Field Commander - Chapter 30

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 30.

Chapter 30.

Chapter 30.

Training at Freiburg II was from 9 AM to 2 PM.

Only lunch was provided for meals, and breakfast and dinner had to be taken care of individually.

The club had state-of-the-art equipment that couldn’t be seen at Cheongju FC, and they checked physical condition daily with it.

Individual training schedules in the afternoon would sometimes change accordingly.

Training during weekdays, and practice games with other nearby teams on Saturdays.

Sunday was a comfortable rest day with no training or games.

– Do not do individual training outside of the club’s training hours. Especially intense exercise is absolutely prohibited.

However, they would sometimes give homework if there were areas that needed more reinforcement.

– Kim. Your fitness grade is C+.

By the way, the fitness mentioned here wasn’t about how much game time you could handle, but innate fitness determined by measuring metabolic processes in my body.

– You’re not suitable for running in extremely fast-paced games for long periods. There’s a need for improvement even if it takes time. From now on, adjust your diet like this, you must sleep before 9 PM… you need 8 hours of quality sleep. You need to work up a good sweat for about 2 hours on weekends. At a level that doesn’t exceed Zone 2 heart rate.

It was advice from experienced and skilled professionals.

Of course, seeing that they didn’t know I didn’t have a girlfriend, they probably weren’t dating experts.

‘This is comfortable.’

So much support was provided that I could really focus solely on soccer itself.

I hadn’t played soccer this way very often, so it felt like coming to a whole new world.

– Don’t be greedy, Kim. If we’re talking about soccer experience alone, I have about 30 years, and I’ve seen many guys during that time? The ones who set goals and work consistently are the ones who ultimately survive in this field. The guys who get greedy and ignore what the club says disappear at some point.

Adam also gave warm advice.

He even invited me to lunch on my first weekend in Germany.

And another person who stuck close to my side.

Smith Koehler, 21 years old, wearing number 33.

For a German, he was only 175cm tall and had a rather small build.

However, he was a player with incredibly fast feet and very good ball touch.

Freiburg SC’s tactics itself was defend first, counter attack, and this guy clearly couldn’t defend at all, so he was definitely excluded from the starting squad.

“Ta-da. A gift!”

Adam was easy to get close to since we had a common enemy in Gunter, but I don’t know what’s with this guy.

He acted friendly out of nowhere and then brought a heavy object.

PlayStation 2.

“I told you I don’t do this stuff.”

“It’s good to get along with the players. It’s advice from a team senior. This is much healthier than going to clubs and partying. The manager recommends this hobby too.”

It’s not even hard selling, he’s forcing it on me.

I couldn’t keep refusing, so I accepted it…

“What do you want?”

Then the guy sticks close to me.

“What kind of player do you prefer?”

“A fast forward who finds space well.”

“What do you think I should do for you to like me?”

“So you want to get my help?”

“I guarantee you’ll definitely get attention, and like you said, you’ll quickly get called up to the first team. So if we sync up well enough, good things will happen for me too.”

I don’t know about other things, but anything related to soccer is welcome.

Thanks to them, I had no time at all to feel the alienation of coming to a foreign country.

Well, the PlayStation that Smith gave me is still in its box in the corner of my room.

– What? Why are you here already?

And Gunter.

In the practice game against Landsberg, a 5th division league team, a week later, I got a chance to play in the second half.

Unlike the first half that ended 0-0, I recorded one assist and led the team to a 2-0 victory.

It must have been after that game ended.

Since it’s my habit to come out early and warm up lightly before work hours, I always come 30 minutes early.

This guy who used to show up right on time suddenly came before me and was warming up?

“I’m going up before you.”

I wasn’t trying to compete over something like this, but looking at the guy’s expression, I couldn’t just stay put.

So I came out a bit earlier…

Gunter came out even earlier…

Eventually we ended up coming out together at 7 AM when the training ground manager arrived for work.

“Hey.”

Warming up for 2 hours is really boring work.

30 minutes would be enough, but because of that bastard, I’m also waking up at dawn and spending time.

“What?”

When I called him, the guy answered indifferently.

“Is this fun?”

“Why, is it fun for you?”

“It’s not fun.”

“Then don’t come early.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Does coming early get you to the first team faster?”

“You do everything you can.”

“Fine.”

I decided to persuade the guy.

“Then should we do some 1-on-1 practice?”

“What?”

“Why, don’t you want to?”

“What kind of 1-on-1 are you talking about?”

“Defense, shooting, whatever. We can change whenever we get tired of it.”

“Why should I do that?”

“You want to get called up to the first team quickly, right? Then you can’t spend meaningless time like this.”

The guy who was still glaring with a displeased and dissatisfied expression nodded his head, showing his brain was working.

“Fine.”

* * *

After the 4th week preseason practice game ended, the coaches used this expression about Kim Sang-hyuk.

‘Lottery jackpot.’

First of all, since he came after playing a season in Korea, his body was already built compared to other players, and his game fitness was overwhelming.

Although he came in as a substitute in every friendly match, he displayed the most outstanding ability on the team and dominated the field.

He turned losing games into draws and brought victory in games that would have been draws.

When the season started, no one would object to the opinion that Kim Sang-hyuk should be used as a key player.

Klaus slightly pushed the curtain and looked down at the training ground right below.

7:30 AM.

Two players were already out there doing something.

Although he had strictly prohibited individual practice, Klaus had no intention of reprimanding the two players.

Gunter and Kim Sang-hyuk, who had the most outstanding abilities on the team.

Gunter was going through a position change from center back to fullback, and Kim Sang-hyuk wasn’t familiar with this team’s tactics.

He thought both needed special curriculum, and they were doing it themselves.

– I’m worried their relationship might get even worse.

Captain Jeff and vice-captain Adam expressed their concerns during the meeting.

Gunter never passed to Kim Sang-hyuk during the match, and Gunter didn’t show the kind of movement that would warrant receiving passes from Kim Sang-hyuk.

But Klaus didn’t bring up any of these issues.

‘If you’re an adult, you should know how to solve things yourself.’

That was the kind of person he was.

Streich was a bit different though.

They were completely immersed in the competition, regardless of who was watching.

They shouted and got angry, but neither of them crossed the line.

‘Originally, guys become friends by clashing with each other.’

Moreover, these two players had to play the most crucial roles on this team.

Kim Sang-hyuk was a player who was difficult to describe in words.

If you don’t pay attention to him, he’s not a particularly standout player on the field.

That’s inevitable since he’s the guy who plays defense and connects the ball to midfielders.

But when you watch him carefully, he pulls off plays that make you wonder if such things are even possible.

Especially when someone needs to do something special for the team, that guy always manages to pull something off.

Whether it’s delivering a crucial key pass, making an assist, or scoring with his high jumping power in set piece situations.

‘It seems like he hasn’t shown everything he’s got yet.’

What a cunning guy.

Gunter was fast, handled the ball well, had very good defensive skills, and could also attack.

If those two could just sync up well, they could completely destroy the left side against any team in the 4th division league.

They could use the devastated left side to advance their attack, or when opposing players were drawn to the left side, they could utilize the wide open space on the right side.

The key was the chemistry between those two guys.

‘If that happens…’

Wouldn’t they become an undefeated team in the 4th division league?

‘To think I’m having such fantasies just because one guy showed up…’

One thing was certain…

It was like winning the lottery.

* * *

Meanwhile, Freiburg SC, entering the final stages of the preseason, went to Spain for training camp and had an official friendly match against a local Division 3 team.

The result was a 1-2 loss.

Originally their performance wasn’t this terrible, but two starting players didn’t play properly due to dissatisfaction with transfers.

They had wanted to transfer and leave before the preseason, and when that fell through, they were leading a work slowdown.

They had barely avoided relegation last season, and now with things going wrong from the start of this season, the local newspaper FBC began attacking manager Streich relentlessly.

– At the end of the preseason, they lost against a Spanish Division 3 team whose performance was far below theirs. Does this club really have a future and hope?

Additionally, criticism followed that the players ruining the team atmosphere were foreign mercenaries, and they shouldn’t hire any more mercenaries.

“You’re not actually bothered by it, are you?”

Streich shook his head at the words of Jorg, his longtime friend and colleague.

“Of course not. There’s no player in this world who comes before the team. My philosophy on that is clear.”

It also meant he wouldn’t give any more chances to the players who had led the work slowdown this time.

“I’ve already strongly suggested to the club. To send them away as quickly as possible. And those two guys have already packed their bags and left.”

“That must be a headache.”

“Well. What about the materials I asked for?”

Jorg said while flipping through a file folder.

“As you expected, Gunter’s attitude has changed.”

“Really?”

“That lazy guy is now training the hardest in the reserve team, they say.”

“Unmanageable success experienced at a young age sometimes breaks players’ mentality. And many players just disappear like that, so this is fortunate. How’s the reserve team atmosphere?”

He hadn’t been able to hear the exact story from that side since he was focused on training camp in Spain.

“Very good. You know Smith Koehler?”

“Smith? That fast guy?”

“Right. Klaus praised that guy, saying his skills have improved greatly.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting. The reserve team atmosphere that was terrible for years is good, and the players are working that hard?”

“According to Klaus, Kim is leading the team atmosphere.”

“Huh? Already?”

Skills and leadership were separate things, after all.

“Gunter is dedicating himself to training to get called up to the first team before Kim, and Smith is fixing his bad habits to sync up with Kim. Thanks to that, they’ve already scored 10 goals in 4 practice matches.”

“In a situation where the team has no special forwards, that’s very hopeful.”

Jorg called out cautiously.

“Will you call them up right away?”

“Not yet. After watching the league matches.”

The Bundesliga was one of Europe’s top 5 leagues where monsters were positioned everywhere.

Streich had seen countless promising players who came up too early based on a few flashes of skill, then lost confidence and gave up soccer.

That’s why they needed to continue tempering in the reserve team for a while.

“Can you hold out without new signings?”

“If we just avoid relegation, we can have hope for next season.”

This season’s budget was woefully insufficient due to paying back money borrowed from the bank.

But the club had explained that they could allocate a substantial transfer budget for next season.

“We’ll have to play soccer that doesn’t concede goals rather than soccer that scores goals.”

“The fans will cause an uproar.”

“There are club circumstances to consider.”

* * *

– Knock knock knock.

Professor Huber heard the knocking sound and temporarily closed the research paper he was reading.

“Come in.”

The person who opened the door and entered was Kang Su-yeon, an Asian exchange student.

“Sit there.”

“Okay.”

Kang Su-yeon was achieving top grades in her department, and was consistently ranking in the top three in the nutrition department she had chosen as a minor.

If a local student had these grades, companies would be trying to recruit them even before graduation, but such opportunities weren’t easy for foreigners.

“What did you call me for?”

“You know Freiburg SC, right? The soccer team?”

“You can’t not know them here.”

“Right. They’ve requested an intern who can work for the club on weekends. I think it would be a good opportunity to utilize your major, so I’d like to recommend you. What do you think?”

Her father was a soccer player who used to play for a semi-professional team in the past.

He played recklessly regardless of his physical condition, and had to end his playing career early due to injuries.

After quitting soccer, he supported his family through manual labor, then by chance became a high school manager.

She also loved soccer due to her father’s influence, and watched Maedong High School soccer team matches whenever she had time while her father was the manager there.

Her father had been quite depressed after quitting soccer, but became truly happy in the process of becoming a manager and leading the team to victory in the national tournament.

The person who made her father that happy was Kim Sang-hyuk.

When she heard the news that he had suffered a major injury and couldn’t play soccer anymore, she… chose to study sports medicine instead of regular medicine.

Some people said it was a foolish choice, but recently while studying, she realized that this field suited her better than constantly having to see people’s insides and blood.

Therefore, she answered without any time to hesitate.

“Good. I want to do it.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————