The Coach's Resolve [Reward Update]

The next morning, Lin Quan was up bright and early.

After breakfast, he grabbed his soccer ball, hopped on his bike, and headed to the Training Base for practice.

Werder Bremen's Training Base was very close to Weser Stadium, and Weser Stadium was a landmark building in the city of Bremen.

So even for someone like Lin Quan, who was new to the area, as long as he kept the stadium in sight, he wouldn't get lost.

Since the team was on break, the club was also in a semi-vacation state.

The security guard at the base, Uncle Greif, was surprised to see a player coming in to train at this time.

"Hey, kid, are you really one of our players?"

He looked Lin Quan up and down. He hadn't seen him around the team before, and since he wasn't wearing a Werder Bremen jersey, he was highly suspicious of Lin Quan's identity.

"Genuine, no fake. If you don't believe me, you can call the club's management—Mr. Essien or Mr. Allofs will do. If you have Chairman Klaus Fischer's number, you can call him too."

Lin Quan stood calmly at the base's main gate, showing no nervousness in the face of the guard's doubts.

Greif heard him rattle off several names from the club's management without hesitation, looking perfectly composed, and was already about seventy or eighty percent convinced.

Still, Germans tend to be rigid—or to put it more nicely, meticulous.

He actually called the club's manager, Allofs, to confirm Lin Quan's identity.

Allofs had only met Lin Quan yesterday, so when Greif reported that Lin Quan had come to the club for extra training, he was quite surprised.

He drove over himself and took Lin Quan into the team's Training Base.

"Over there is the youth team's training ground, this is the first team's training area, the locker room is this way, and here is..."

After showing him around the various facilities at the Training Base, Allofs paused and spoke earnestly:

"Taking the initiative to train extra is a good thing, but you need to watch your training volume. Don't overdo it and end up injuring yourself.

You're still young, you have plenty of time—no need to rush!"

Although he wasn't too optimistic about Lin Quan seamlessly fitting into Werder Bremen's tactical system, he admired—or rather, really liked—a hardworking player like Lin Quan.

Especially when a player is still young, being able to resist the temptations of the flashy world outside, calm down, solidify his foundation, and work hard to improve his skills—that's a very rare and valuable quality.

Lin Quan nodded. After a few interactions, he felt Allofs was easy to get along with.

It was clear he had feelings for the club, but seeing how troubled he looked, the rumors that he wanted to leave were probably true.

In the timeline before Lin Quan's transmigration, Allofs left Werder Bremen in 2013.

That season, Werder Bremen only narrowly avoided relegation in the final match. Maybe the poor results were the biggest reason that pushed him to make that decision.

In other words, if the team's performance improved this season, Allofs might not choose to leave.

But that didn't have much to do with Lin Quan. He was only on loan for a year, and when the loan contract expired next year, he'd most likely be gone.

By then, whether Allofs and Head Coach Thomas Løf stayed or left wouldn't matter much to him.

Over the following period, Lin Quan went to the club for training every day, sticking to a routine.

The training mainly consisted of drills with and without the ball—standard stuff for a professional team.

At first, the training volume wasn't too high, mainly to avoid injury.

Once his body adjusted, he gradually increased the load.

When the volume reached a certain level, he stabilized it and stopped adding more.

At his age, he was in a critical phase of growth, and too much training could cause irreversible damage to his body.

Every time Lin Quan trained, Allofs would quietly watch from the sidelines for a while.

After a week, another person joined him on the sidelines.

Lin Quan didn't recognize this man, but seeing how familiar he was with Allofs, he had some guesses about his identity.

The two didn't disturb Lin Quan's training. They just occasionally came over to take a look and chat a bit.

"Thomas, what do you think of him?"

Allofs had been observing Lin Quan for two weeks and had a solid grasp of his technical abilities.

He was a young player with a very solid technique, delicate footwork, and plenty of flair.

In Lin Quan, Allofs saw traces of Xavi, Iniesta, and even Messi all at once.

It was as if he had combined the strengths of all three, possessing both organizational and finishing abilities.

No wonder he came from La Masia—truly top-notch!

But unfortunately, without any actual match practice, he couldn't verify his judgment, so he wasn't sure if his assessment was accurate.

That's why he brought along his good friend and partner, the club's Head Coach, Thomas Schaaf, to watch Lin Quan's training together.

Schaaf stared intently for a long time before replying in a low voice:

"His technique is very good, but he's too young."

There are plenty of promising young talents in football, but not many actually make it in the end.

Take the Golden Boy Award, for example. Players who win it are universally recognized for their outstanding performances during that period.

However, their subsequent careers haven't always been smooth sailing. Many have failed to live up to expectations and are labeled as massive flops.

Take Manchester United's high-priced European Golden Boy Anderson, for instance. He completely failed to deliver at Manchester United, making that €20 million signing a constant source of criticism.

And Anderson was at least 19 when he joined Manchester United. Lin Quan is only 16 this year.

The risk of betting on him is probably even greater than what Ferguson took on Anderson.

Allofs clearly disagreed with this view:

"I don't think we should dismiss his ability just because he's young. Don't forget, you hold Werder Bremen's record for the youngest debutant. If the coach back then had dismissed young players the way you're doing now, would you have ever made it?"

"Schaf, you've changed. You've become conservative. Is it because the team's poor results have made you cautious, stripped you of your former composure and confidence?"

Thomas Schaaf fell silent at his friend's words, and he couldn't help but wonder: Have I really changed?

Three seasons ago, the club was still in the title race. Then, two seasons ago, they suddenly collapsed, plummeting straight into the relegation battle.

Last season, the situation worsened further, and the team nearly slipped into the abyss of relegation.

This summer, including starting goalkeeper Wiese, fourteen players transferred out, half of them key starters.

Under these circumstances, the pressure to avoid relegation in the new season was unprecedented, leaving no room for any mistakes.

And he, probably under that immense pressure, had become conservative.

"You're right. I shouldn't be this conservative!"

"With our current squad, even if we play it safe, there's no guarantee we'll avoid relegation. In that case, we might as well go all out!"

Thank you to classmate 'Wo Yu Cheng Xian' for the tip, much appreciated!