Chapter 104 Options

During halftime, the commentators and guest analysts on television were dissecting the first half of the match and looking ahead to the second.

Meanwhile, Sun Pan and the others in front of the television were planning Yang Muge’s future.

“Lao Yang, don’t hang on at Schalke. Leave if you can. Schalke's situation is too complicated right now. They've changed three coaches in one year. This environment is too unstable…” Sun Pan advised earnestly.

"You were brought up by Rangnick, right?" He Ying asked.

Yang Muge nodded.

"Rangnick is a head coach who likes to use young players. You were promoted by him. If he were still at Schalke 04, we wouldn't be advising you to leave. But now he's gone himself. Stevens might see you as being in Rangnick's faction, so he's unwilling to give you a chance easily…” He Ying continued to analyze.

"That's unlikely, isn't it?" Yang Muge shook his head, somewhat hesitant.

"What's so unlikely about it?" Sun Pan exclaimed from the side. "It's very possible. Do you think there are no factions in foreign clubs? Look at Real Madrid, look at Barcelona."

Guo Nu watched the lively discussion, eager to interject, but unfortunately, every time he opened his mouth, Sun Pan and He Ying spoke, leaving him no chance to get a word in edgewise. He could only watch anxiously from the sidelines.

Under everyone's combined persuasion, Yang Muge fell into deep thought.

He was really considering whether he should continue waiting for a chance in Schalke 04's first team.

He looked at his friends. Sun Pan had been loaned to a third-tier German team, but gold shines wherever it is. So Sun Pan became famous in one German Cup match. After playing one season in the 3. Liga, he was loaned to Atletico Madrid and became a starting goalkeeper.

What about He Ying? He proactively requested a loan and was assigned to a Segunda Division team, where he also made a name for himself. Now, contacting him, Yang Muge could clearly feel the changes in him. It was the kind of change in temperament that came from increased confidence. He was no longer the lost young man in La Masia who couldn't see the future. He knew exactly where his future lay and how to get there.

Guo Nu was even more obvious. The change in him was the most striking. He was completely different from the person he was in the reality show.

They had all improved significantly by playing in the first team.

And none of them played in the team where they initially landed; they all took a roundabout route.

"Hey, Lao Yang, do you have an agent now?" Seeing Yang Muge's silence, Sun Pan asked.

"Not yet…” Yang Muge shook his head.

"Damn, even Lao Guo has an agent, and you don't?" Sun Pan was surprised.

Guo Nu was even more surprised: "Wh-what do you mean, 'even I have one'!"

He finally got a word in.

"How about it? Want me to introduce you to my agent?" Sun Pan said. Actually, his agent wasn't anything special. Chelsea Football Club introduced him when he was at Chelsea. His ability wasn't very strong, but he could at least do the things he needed to do, and after he was loaned to Atletico Madrid, the agent became noticeably more enthusiastic. Sun Pan wasn't too picky, so he had been using him all along.

Yang Muge shook his head: "Zhou Yi mentioned this to me. He said he wanted to introduce me to his agent. I agreed to meet his agent after I return to Germany."

"Zhou Yi's agent? That's good then." Hearing Yang Muge say this, He Ying said. "His agent is really good. Zhou Yi says he's impeccable in both character and ability."

"Hey, how did Zhou Yi get such a good agent again? Why is he so lucky?" Sun Pan also sighed.

"His luck was determined by his first choice," He Ying said. On the issue of choices, He Ying was truly convinced by Zhou Yi.

That's why he could be a central organizing midfielder. Central organization is nothing more than making various multiple-choice questions. Choose A or choose B, or choose C? Sometimes they are multiple-choice, sometimes they are single-choice. Each choice can lead to drastically different consequences, and these consequences may lead to more choices. It's like a towering tree, with a branch flying out from a trunk, and then many small branches branching out from this branch, and each small branch will have more and smaller branches, and finally many leaves will branch out.

Some people, when faced with such layers of choices, can only predict the outcome of their first choice one or two steps ahead.

But Zhou Yi seemed to be able to see further, and choices five or six steps ahead were not difficult for him.

Zhou Yi once said that he learned Go as a child. I don't know if this has anything to do with his current ability…

People who can see further are indeed more likely to make the right choices.

In this regard, He Ying had to admit that he couldn't see as far as Zhou Yi. In the beginning, when La Masia came knocking, Zhou Yi decisively refused, while he excitedly forgot everything and agreed in one gulp. He regretted it later…

※※※

As everyone was discussing, the second half of the match began. They stopped planning Yang Muge's future and started watching the game.

After halftime, it wasn't apparent that Schalke 04 had made any adjustments. Actually, there wasn't much to adjust. The key was the midfield defense, but the only defensive player, Jones, received a yellow card in the first half. If he continued to pressure Zhou Yi in the second half, he would likely receive another yellow card.

Because Zhou Yi's body wasn't strong, and when the two collided, Zhou Yi would likely fall. One or two times would be fine, but if he fell too often, the referee would blow the whistle for a foul by Jones.

If Zhou Yi fell in an exaggerated manner, then a yellow card would be unavoidable. If that happened, two yellows would turn into a red, and Jones would be sent off.

In this regard, both Jones and Schalke 04's coach Stevens didn't dare to bet on Zhou Yi's good character, that he wouldn't exaggerate when falling, that he would just roll on the ground and get up…

This was a derby, and it was normal for opponents to do anything in a derby.

So in the second half, Jones was still cautious when facing Zhou Yi, while Zhou Yi continued his wide range of movements, participating in almost every Dortmund attack. Under his leadership, Dortmund firmly controlled the situation on the field.

In the sixty-seventh minute, Dortmund scored another goal. This time it was Gotze who scored, assisted by Kagawa Shinji, and the pass to Kagawa Shinji was from Zhou Yi.

"2:0! Dortmund has locked in the victory. There's no suspense in this match!" Duan Xin shouted on television.

He was right. Letting them lead by two goals at Dortmund's home stadium, there was indeed no suspense in this match.

And Schalke 04's performance wasn't very good either.

After losing Neuer, Schalke 04's goalkeeper had always been a big problem.

"Dortmund is really strong…" When everyone was silent, Guo Nu finally found a chance to express his feelings.

No one responded to him because he said something obvious. This Dortmund with Zhou Yi was certainly strong. It could even be said that in the Bundesliga, the current Dortmund was almost without opponents—they had just defeated the Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich, and now even the Ruhr derby opponent couldn't threaten them.

Perhaps Europe was their final destination.

※※※

After Dortmund led by two goals, Zhou Yi was substituted off in the seventy-fifth minute.

This Ruhr derby didn't need him to stay on the field and fight anymore. On the contrary, he had to guard against the opponent injuring Zhou Yi after they became desperate.

So Klopp took Zhou Yi off early.

Zhou Yi, who was taken off, received a standing ovation from all Dortmund fans at Westfalenstadion.

He waved to the fans, then high-fived Gundogan and left the field.

After coming off, Klopp came up to embrace him, and he high-fived the teammates and coaching staff on the bench one by one.

Everyone had relaxed smiles on their faces.

There was no suspense in this match.

※※※

"No need to watch anymore, right?" Seeing Zhou Yi leave, Sun Pan asked everyone.

"No need to watch. Let's go to sleep early, there's a match tomorrow night." He Ying nodded.

"Yeah." Yang Muge and Guo Nu had no objections either.

Sun Pan turned off the television, and He Ying and Guo Nu got up to leave.

Before leaving, He Ying said to Yang Muge: "Lao Yang, really, think about it carefully."

"I will think about it. Thank you, He Ying." Yang Muge thanked politely.

"Yeah." Only then did He Ying and Guo Nu leave Sun Pan and Yang Muge's room.

Yang Muge closed the door, and Sun Pan asked him: "Have you decided where to go on loan? Why not come to Atletico Madrid and be my teammate!"

Yang Muge smiled slightly: "La Liga teams have a limited number of non-EU foreign players each season. Atletico Madrid wouldn't be so stupid as to waste a quota on a Chinese player."

"Uh…" Sun Pan scratched his head. It was disappointing not being able to be teammates with Yang Muge.

"Besides, Sun Pan, actually, I'd rather be your opponent."