Chapter 3 The Score

In the end, the score between Borussia Dortmund U19 and Alemannia Aachen U19 was fixed at 3:1, with Borussia Dortmund U19 taking a victory on the road.

After the trio changed their style of play, neither side was able to score. Alemannia Aachen U19, in particular, had opportunities but failed to capitalize on them.

In Schneider's view, Zhou Yi, Mark, and Götze's approach after taking a two-goal lead was completely useless. If Aachen hadn't been so weak, it was hard to say whether they could have won the game.

But from Jabara's perspective, the situation wasn't as Schneider thought.

Aachen's failure to score wasn't just because their forwards were weak; there was another reason that most people overlooked. Even Aachen U19 themselves regretted not seizing their chances.

A less obvious, but real, reason for Aachen U19's lack of goals was that the rapid passing and interplay of Zhou Yi, Mark, and Götze put significant pressure on Aachen U19's defense. They had to commit more defensive resources to those three.

After all, if left unchecked, the three of them could play like they were in training, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to penetrate Aachen's defense with some good combinations.

The trio's poor performance was partly due to Aachen's emphasis on defense, with tight marking and resolute defending.

So it was a result of mutual restraint.

Zhou Yi's offensive style diverted Aachen's defensive attention, preventing them from going all out when they needed to make a final desperate push.

And Aachen's defense caused Zhou Yi and his teammates to be hampered in their attacks.

Although they didn't score and their performance wasn't pretty, Jabara was satisfied with the trio's performance in this game.

Especially the fact that these three even knew to prioritize the team's victory, ensuring the team could win first, and then conduct their tactical experiments…

They were practically the coach's considerate little darlings.

As the head coach, what dissatisfaction could Jabara possibly have?

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After the match against Alemannia Aachen U19, the training lives of Zhou Yi and his two teammates didn't change much.

Players who participated in the game didn't have to attend team training the next day, but Zhou Yi, Mark, and Götze didn't relax. They agreed to go to the soccer field near Mark's house for training again.

One session in the morning, lunch at Mark's house at noon, and then the three of them played Pro Evolution Soccer during the lunch break. The loser was out, and they played fiercely, bickering during the game. Zhou Yi called this "psychological warfare," and the teenagers' competitive spirit was fully displayed in the game. Then, another training session in the afternoon.

And then they went back to their respective homes.

The next day at team training, they still had to play the game.

And they still lost.

A week of training was like this every day. If it was a one-a-day training schedule, they would go to the field near Mark's house for special training. If they had the afternoon off, they would go in the afternoon; if they had the morning off, they would go in the morning, rain or shine.

During this time, Schneider didn't get a starting opportunity in the German Cup semi-final. Mark officially replaced him, starting in the semi-final against Saarbrücken and scoring a goal.

And Zhou Yi provided another assist. But this assist wasn't for Mark, but for Götze.

4:2, Borussia Dortmund U19 defeated Saarbrücken U19 on the road and advanced to the final of the Youth German Cup.

The Youth German Cup final will be held on the evening of May 29th. The final venue is the same as the adult German Cup final – the Berlin Olympic Stadium. The time is also two days earlier than this year's adult German Cup final.

From any perspective, reaching the German Cup final is something to be proud of. After all, even Borussia Dortmund's first team didn't achieve this this season.

In the league, Borussia Dortmund U19 also continued to advance triumphantly.

Although they were held to a 2:2 draw at home by Bochum U19 in the twenty-third round, Borussia Dortmund U19 then thrashed Bielefeld U19 6:0 away from home in the twenty-fourth round, continuing to maintain their lead over Bayer Leverkusen U19 in the standings.

According to the rules of the German U19 league, apart from the Southern Division where the top two teams advance to the playoffs, only the first-placed team in the Western and Northern Divisions can go to the playoffs to compete for the national championship.

After twenty-four rounds of league matches, Borussia Dortmund U19 led Bayer Leverkusen U19 by as many as five points. With two rounds of league matches remaining, as long as they win their match in the twenty-fifth round, they will secure their qualification for the playoffs one round in advance.

And in the twenty-fifth round, Borussia Dortmund U19 will host Wuppertaler U19 at home. This team is currently ranked second to last in the league... In twenty-four league matches, they have only won four, drawn five, and lost fifteen. Their strength is weak, and losing to Borussia Dortmund at home is almost a foregone conclusion.

So, in fact, it can also be said that Borussia Dortmund has already secured qualification for the playoffs in advance.

In this situation, Jabara can focus his attention on the German Cup final.

Their opponents in the Youth German Cup final are Freiburg U19 from the Southern Division. This team is currently ranked first in the Southern Division, and their strength should not be underestimated.

Now that they have reached the final, Jabara certainly won't be satisfied with just getting a runner-up position.

Borussia Dortmund's strength is very strong, but it also depends on their performance on the field.

What Jabara is most unsure about now is the trio's performance.

The game is being played every day, and it has been going on for more than a month. It can be seen that the three are improving, but they still haven't been able to win the game. Every time the game ends, they are the ones carrying their tall and strong teammates during the twenty-five-meter shuttle run.

Three against six, plus a goalkeeper, this game rule is indeed a bit too harsh.

But Jabara didn't adjust the rules to reduce the difficulty, but insisted on requiring them to do so.

In the beginning, those who didn't participate in the game could still cheer and jeer from below with a sense of amusement.

However, as the days went by, everyone gradually couldn't laugh anymore. Because after such a tormenting thing became a daily routine, it was really impossible to laugh. They began to sympathize with the trio—clearly performing well in the game, able to score goals and provide assists, why should they be tortured by the coach in training in various ways?

The three don't complain now, because complaining is useless. It's better to work hard and improve their level.

They have also felt the progress of their special training. Whether in the game or in the matches, their cooperation success rate is getting higher and higher. In the game, they can sometimes use quick passing and cutting to tear apart one or two lines of defense, but they still can't score goals.

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After the match against Bielefeld U19, the entire Borussia Dortmund U19 team entered the preparation stage for the Youth German Cup final.

Borussia Dortmund U19's opponent is Freiburg U19.

If we're talking about the first team, Freiburg is certainly not a pivotal figure in German football today. In fact, Freiburg's first team is still playing in the 2. Bundesliga.

But in the field of youth training, Freiburg is indeed a well-known youth training expert in Germany.

On the one hand, their youth training level is good, and on the other hand, their first team is willing to give youth training players opportunities to participate in first team matches. Although German football now attaches great importance to youth training players appearing and training in professional matches, there are still not many who can achieve Freiburg's level.

Of course, this may be because Freiburg is a small club with insufficient financial resources. They don't have much budget to dig up those big stars, and they can't attract any decent players, so they can only give the young people they cultivate more opportunities and trust.

The success of Freiburg's youth training should be attributed to the legendary old coach Volker Finke, who coached the team for sixteen years, and Freiburg's former club chairman, Stocker. Under their insistence, the club used a large amount of money to build a football school instead of investing in the professional team to buy reinforcements to ensure that the team could stay in the Bundesliga. This move was questioned and put a lot of pressure on the club.

But under the strong promotion of these two, after so many years, Freiburg's youth training has finally achieved good results.

Last season's German U19 Youth League was ultimately won by Freiburg U19.

In last season's Youth German Cup, they also reached the quarter-finals. And it was Borussia Dortmund U19 who eliminated them in the quarter-finals.

This time, the grievances between the two sides in the Youth German Cup directly continued to the final, and will be magnified several times in the final—Freiburg's successful revenge can also win the Youth German Cup.

Speaking of this Freiburg U19 team, Jabara is actually very familiar with them, because they competed last year.

Moreover, in the past year or two, the Freiburg youth team has maintained a high level.

To say that the strongest person in Freiburg U19 is not a certain player like Götze in Borussia Dortmund U19. Their strongest person is sitting on the bench on the sidelines—Freiburg U19's head coach, Christian Streich.

This coach, who has been working in the Freiburg club's youth team since 1995, has very rich experience and has his own unique insights into football.

If the Freiburg youth training system was established by Finke and Stocker, then the current level of Freiburg's youth training is entirely the masterpiece of Streich.

As a youth team coach, Jabara has great respect for Streich.

This coach, who can dedicate fourteen years of his life to the youth training camp of a club, embodies the true meaning of a "youth training coach." Many of the young players he has personally cultivated have already played in the Freiburg first team. He is constantly providing Finke with fresh troops to attack the Bundesliga—now this person has been replaced by Dutt, Finke's successor.

It was mentioned earlier that Streich has his own unique insights into football, which is reflected in the football style of Freiburg U19.

Freiburg's first team's former head coach was Volker Finke, the head coach who coached Freiburg's first team for as long as sixteen years. He created Freiburg's best results in the Bundesliga and European competitions, became the team's legendary coach, and also imprinted a strong personal style on the team.

Finke's Freiburg promoted offensive tactics. "Attack at all costs, let attack be the best defense" was Finke's motto. Desperate attacks allowed Freiburg to achieve their best results in history, injecting a ray of fresh air into the dull German football scene at that time.

But Streich's football style is very different from Finke's football style, even... completely opposite. This Freiburg U19 head coach pays more attention to defense.

This season, Freiburg U19 has conceded twenty-seven goals in the league. In the entire Southern League division, it is the third least number of goals conceded.

Moreover, Streich's emphasis on defense is not the traditional meaning of the team shrinking into their own thirty-meter area and parking the bus in front of the goal. His way of emphasizing defense is somewhat different from ordinary coaches.

He chooses to let the team press high. Freiburg U19's defense starts from the two forwards at the top, and the three lines are kept very close. The center backs often press to near the center line, with a distance of forty to fifty meters from their own baseline at the farthest.

Logically speaking, this strange configuration should be easily penetrated directly through the three lines by the opponent.

But it didn't happen.

They have the third least number of goals conceded in the Southern League.

They are currently ranked first in the Southern League, leading second-place Mainz U19 by as many as six points, and have already secured their qualification for the playoffs in advance.

Why is this?

Because their high-pressure defense intensity is very high, many teams will be disturbed by their mid-to-front court pressing and unable to organize their offense properly.

Another key figure is the existence of their main goalkeeper, Oliver Baumann. This young and talented goalkeeper has calmness and positional awareness beyond his age, as well as excellent decision-making skills and an active personality.

Therefore, Streich's task for this talented goalkeeper is to guard almost half the field in front of him. He must frequently rush out of the penalty area to deal with balls that have successfully broken through Freiburg U19's mid-to-front court pressing and offside traps.

Manuel Neuer of Schalke 04 is a goalkeeper who is naturally fond of rushing out of the penalty area, which may be related to his desire to be a striker. But Baumann is forced to rush out of the penalty area, which is related to Freiburg U19's high-pressure pressing style.

However, Baumann has done a good job so far. He is not only decisive and crisp in his attacks, but also has amazing saves in front of the goal.

For teams with central organizing core players, Freiburg U19's high-pressure pressing style is simply a tried and tested tactic.

This is what Jabara needs to worry about.

Because Borussia Dortmund U19's central organizing core player, Zhou Yi, may face the most difficult enemy and the most severe test in this Youth German Cup final.

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ps, the second half of this chapter is all about Freiburg's introduction, maybe some people will say that I am using Baidu Encyclopedia to pad the word count.

I also have some complaints about this, please see the next single chapter for details—I originally planned to directly attach it to the bottom of this chapter, but I have a lot of complaints and wrote 1,500 words. Attaching it to the paid chapter would mean spending too much money to see me rant, which is not necessary, so I took it out separately.

Anyway, it's free, so everyone should take a look.

It is both a complaint and behind-the-scenes trivia.