[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills":3,"chapter-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-172":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},484008,734,"Chapter 172 - 55: Devil’s Footwork! Toying with Neuer! That Flamboyant Ball Control! He Saves Mainz Once Again","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-172",172,"\u003Cp>If the opponent pressed hard, he would drop back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the defender followed him out, Schürrle would make a diagonal run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had already tried similar link-ups a few times before, and the results were quite good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Foyelner’s speed was decent, his instincts for diagonal runs weren’t sharp enough, so he often failed to seize the opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schürrle, on the other hand, was very decisive with his runs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most importantly, both Foyelner and Hainauer were good passers, and both were two-footed players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just thinking about it made Wang Shuo envious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was also training his left foot hard now. Coupled with the boost from [Coordination], his progress was acceptable. But while it was fine for controlling the ball and playing a supporting role, it was still a far cry from being as good as his dominant foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the German football scene was famous for producing two-footed freaks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They said it had something to do with the development of the right brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knew?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Andrei, as long as I give you the signal, just charge forward. Think of yourself as a striker. I’ll cover for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shuo was referring to covering against counter-attacks if they lost the ball upfield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, if Schürrle could perform well on the right wing, it would greatly alleviate the defensive pressure on Wang Shuo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nowadays, every team in the Bundesliga had the same damn tactic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shut down Wang Shuo!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they knew Mainz had no other tricks up their sleeve!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was ridiculous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pressure on Wang Shuo was immense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Midweek, in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals, Mainz hosted Schalke 04.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although it was the quarter-finals, neither side went all out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mainz rested players like Wang Shuo, Hainauer, and Schürrle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schalke 04, for their part, rested star players like Rakitic and Little Altıntop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even their center-forward, Kuranyi, only played the first half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During halftime, Luten substituted Little Altıntop for Kuranyi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The score was still 0-0 at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Klopp made some personnel changes for this match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The midfield was a combination of Foyelner, Pekovic, and Kalhan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attacking trident up front was a combination of Bobagavats, Bancé, and Balik.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the results were still underwhelming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only relatively pleasing thing was that the two center-backs in this match, Roman Neustadter and Bungert, partnered well and did a good job of containing Kuranyi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young defenders are like that—inexperienced, with inconsistent performances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the skill and potential of these two players were obvious for all to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then there was Kirschhoff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made mistakes, sure, but what young defender doesn’t?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the 64th minute, seeing that his team’s prolonged attacks were fruitless, Luten brought on Rakitic for the midfielder Engelaar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the signal that Schalke 04 was sounding the charge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two minutes later, Klopp substituted Elgin Soto for Bobagavats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Bobagavats came off the pitch and returned to the bench, Wang Shuo made a point of standing up to shake his hand and offer a few words of comfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This forward was actually very good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At only 1.69 meters tall, he had the typical playing style of a small Eastern European player—excellent individual technique and exceptionally fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His performances in daily training were actually quite good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when it came to a real match, he just couldn’t deliver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey, Wang, have you noticed? Bancé can’t hold up the ball at all up front. Why isn’t the boss considering a substitution?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schürrle, sitting next to him, gently tapped Wang Shuo’s arm and asked, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this match, Bancé was up against Schalke 04’s two tall center-backs: the 1.91-meter-tall Krstajic and the 1.89-meter-tall Brazilian center-back Marcelo Bodden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both center-backs had burly physiques and powerful bodies, and they were both excellent at one-on-one defending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why Schalke 04 had the best defense in the Bundesliga so far this season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had only conceded 21 goals in 22 matches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mainz had conceded 27 goals, ranking them third.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hertha Berlin had conceded 26.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a center-forward, Bancé’s greatest strengths were his powerful physique, extremely strong ability in physical confrontations, and his skill with headers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when he was on the pitch, Mainz mostly played long balls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Balik and Bobagavats were the ones Klopp had tasked with attacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Bancé won the ball in the air, he was supposed to lay it off for them to play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on the pitch, it just wasn’t working.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You could even say it was terrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why hadn’t he been substituted yet?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’If I were Klopp, I probably wouldn’t make a substitution this quickly either,’ Wang Shuo considered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To wear down the opponent a bit more,\" Wang Shuo guessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You mean...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let Bancé keep battling with Bodden and Krstajic, wear them down as much as possible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shuo guessed that Klopp had a two-pronged plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality, both teams in this match were operating under the same major premise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The DFB-Pokal was less important than the league.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bundesliga match on the weekend, Matchday 23, was the crucial battle for points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This DFB-Pokal quarter-final... it would be great to win it, of course, but if they couldn’t, they still needed to conserve their energy for the weekend’s match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Klopp’s calculations were the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He probably had a specific time in mind for a substitution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before that point, if Schalke 04 scored, then Mainz would give up on the DFB-Pokal, and Wang Shuo wouldn’t be brought on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the score was still deadlocked when that time came, then he would bring on Wang Shuo to strengthen the attack and make a final push.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before that, Bancé’s job was to wear down the opponent’s center-backs’ stamina as much as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not only to prepare for the final stages of the current match but also to lay the groundwork for the league game on the weekend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing Wang Shuo’s detailed analysis, Schürrle was completely stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>",974,"2026-05-30T11:12:32.829Z","2026-06-01T04:31:05.348Z",1,"novelbin.me","81aa2102ea8972f9011a5e4711ab6cf7f09caaa9813ee70237e2ae192550daf2","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-173","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-171",400,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-cover.jpg"]