Chapter 62: Winger? Attacking Midfielder?
On September 22nd, the fourth round of the Bundesliga kicked off.
In this round, Werder Bremen hosted Stuttgart at home.
Thanks to the team's excellent performance, the number of fans attending the game reached 48,000, filling the Weser Stadium almost to capacity.
The Parrot Legion fans sang their team song loudly, waving green flags, eager to see the performance of the team's twin stars on the field.
Since Werder Bremen's decline, it has been a long time since the football market has been so hot.
This pleasantly surprised everyone in the club, and even the club president Fischer had the idea of keeping these two young players in the team.
But this was just wishful thinking. The current value of these two players is already expensive, and it will only increase in the future. It's difficult for Werder Bremen to afford them.
Moreover, the more talented players are, the more they pursue bigger and better stages, and Werder Bremen is obviously not such a big stage.
So even if they raise enough money, the players themselves may not want to stay.
In addition to ordinary fans, there were also several scouts in the audience for this game.
"That seems to be an Atletico Madrid scout, and that guy, although wearing sunglasses, I recognize him. He's Everton's scout!"
In the stands, George had already spotted several colleagues.
These were just the ones he knew. There were probably many more he didn't recognize.
Some of these scouts came to observe De Bruyne, while others came to watch Lin Quan.
The young winger, who had a chance encounter with him before, seemed to be gaining more and more attention from major clubs.
George felt a bit unhappy, as he was the first to notice the talent.
But the information he submitted to Chelsea was ignored and not taken seriously.
Thinking about it, Chelsea's owner, Abramovich, doesn't like to buy underage young talents. He prefers already famous stars like Shevchenko and Torres.
Werder Bremen and Stuttgart are not traditional strong teams, but both have an attacking style of play.
In this game, both teams contributed to a goal fest for the fans in the stadium.
Just 13 minutes into the game, De Bruyne opened the scoring with a free kick.
In the 24th minute, Stuttgart's Hanic equalized, bringing both teams back to the starting line.
In the 34th minute, Lin Quan suddenly dribbled the ball on the right, broke through, and after a series of wall passes with teammates upon entering the front field, he received De Bruyne's pass in the penalty area and scored!
Werder Bremen regained the lead.
This goal impressed many scouts, who hurriedly took notes in their observation notebooks: This player's dribbling and breakthroughs are sharp, with strong individual combat abilities.
But he also excels in teamwork and doesn't recklessly go solo.
His passing vision is broad, his footwork is delicate, fitting his identity from La Masia's youth training camp.
...
Although George had watched Lin Quan play in several games, seeing Lin Quan score this goal, George Evans still couldn't help but sigh:
This guy is just too clever. His brain feels more agile than those old players who have been playing for over a decade.
He clearly remembers that since the first round against Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga teams have liked to use close marking or even foul tactics to restrict Lin Quan.
This presented a great challenge for Lin Quan on the field, and it was expected that he would encounter trouble and decline in performance.
But unexpectedly, he found a solution so quickly! If the opponent strengthens the defense against him, then create opportunities for teammates and seek cooperation with them.
When both teams have the same number of players on the field, sending two people to mark one person will inevitably leave gaps on the other side of the opponent's team.
As long as you pass the ball to the teammate in the open position, the problem is solved.
Being able to think of this shows that his mind is very agile, and being able to actually do this on the field proves that he not only has a sharp mind but also extraordinary skills.
This guy, the passes he made just now were well-organized, feeling more like a midfielder than a forward.
It's not just George who feels this way. Stuttgart's coach, after seeing this goal, also widened his eyes:
This guy is a winger, right? Why does it feel like he's playing as an attacking midfielder? He carefully observed and indeed found that Lin Quan's position on the field was not fixed. Although he is a right winger, his activity area covers the entire midfield and front field, not just the right side. He often exchanges positions with Werder Bremen's midfielders and runs to the center.
This caused the left-back of Stuttgart who was defending him to be a bit at a loss, whether to follow him or not, as it would result in leaving his position.
Not following him would allow the opponent to move to the center, creating a local numerical advantage.
If the teamwork and coordination among teammates are not seamless enough, it's easy to be completely disrupted by a sudden attacking player breaking through the defense, leading to defensive vulnerabilities and subsequently conceding goals.
Was this tactic devised by Lin Quan himself, or was it arranged by the coaching staff of Werder Bremen? Stuttgart's head coach Keller looked puzzledly towards Werder Bremen's coaching bench, but Coach Shaf remained calm and composed, revealing nothing on his face.
Truly a cunning old fox! Keller cursed inwardly, intending to make some adjustments to the team's defensive tactics.
As the second half began, after adjustments made during halftime, Stuttgart's defense improved, strengthening the defense between the penalty area and the sidelines.
However, Lin Quan changed his playing style; he started attempting crosses from the byline.
This caught Stuttgart off guard; relying solely on the full-backs couldn't stop the opponent's crosses from the byline, allowing them to continuously deliver the ball into the penalty area.
Fortunately, their defensive header was solid, preventing Werder Bremen from finding too many good opportunities.
Both sides continued their attacks, and the goals kept coming.
In the 66th minute of the match, Stuttgart's forward, Kaka, seized an opportunity in the penalty area and equalized the score.
In the 78th minute, chaos ensued in Stuttgart's penalty area due to Werder Bremen's attack.
After Lin Quan passed the ball to his teammate, he immediately moved towards the penalty area, preparing to find an opportunity to cut in.
As soon as he entered the penalty area, he saw his teammate's shot saved by the goalkeeper, and the ball rolled to his feet.
Such good luck?
Without hesitation, Lin Quan took a shot, as the goalkeeper was still lying on the ground, leaving Stuttgart's goal unguarded.
Just as Lin Quan thought he scored, he didn't expect the ball to hit Stuttgart's winger, Hanic's arm and bounce out!
Werder Bremen's players saw the opponent's handball and immediately signaled to the referee.
Due to the opponent's action of extending his arm outward, the main referee didn't hesitate and promptly showed him a yellow card, adding to the previous yellow card he received, resulting in a red card, ejecting him from the field.
Hanic was almost in tears; he hurriedly explained that it was unintentional, he just happened to be there, and seeing Lin Quan shooting, he instinctively protected himself, never intending to handle the ball.
But the referee didn't see it that way; he believed it was an intentional handball. If he hadn't blocked the shot, Lin Quan's attempt would likely have scored.
According to football disciplinary standards, he believed the yellow card was already lenient; he couldn't just ignore it, right? Hanic was very frustrated, and so was Lin Quan.
Although the referee awarded a penalty kick, it would definitely be better to score directly than to take another penalty kick.
After all, penalty kicks could be saved, and the value of penalty kick goals was not as high as direct goals.
Fortunately, his penalty kick was steady and went in.
Stuttgart was reduced to ten men, forced to play with ten.
Because the player sent off was the team's attacking core, they could no longer launch effective attacks.
In the end, Werder Bremen defeated Stuttgart 3-2 at home, securing their first three-game winning streak of the new season.
And because of this defeat, Stuttgart only earned one point in four rounds of matches, falling directly into the relegation zone.
This round of matches once again saw upsets, with last season's defending champions Borussia Dortmund losing again, this time to Hamburg, who were second from bottom in the standings.
This surprised everyone, raising doubts about Borussia Dortmund's form.
Can they still make it?
In four rounds of matches, Borussia Dortmund won one, drew two, and lost one, earning only 5 points, trailing league leaders Bayern Munich by 7 points.
Given Bayern's dominance in the Bundesliga, it's almost a direct announcement that Borussia Dortmund's defense of the title has failed.
It's worth mentioning that newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt continues their underdog style, defeating Nuremberg 2-1 away, also securing four consecutive wins like Bayern.
(End of this chapter)