The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 528: Chapter 106: One Step Away! Poaching Wang Shuo! Wang Shuo, Do You Want to Become a Legend? Wang Shuo’s Professional Goal

Just 26 minutes into the match, Subotic "assisted" Hummels, who put the ball into Dortmund’s own net.

For a long time after that, Dortmund struggled to break the deadlock.

So, as the team’s head coach, what was the right move?

"Just wait."

In the away team’s dugout at the Black Forest Stadium, Klopp remained completely unruffled, confidently telling his assistant.

This scene unfolded during the 13th round of the Bundesliga, in Dortmund’s away match against Freiburg.

In the 61st minute, Dortmund finally made their first substitution.

But Wang Shuo, the player the TV commentator had been calling for, remained on the bench.

Kuba came on for Grosskreutz.

"Dortmund is still struggling to break through on offense. Klopp should be bringing on Wang Shuo to bolster the attack, not making adjustments on the right flank."

"What on earth is he doing?"

"Is he giving up on this league match for the crucial Champions League game next Wednesday?"

The TV commentator seemed even more anxious than Klopp himself.

Dortmund was on a 12-game winning streak.

Could it be that their streak was about to be broken tonight?

The broadcast cameras repeatedly cut to the sidelines, where Klopp, in the away team’s dugout, still looked full of confidence.

He was even casually chatting with Zeliko Buvac beside him.

Buvac was left with a speechless expression.

Because he, too, had been urging Klopp to make a substitution.

But what was Klopp’s response?

"Just wait."

"Wait until when?"

"The moment I put Wang Shuo in, the game’s over."

"Then put him in already!"

"Didn’t I just say? Just wait."

’Heh, we’re just going in circles!’

Buvac was starting to get anxious.

’A 13-game winning streak is beckoning!’

The current record for the longest winning streak in the Bundesliga was 15 games, set by Magath’s Bayern from March to September 2005.

’Isn’t chipping away at Bayern’s records part of Dortmund’s job description?’

Buvac did, however, understand why Klopp had put Wang Shuo, Kuba, and others on the bench for this match.

They currently had 10 points in the Champions League group stage. And while they were the favorites to advance, their next two matches were at home against Lyon and away against Benfica.

Any slip-up, any unexpected setback, and they could very well lose their grip on first place in the group.

Finishing first in the group meant they would likely draw a relatively weaker opponent.

With a little more luck, it could be a direct ticket to the quarterfinals.

"Robin Dute was a mediocre player, but he’s a decent coach," Klopp complimented.

Freiburg was genuinely strong this season.

Most importantly, they were balanced.

Through 13 matches, they had 7 wins and 6 losses with no draws, scoring 19 goals and conceding 20—nearly an even split.

At home: 4 wins, 3 losses, 11 goals scored, 11 conceded. Away: 3 wins, 3 losses, 8 goals scored, 9 conceded.

Incredibly balanced, wasn’t it?

Statistics are a fascinating thing; they can reveal many hidden secrets.

For example, since Klopp took over at Dortmund, whenever they scored first, their win probability was the highest in the entire Bundesliga!

So far this season, they had won every single time, so it wasn’t a useful point of comparison.

Let’s take Van Gaal’s Bayern, then.

When scoring first, Bayern’s win rate was similar to Bayer Leverkusen’s, but still lower than Hannover 96’s.

So where did the disparity lie?

After conceding the first goal, Bayern had a 55% chance of losing the match.

Bayer Leverkusen’s was 46%.

Hannover 96 was the worst, at a staggering 84%.

If you looked closer, at the timing of each team’s goals, it was easy to see that Bayern’s attack tended to be weaker in the first five minutes of both halves.

In the five-minute window between the 66th and 70th minute of the second half, they hadn’t scored a single goal all season.

This was also related to Van Gaal’s substitution timing.

Dortmund, on the other hand, was very consistent, and they were especially good at starting strong.

Meanwhile, Freiburg’s ability to score after the 80-minute mark was the absolute weakest in the entire Bundesliga, bar none.

And so, Klopp waited, and waited, and waited.

It wasn’t until the 70th minute that he finally emerged from the dugout and shouted towards the away team’s bench.

"Wang! Get warmed up, now!"

...

In the 72nd minute, Wang Shuo stood on the sideline, jumping up and down.

The more than 20,000 Freiburg fans in the Black Forest Stadium booed him furiously.

This, however, only made Wang Shuo more excited and thrilled.

’What better praise is there than this kind of acknowledgment from your opponents?’

During a stop in play, Dortmund made their substitution.

Wang Shuo came on for Lewandowski.

The frustrated Polish striker walked off the pitch, slapped hands with Wang Shuo, and gave him a quick hug.

"It’s up to you, Wang!"

"You worked hard, Robert."

Wang Shuo sprinted onto the pitch, clapping his hands and swinging his arms to rally his teammates.

"Hey, hey, hey! Let’s liven up, let’s go!"

He high-fived Reus as he ran past, then Götze, before finally heading toward Kuba.

Spurred on by Wang Shuo, the Dortmund players’ morale visibly lifted.

Once the game restarted, Wang Shuo immediately expanded his range, relentlessly pressuring Freiburg’s backline.

Three minutes later, as Kuba dropped back, Wang Shuo suddenly burst toward the right wing at top speed. He closed in on Freiburg’s left-back, Felix Bastians, who had the ball, and successfully dispossessed him.

After winning the ball, Wang Shuo immediately started driving down the right flank.

Bastians tracked back, chasing him down on the inside.

But Götze and Kuba couldn’t get forward in time to support him.