Chapter 121 Early

Zhou Yi had originally planned to find Klopp after training, but unexpectedly, Klopp came to him before training even started.

"Got time?" Klopp asked, hands in his pockets, tilting his head as he looked at Zhou Yi, who had just changed into his training gear.

"Yeah." Zhou Yi was taken aback, then nodded vigorously. Training hadn't started yet, so of course he had time—besides, even the head coach hadn't gone to the training ground yet, so even if training time had started, it probably wouldn't be able to begin…

"Good, there's something I want to talk to you about, and I want to hear your thoughts." Klopp gestured, and the two of them walked a few steps to the side, to a quiet corner where there weren't many people, making it easier for them to talk.

"What do you think of the team's situation this season?" Klopp didn't waste any words, getting straight to the point.

Zhou Yi was also used to the head coach's speaking style, so he didn't waste any words either, and answered directly: "We've had some bad luck this season, with too many player injuries."

"Hmm…" Klopp nodded, then said. "Do you think we should make some trade-offs?"

Klopp asked very directly, which was because he had discussed the team's tactics with Zhou Yi before, and the two sides had experience and a basis for this kind of dialogue. Many times, Klopp didn't regard Zhou Yi as a simple player, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to him to discuss issues.

"If I may be frank, coach, it's a bit too early to consider trade-offs now." Zhou Yi spoke his mind directly.

Klopp didn't look very surprised either, seemingly not surprised by Zhou Yi's answer.

"We just secured qualification for the Champions League group stage, and we're still closely chasing Bayern Munich in the league. The league isn't even halfway over, and no one knows what the future holds. If we consider giving up on a certain competition now, I'm afraid we'll regret it later. Anyway, I'm confident in the team's future." Zhou Yi said what was on his mind, and then looked at the head coach.

Just like he told Cortana, he had the right to make suggestions, but it was the head coach's business whether or not to listen to his suggestions, and he couldn't force anyone to listen.

If Klopp still wanted to give up on a certain event, he could only choose to accept it, and then try to play well in the game. This was what a player should do. He couldn't openly defy orders, could he? Although some people on the internet jokingly called Zhou Yi a "ball bully," Zhou Yi didn't want to be that kind of "ball bully."

After listening to Zhou Yi's words, Klopp explained: "To say it's early… we always have to make plans in advance. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but the team's desire for victory is clearly not as strong as it used to be…"

"Of course, some people seem to have lost their motivation. But I don't think everyone is like that… Actually, I've never understood this problem…" Zhou Yi said. "Why do people lose motivation after winning a championship? Does someone think that just having one championship is enough, and they're not interested in winning more?"

Klopp laughed after hearing Zhou Yi's question: "Yeah, I can't figure out why either."

"I don't know what other people are thinking, coach, but I still like championships and want to win more. So I don't want the team to give up on any competition in advance—if we ultimately don't win the championship, I hope it's because of the result after we've tried our best, not because of giving up in advance. At least, I won't regret it that way."

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, he looked at Klopp and didn't say anything.

Klopp also fell silent.

The two of them fell silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Klopp finally came back to his senses and waved his hand at Zhou Yi: "Okay, you go to training first."

Only then did Zhou Yi turn around and walk towards the training ground.

He didn't know if Klopp had really listened to his words, and he didn't know if he could really change the head coach's mind. But he had done everything he should, and that was enough.

※※※

In the following training, Zhou Yi didn't see any changes in the head coach's thinking at all. But this was normal, how could you see it in just one day?

Zhou Yi had expressed his opinion, and that completed the task. He originally wanted to talk to Klopp about this issue, not necessarily to force the head coach to make adjustments, but just to express his opinion, hoping to have a little influence on the head coach's decision.

Zhou Yi didn't have much time to pay attention to this issue.

Soon, Dortmund was about to set off to play in the league away from home.

In this game away against Hoffenheim, Klopp adopted rotations. Many players who participated in the previous game against Galatasaray did not enter the starting lineup, and some even didn't even make the eighteen-man list, and didn't go to the away game at all, but rested at home.

There were still two Club World Cup games waiting for them, and Klopp certainly had to ensure that the players got enough rest.

Although the rotation may make it difficult for the team to play away, Klopp had no choice.

Of course, doing so didn't mean he had given up on the game. At least Zhou Yi still appeared in the starting lineup.

In addition, Yan Min also started again—he performed very well in the last game against Galatasaray, which earned him the opportunity to start continuously.

※※※

As people had worried before the game, Dortmund, which had made a lot of rotations, did not play well away from home, and they were stubbornly blocked by Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim played very fiercely. Only eleven minutes into the game, their striker Kevin Volland received a yellow card for actively fighting in the frontcourt.

In the seventeenth minute, their high center forward Sven Schipplock took advantage of a cross from the wing to score a header that broke through Langerak's goal—in this game, even goalkeeper Weidenfeller was sitting on the bench. Generally speaking, it is difficult for goalkeepers to participate in the rotation, and Klopp even rotated the main goalkeeper, which shows how unfavorable the current schedule is for Dortmund.

After taking the lead, Hoffenheim became more and more excited, and the players ran and fought more actively.

In the thirty-seventh minute, Kevin Volland scored the second goal for Hoffenheim. The first half had not yet ended, and the home team Hoffenheim was already two goals ahead.

"Although many people guessed that this game would be difficult, no one thought it would be so difficult... Hoffenheim is already two goals ahead! Dortmund has been playing very painfully in this recent series of intensive games... This season, Dortmund is even more difficult as a chaser than last season..."

※※※

When the Hoffenheim players were celebrating their second goal, Zhou Yi stood on the field with his hands on his hips.

Unlike what the commentators thought, he was fully prepared for the difficulty of this game. In the simulated game, this situation had occurred many times.

The team was indeed very tired, and even with the rotation, it hadn't improved much. Because in terms of bench depth, Dortmund is not very strong—it was okay before, but after several main players were injured, the bench depth was suddenly thinned.

These are all objective difficulties, but they cannot allow Zhou Yi to give up subjectively.

If he wants to win the league title, he must not surrender now. No matter how great the difficulty is.

He had just expressed his inner thoughts to head coach Klopp, and said bold words, not wanting to give up in advance.

Did he have to slap himself in the face so quickly?

Of course not.

Zhou Yi turned his head to look at Yan Min. Yan Min also started in this game, and in the case of being 0:2 behind, there was still no frustration on his face—it was still the same.

Zhou Yi laughed.

Yan Min is really a magical person, I really don't know where his fighting spirit comes from...

But that's not important, what's important is that he has fighting spirit, that's fine.

The game hasn't even finished the first half yet, just like he said to head coach Klopp, it's too early to judge that the team won't win the game.

Yan Min's fighting spirit can play a very important role.

Next, as long as there is a chance to counterattack, Zhou Yi will try his best to pass the ball to Yan Min, and then use Yan Min's own speed and breakthrough to threaten Hoffenheim's defense.

Doing so is indeed very effective.

The connection between Zhou Yi and Yan Min brought a great threat to Hoffenheim's defense.

Especially after taking a two-goal lead, Hoffenheim seemed to feel that victory was in their grasp, and it was no problem to take down the exhausted Dortmund, so they relaxed a bit.

This gave Zhou Yi and Yan Min the opportunity to show their skills.

And the performance of Zhou Yi and Yan Min in turn stimulated the other players of Dortmund.

They saw that Zhou Yi and Yan Min had not given up, so what reason did they have to give up?

Although Zhou Yi doesn't wear the captain's armband, he is very prestigious in the team.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhou Yi is simply the team's role model.

So the entire Dortmund team cheered up and launched wave after wave of attacks on Hoffenheim's goal.

When Hoffenheim reacted, they had been overwhelmed by Dortmund and couldn't raise their heads. If they wanted to regain the advantage, it was not as simple as they thought.

They could only shrink in their own half, struggling to hold on, hoping to hold on until the end of the first half, and then make adjustments.

When the game reached the forty-fourth minute, just as they were about to succeed, they lost the ball.

Zhou Yi passed the ball to Yan Min in the attack. After Yan Min used his personal breakthrough to tear open Hoffenheim's defense, he passed the ball to the center. Forward Schieber, who started in this game, shot with one foot, and the ball flew into the goal!

"Schieber! Dortmund pulled back a goal! But unfortunately, the first half is about to end. Dortmund has played very well during this time. After losing two goals, they seemed to wake up. After continuous bombardment, they finally blew up Hoffenheim's goal. The only pity is that the first half is about to end, and Dortmund's good momentum will be interrupted. Hoffenheim ushered in a precious respite, and after a fifteen-minute half-time break, how will the situation change, it's hard to say..."

Duan Xin felt sorry for Dortmund, this goal came too late...

Most people think the same as Duan Xin. For example, the Hoffenheim coaching staff, although they lost the ball, head coach Gisdol was not very annoyed. Although he was dissatisfied with the team's loss of the ball, he quickly cheered up again and began to plan how to make adjustments during the half-time break to contain Dortmund's attack.

He even thought that losing the ball at this time was a good thing for his team—because it could wake up the players who were too relaxed before.

At this time, even if he said something harsh during the half-time break, no one would disagree in their hearts.