Chapter 1 Tuchel's Research

Tuchel had studied Dortmund extensively, and Yebala had naturally studied Mainz as well.

This season's Mainz was a completely different team compared to last season.

Last season, Mainz finished fifth in the U19 league's southern division, missing out on the playoffs.

But this season, they ranked second, squeezing the youth training powerhouse Bayern Munich behind them and earning a playoff spot.

What did they rely on?

Simple, one person.

Last summer, Mainz hired a youth training coach named Thomas Tuchel.

This was no nobody; he was quite famous in German youth training circles.

Before coming to Mainz, Tuchel had coached in the youth teams of two clubs. He started at Stuttgart, where he studied under Rangnick, who now leads Hoffenheim and created a mid-season miracle in the Bundesliga with the small-town team. Tuchel led Stuttgart U19 to the national championship in 2005.

Later, he went to Augsburg's U19 youth team, where Players' morale had once been based, until 2008, when he came to Mainz last summer to coach the Mainz U19 team.

In just one season, he led the team to the U19 national league playoffs, demonstrating exceptional ability to train the team.

So, what did he rely on?

Offense.

Mainz was a team with a decent defense. This season, they conceded twenty-six goals in twenty-six league games in the southern division, the fewest in the entire southern division and the fewest of all teams in the three divisions.

In the southern division last season, Mainz, despite ranking fifth, conceded only twenty-seven goals, still the fewest in the southern division.

It could be said that Mainz had a fine tradition of defense.

But defense alone could not elevate the team from fifth to second place.

After Tuchel arrived, he injected the team with a passion for attacking.

Last season, Mainz scored only forty-three goals in twenty-six league games, a mediocre number.

But what about this season?

Sixty-one goals!

Mainz's goal tally was second only to Freiburg, who created an average of eleven scoring opportunities per game, and Freiburg only scored sixty-eight more than them.

Tuchel activated Schürrle, who in turn drove the team's attack.

In the southern division, Schürrle scored sixteen goals in twenty-two home games, making him the team's top scorer. This was his best season in his three years playing for Mainz U19.

Therefore, Yebala believed that Mainz was a team that was good at attacking and dared to attack.

Dortmund loved playing against attacking teams because a head-to-head battle meant there would be a lot of space on the field, which was very beneficial for Dortmund's quick passing, fast-running tactics.

Now that Dortmund had the trident, they dared to attack any team head-on.

Whether it was Schalke 04 or Freiburg.

So, in his preparations, Yebala had always demanded that Dortmund face Mainz head-on, attack and attack again, and not be afraid of making mistakes.

But when the game started, Yebala quickly noticed something was wrong—this "quickly" didn't even take a minute.

Because when Dortmund was in possession and attacking, he found that Mainz retreated very, very quickly...

So quickly that it was as if they hadn't planned to attack at all, and were only focused on defending.

As soon as Dortmund passed the ball to their defenders, Mainz's players retreated to their own penalty area, with just one player up front—their spearhead, Schürrle.

This was not the attitude Mainz should have when playing attacking football...

Yebala had studied how Mainz normally played and how they ran after the opponent kicked off, so he knew that what he was seeing was definitely not normal.

This sudden abnormality made Yebala suspicious, and also a little...wary.

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When Dortmund attacked forward, their speed through the midfield was very fast. With just two or three passes between Zhou Yi, Götze, and Mark, they advanced through the midfield and reached the area thirty meters in front of Mainz's goal.

Sitting on the coach's bench, Tuchel adjusted his posture, waiting to see Dortmund's attack, like a stormy wave crashing against Mainz's breakwater, then shattering into countless water droplets, flying all over the sky, and being scattered by the wind.

When Mainz intercepted the ball, the defenders would directly pass it to Schürrle in the front, who would launch a counterattack.

At this moment, Yebala, who had been thinking about Mainz's unusual behavior, suddenly had a flash of insight.

"Damn..." he blurted out.

The assistant coach next to him asked strangely, "What's wrong, Peter?"

"Mainz doesn't intend to attack us head-on!" Yebala said urgently.

Having figured it out, he knew exactly what Mainz was planning to do.

This could be fatal for the unprepared Dortmund!

Just like Freiburg never expected Dortmund to play quick passing and fast-running tactics against them, and were caught off guard in the German Cup final.

And Yebala felt that he had also been caught off guard by Tuchel...

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When Dortmund's attack reached the front, the ball fell to Zhou Yi's feet. If it were normal, Zhou Yi would quickly transfer the ball to Mark's feet, and then continue to move forward.

If that happened, he and Mark, along with the ball, would be crushed against Mainz's wall.

But he didn't do that. After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi turned around and passed it back!

Tuchel, who was waiting to see a good show, had the smile on his face freeze. He didn't see what he wanted to see. This turn of events caught him off guard.

After passing the ball, Zhou Yi looked up at the situation in front of him.

People, people, people, people, people, people, people.

This was what Zhou Yi observed.

Besides Mainz players, there were also Dortmund's own players. In short, it was densely packed with people.

So, it wasn't that he didn't want to pass the ball forward, it was that he couldn't.

Mainz had constructed one defensive line after another in front of their penalty area. The two lines were not far apart, and because the whole team had retreated so far back, they didn't have to worry about Dortmund exploiting the space behind them.

If he passed forward, it would be the same as handing over possession. He wasn't stupid.

Dortmund's quick passing and cutting tactics already had a very low margin for error. Once the ball was passed and the players ran, the speed was very fast, and even a tiny mistake would be magnified, ultimately leading to a failed attack.

And Mainz's way of building a wall in front of the penalty area greatly compressed the passing and running space of Dortmund's players, which would lead to more mistakes when they passed and ran.

If they continued to play quickly, they would only be needlessly handing the ball over to Mainz, allowing them to launch a counterattack.

So, Zhou Yi chose to pass the ball back. At this time, he would rather slow down and abandon the quick passing and fast-running tactics to ensure that they retained possession.

At this time, don't even think about any risky through balls.

Yebala, who was on the sidelines, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Yi suddenly choose to pass the ball back—Zhou Yi didn't play according to the pre-match plan, but suddenly changed the direction of his pass, allowing Dortmund to escape a disaster.

He could see that Mainz was just waiting for Dortmund to crash into them...

It was fortunate that the person controlling the rhythm for Dortmund was Zhou Yi, and not someone else, otherwise they would have really walked right into a trap...

Zhou Yi almost did crash right into them. If he didn't have "Eagle Eye," he wouldn't have been able to see the field layout during the fast break, understand Mainz's defensive formation through the layout, and guess Mainz's defensive strategy.

In the virtual world, Zhou Yi had played against this team many times, and Mainz did play their most common attacking football style of the season, which was completely different from this tactic of defending the penalty area to the death.

Now it seemed that the effectiveness of those simulated games before the match had been sharply reduced by half.

This was a test for Zhou Yi.

When he couldn't rely on a lot of simulations to familiarize himself with his opponent's tactics, what should he do? As a commander, he couldn't just rely on various pre-arranged plans to react, right?

An excellent commander always has to face all kinds of emergencies. So, what should he do at this time?

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Zhou Yi's sudden pass back would certainly cause the rhythm of the entire Dortmund team to stagnate for a moment. Therefore, Zhou Yi didn't just stand there congratulating himself on his luck. Instead, he quickly ran towards his passing target, signaling him to pass the ball back.

And Mark, who was originally waiting to receive the ball in front, turned around and was surprised to find that Zhou Yi hadn't passed the ball back.

"Why did you pass it back?" he shouted to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi, with his back to him, waved his hand, not having time to answer him.

Götze, who was next to him, explained to Mark: "Take a look around you, Mark."

Only then did Mark look around in confusion and realize that he was surrounded by Mainz players.

"There's no way to pass it forward." Götze understood. "They're shrinking their defense."

"Ah...this..." Mark was a little regretful and a little disappointed.

Wasn't it said before the match that it would be an all-out attack?

Now that it was completely different from what they had prepared for before the match, what should they do?

He turned his gaze to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi received the ball from his teammate, but without even turning around, he passed the ball back again, only this time he passed it further back, directly to center back Lasse Sobiech's feet.

After passing the ball, Zhou Yi, still followed by a Mainz player, ran straight back, further and further away from Mark and the others.

Götze also ran back, and Mark looked left and right and ran towards the midfield with Götze.

Only Kinczek was left up front.

Just like that, Dortmund's quick attack died in its tracks...