After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

At 7:20 a.m., Yan Yuan was already standing at the entrance of the locker room at the Hoffenheim training base.

He deliberately arrived only ten minutes early today, and there was a reason for that.

Yan Yuan knew, of course, that some of his teammates would be late for the first joint practice of the new season.

He chose to arrive only ten minutes early today, so that he wouldn't seem too eager to please the coach, nor would he embarrass his teammates who were late.

When it comes to emotional intelligence, Yan Yuan is absolutely top-notch.

A little after 7:20, the first team assistant coach came over with the keys and was visibly taken aback when he saw Yan Yuan:

"Are you... new here?"

"Hello, sir, my name is Yan Yuan, and I recently signed a contract." Yan Yuan replied in fluent German and extended his hand.

The assistant coach shook hands, then nodded in sudden realization: "Ah, I remember now, the coach mentioned you."

He opened the locker room door. "Come in, Yan. You can change your gear first. The holiday just ended, and the others probably won't all arrive for a while."

Yan Yuan chose an empty wardrobe in the corner and quickly changed into his training clothes.

He noticed that each locker in the locker room had a player's name and number on it: Gnabry's number 10, Wagner's number 9, and Uth's number 19.

His locker number was the same as his trial number, number 17, but there was only a temporary "YAN" sticker on the outside of the locker, unlike the custom name tags that others had.

At 7:30, the first first-team player arrived late.

Serge Gnabry, on loan from Bayern Munich, yawned as he pushed open the door. He paused noticeably when he saw Yan Yuan: "You're... a newcomer?"

"Yes, Yan Yuan, I just joined yesterday," Yan Yuan replied with a smile.

"I'm Gnabry. I heard you're only 17. To be noticed by the coach, I guess you must be a genius," Gnabry replied, gave Yan Yuan a polite hug, and then walked straight to his wardrobe.

The system notified me: [Gnabry Interaction Level +3%]

Over the next ten minutes, players came in one after another: Demirbay, Zuber, Kaderzabek... They all looked a bit relaxed, some even chewing sandwiches.

At 7:55, when the last player, Uth, strolled in, the atmosphere in the locker room had already become noisy.

Some people were discussing last night's party, while others were complaining about the intensity of the preseason games.

At exactly eight o'clock, the locker room door was suddenly pushed open, and Nagelsmann stood in the doorway, his eyes coldly scanning the entire team.

He's been staking out the locker room since early this morning, just to catch anyone who's late.

The noise vanished instantly, even Gnabry, who was chewing gum, froze.

Nagelsmann's voice was soft, yet sharp as a knife.

"Great, it seems that fourth place last season has turned you all into star players."

He walked slowly into the locker room, his leather shoes making a crisp sound on the floor. Yan Yuan noticed that the coach was wearing an all-black training uniform today, looking particularly serious.

"Gnabry, I have a question for you," Nagelsmann suddenly called on him.

"Is your Bayern Munich schedule different from ours?"

Gnabry's face flushed red: "Coach, that's not how it is, I..."

"Don't rush to make excuses. Do you know why Bayern let you come? Because every other player at Bayern is more eager to get ahead than you are. They don't want players without fighting spirit."

Nagelsmann was ruthless, but what he said was indeed correct.

"And Uth, you were the last one to arrive today," Nagelsmann interrupted him, turning to another late-arriving striker.

"Do you need a wheelchair to get to the training field on time? I think you could apply to join the disabled football league."

Ute lowered his head like an ostrich, and the locker room fell silent.

Nagelsmann walked to the center, hands behind his back: "Let me remind you all that we finished fourth last season because Leverkusen lost in the last round, not because we were that strong."

To put it more bluntly, this fourth one is a gift from God, not something we can easily hold onto ourselves.

He took a tablet from the assistant coach: "This is the schedule for the new season. On August 19th, the first round of the Bundesliga is against Werder Bremen, and on August 23rd, the Champions League qualifier is against Liverpool. However, given your current form, I think it's questionable whether you can even beat Liverpool's youth team."

Yan Yuan held his breath as he listened to the coach's instructions. He noticed that Demirbay next to him had straightened his back.

"I've heard some people think qualifying for the Champions League is something special?" Nagelsmann sneered. "Let me tell you, being eliminated in the Champions League qualifiers is far more embarrassing than finishing last in the Bundesliga. Everyone in Europe will think we're just on vacation!"

He slammed the tablet on the table with a loud "thud": "Now tell me, do you want to be a team that makes history, or just a fleeting phenomenon?"

The locker room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Yan Yuan secretly glanced around and saw that the sleepiness on his teammates' faces had long since disappeared, replaced by varying degrees of tension and reflection.

"Assemble in the tactical meeting room. Five minutes." Nagelsmann said this last sentence before turning and leaving.

After the locker room door closed, the air seemed to start flowing again.

Gnabry was the first to jump up and start changing his shoes, and the others followed suit.

Yan Yuan noticed that no one was speaking, only the sound of rapid breathing and the rustling of clothes.

"Hey, newbie," Demirbay suddenly whispered to Yan Yuan, "how early did you arrive?"

"About ten minutes," Yan Yuan replied softly.

Demirbay gave him a meaningful look: "Smart. Nagelsmann hates being late. Nice to meet you, Yan. My name is Demirbay."

Demirbay extended his hand, and Yan Yuan shook it in a friendly manner.

Demirbay's interaction rate +2%

Two minutes later, the locker room was empty.

……

Today's training mainly consisted of tactics lessons and team practice. With the new season, the team has welcomed many new players, and new tactical adjustments are also necessary.

Therefore, Nagelsmann wanted to use today's training session to improve everyone's understanding of tactics and their level of teamwork.

In the tactics room, Nagelsmann arranged the tiles on the tactics board into a 3-5-2 formation. He tapped the tactics board lightly and said:

"You all saw it, guys. Last season we created an average of 10.3 chances per game, but our opponents figured out our wing-backs' forward runs, especially in the last few games of the season, we had a tough time."

Therefore, we will no longer rely primarily on the 3-5-2 formation this season.

Yan Yuan sat in the first row today, his eyes fixed on the tactics board.

Nagelsmann's explanations were far more professional and detailed than those of the Paris youth coaches, and learning tactics brought about a qualitative improvement.

「这赛季我们要增加阵型的变数，首先看看4231。」纳格尔斯曼突然将阵型调整为4-2-3-1，动作快得让几个队员下意识前倾身体。

"When the opponents thought we were going to play with three center-backs, we suddenly switched to a four-back formation. When they thought we were going to control the ball, we switched to a quick counter-attack."

Then, he picked up the remote control, and a video clip appeared on the projection screen.

In the footage, Hoffenheim players are always a beat slow when transitioning from defense to attack.

"Look here,"

Nagelsmann paused the game, saying, "We need to complete the forward pass within three seconds of a steal. Yan, you're the youngest player on our team. Tell me, if you received the ball in this position, how would you handle it?"

Nagelsmann was eagerly awaiting the newcomer's response.

Yan Yuan didn't expect to be asked a question so suddenly, but he still reacted immediately: "Um... I will first use my right foot to feint and cut inside, and then use the outside of my left foot to pass the space to the wing."

Because at this point, the opponent's right-back was out of position, while our winger was making a forward run.

Furthermore... if the flanks are blocked, I will immediately pass the ball back to the defensive midfielder to reorganize the game.

There was a brief silence in the tactics room. Nagelsmann thought for a moment and agreed: "Basically correct, and you noticed details we didn't show, like the positioning of the opponent's right-back. That's the ability to read the game that I need."

Yan Yuan was very grateful for his long-standing habit of watching game recordings.

While his game reading ability may not be on par with the world's top midfielders, it still has its merits.

He's like a sponge now, absorbing experience and knowledge like crazy.

For the next half hour, Nagelsmann explained in detail the key points of switching between the three formations.

Nagelsmann particularly emphasized off-the-ball movement: "In modern football, space is more important than the ball. You have to think two moves ahead of time about how to break down the defense, just like in chess."

When explaining the 4-3-3 formation, Nagelsmann specifically asked Yan Yuan to demonstrate it.

"Kid, let's assume you're the right winger now," he said, placing a red magnet on the right flank. "But in actual positioning, you need to move inside to the midfield line, leaving space on the flanks for the right-back."

Yan Yuan immediately understood the tactical intention: "This will help the midfield control the ball and also allow for a quick numerical advantage when counter-attacking."

Nagelsmann rarely smiled.

"You're smart, and your lack of a weak foot makes you harder for your opponents to defend against."

After the morning tactics session, the players went to the training ground for a joint practice.

Yan Yuan was assigned to the main group and played as a right winger.

In the first attacking combination, he assisted Gnabry to score with a no-look pass, a pass that demonstrates his basic skills.

"Great job! Yan!" Gnabry ran over and gave him a high five. "You were clearly looking to the left! How could you pass it so accurately!"

Yan Yuan replied humorously, "You have a strong aura of a powerful being, so I can pass it on to you even without looking at you."

"Hahahaha..."

Gnabry's interaction rate +1%

In the subsequent offensive and defensive drills, Yan Yuan's performance became increasingly impressive.

After a one-two pass, he used Cavani's "Matador's Spike" to blast the ball into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Baumann with no chance to make a save.

A gasp of amazement rose from the sidelines, and even the assistant coach who was recording data looked up. Whether it was teamwork or shooting, this young man still amazed them.

"Is this kid really only 17 years old..." Demirbay muttered to himself on the bench.

What is most impressive is Yan Yuan's tacit understanding with his teammates.

When Demirbay is pressed in midfield, Yan Yuan always appears in the most suitable position to receive the pass; when Kaderzabek moves forward, he will consciously move inside to cover.

This tactical understanding makes him seem unlike a complete newcomer. He might be a newcomer, but it's unlikely he is. (Promise and Words)

As the training session was nearing its end, Nagelsmann suddenly blew his whistle to stop it.

"This is the last live-fire exercise of the day."

He pointed at Yan Yuan: "Kid, you should switch to attacking midfielder."

This last-minute adjustment caught the defenders off guard.

Yan Yuan continued to perform well in the attacking midfield position, first delivering a through ball that pierced the defense.

He then used a Verratti-esque dribbling technique to shield the ball on the edge of the penalty area before beating two players and finally curling a left-footed shot into the far corner to score.

Yan Yuan is 184cm tall, but he can lower his center of gravity as much as possible, especially when dribbling and protecting the ball. The low center of gravity always allows him to keep the ball firmly under his feet.

"Perfect!" Nagelsmann applauded from the sidelines, the first time he had shown such obvious satisfaction in training today.

After the training session, Nagelsmann called out to Yan Yuan, who was drinking water.

"Come here for a second, Yan."

"Coach, you wanted to see me?"

"Next week, and the week after, there are two friendly matches," he said bluntly. "They are against Genoa and Bologna, and you will start in both of them."

Yan Yuan's water bottle stopped in mid-air.

"Don't be stunned yet. You know, I really like using young people because I think they have a lot more new possibilities than those seasoned veterans on the court."

If you continue to perform well in the friendly matches, you have a very good chance of being included in the starting lineup for the first round of the league this season.

He gently patted Yan Yuan's chest again.

"I've seen your tryouts and witnessed your training performance, so don't let me down, handsome young man."

Yan Yuan nodded solemnly: "Understood, I will definitely not let you down, Coach."

Before turning to leave, Nagelsmann added one more sentence:

"Alright, go home and rest. Continue to maintain this learning attitude in the future. Hoffenheim is a weak team in the Bundesliga. When playing for a weak team, technique is important, but intelligence is even more important."