuo had come to see Heynckes as a very wise man.
He was old, but his thinking wasn’t rigid, and he was easy for Wang Shuo to talk to.
"You’re the core of Dortmund’s attack now, but you still lack chemistry with your teammates."
"I didn’t notice everything, but there was one moment in the match. When your right-back, Owomoyela, pushed up to receive the ball on the right flank, you saw that Friedrich and Hyypia were recovering at different speeds, creating a mismatch, didn’t you?"
At this, Heynckes chuckled.
His smile held a hint of the heart-pounding relief of having survived a close call.
Wang Shuo nodded repeatedly as he listened.
It happened in the 84th minute. After winning the ball in midfield, Dortmund quickly launched a counterattack down the right wing.
’As I made my forward run, I realized... How old is Hyypia again?’
’He’s got such a large frame, he’s got to be a step slower than Friedrich on the recovery run, right?’
’I couldn’t possibly miss an opportunity like that.’
’So I immediately moved closer, positioning myself against Friedrich, ready to make a diagonal run in behind Hyypia.’
’The ball was coming from the right. If I made a diagonal run from Friedrich’s side toward the right of the penalty spot, I could take a direct shot with my right foot. It was a perfect opportunity.’
’And what happened?’
’Owomoyela passed the ball to the far post.’
’But dude, there was no one at the far post!’
According to Owomoyela, he saw my hand signal but misinterpreted it. He thought I was going to make a full-speed run for the far post.
’A single match is often full of similar problems.’
’And another thing... is this really a chemistry problem?’
’I think it’s more that we’re just not on the same wavelength.’
’A lot of the time, my teammates don’t necessarily see what I see.’
’Sometimes, even when I point it out, they still don’t get it.’
"Right now, you need to learn how to play with all different kinds of teammates. You can never expect every teammate to instantly understand your intentions."