Champion’s Heart

Going to the Westfalenstadion and watching a game from the South Stand really touched Mark a lot.

After returning from the stadium, Mark devoted himself to training every day. After the team's normal training session, he and Zhou Yi would conduct additional training in the gym. Zhou Yi handed Wang Le over to his training muscles The set of power will be handed over to Mark.

Then Mark did his strength training, while Zhou Yi did his physical training.

Zhou Yi also practiced harder than before, and it was not only Mark who was affected by the South Stand, but also him...

The two teenagers worked hard together in order to improve their strength and realize their dreams.

During this period, the u19 league is still going on.

In fact, there are not many U19 league games. There are only 26 rounds in the West League, but the time is very long, because there are still playoffs, that is, the championship play-offs. If the playoffs are included, the entire league will not be until June. It will end on the twenty-eighth day.

But don't worry about the lack of games. In addition to the league, there is also the German Youth League Cup in which u19 participate.

In addition, some warm-up matches and friendly matches will be arranged when there are no league matches and cup matches.

So the number of games is enough.

Zhou Yi has consolidated his main position in the team through his outstanding performance in games and training.

Yebara also placed Zhou Yi in the position of the team organizer. He became the hub of the team's offense. After Gotze was liberated, he could play a greater role in scoring, and he could also help the team when necessary. Zhouyi shared the task of organizing the attack. It is guaranteed that Dortmund u19's offense will not be hindered.

The benefits of Zhou Yi's insistence on physical training have also emerged. His playing time is increasing by the minute.

With the addition of Zhou Yi, Dortmund u19s have made great strides in the league, gradually throwing rival Borussia Mönchengladbach u19s farther and farther.

As for the u19 of Dortmund's rival Schalke 04 in the Ruhr area, it is even further away from Dortmund.

The league has reached the 20th round. Dortmund U19 has 16 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, with 52 points, ranking first. The second team in the league changed from Borussia Mönchengladbach u19s to Bayer Leverkusen u19s. Forty-eight points. Borussia Mönchengladbach u19 became third with 46 points. Schalke 04's u19 only scored 38 points, ranking fourth.

According to the rules of the German u19 league, the whole of Germany is divided into three divisions, namely the southern division, the western division and the northern division.

There are fourteen participating teams in each division. After 26 rounds of league competition, the top two teams in the Southern Division and the top two teams in the Western Division and Northern Division will advance to the final playoffs. fight. After two rounds of home and away games, the two teams that will advance to the playoff finals will be determined.

The final is a decided match on a gravity field.

As long as Dortmund u19 can get the first place in the Western League. They will advance to the playoffs and have the opportunity to compete for the National U19 Youth League Championship.

In addition, Dortmund also performed well in the U19 German Cup. They have reached the quarter-finals, which is the quarter-finals.

The quarter-finals will be played on April 12, with Borussia Dortmund U19s playing against Koblens U19s at home.

During this period of time, Zhou Yi did not miss every game. It's just that the playing time is longer or shorter.

And Mark. He hasn't played in the u19 yet. Although he has been selected for several matches, he has been sitting on the bench.

But Mark's mentality is different from when he first entered the U19. He is not anxious about whether he can play, he is just training patiently and earnestly. After training every day, I will have extra training with Zhou Yi in the gym.

At the same time, in terms of diet, both of them will now eat a lot of beef and protein powder to increase muscle.

After all, strength comes from muscles, and muscles are the foundation. If you don't have any muscles, how can you practice. The strength will not increase much.

In such day-to-day training, March passed.

When Mark confronted his defender teammates in training, he no longer wanted to be like that at the beginning, always falling when touched. There is a very intuitive impression that when the training is over, Mark's clothes are no longer so dirty.

For this change, Mark is very excited.

It was true what Zhou Yi said. Now that he finally found the right way, even if he trains hard now, he doesn't have to be afraid of messing things up.

Although he didn't get the chance to play, Mark's face was always full of smiles, just like his last time in U17. He is full of good vision for his future.

※ ※ ※

Lars Ricken will come to Yebara regularly to learn about Zhou Yi and Gotze's training and competition in U19.

These two people should now be regarded as young players that the club values ​​more.

Gotze is the highest-quality product of Dortmund's youth training, and naturally received a lot of attention.

And Zhou Yi is a youth player transfer deal that Klopp personally finalized, and Ricken will naturally not neglect it.

Gotze's performance is more dazzling, but it is actually related to Zhouyi. Yebara said to Ricken. Before Zhou Yi came, Gotze had to take on too many tasks. After Zhou Yi came, he was liberated and allowed to play freely, which actually made him perform better.

Rickon had personally watched Zhou Yi's match with the Chinese team, so he was not surprised at Yebala's statement.

At the beginning, many members of the Chinese team were not as good as Dortmund's youth team, but after Zhouyi, they were able to compete with Dortmund u17 for a period of time, which is enough to explain the problem.

There are two kinds of cores in this world. One is the person who has outstanding performance and can personally attack the team and win for the team; the other is that his performance does not look as dazzling as the number one star in the team. , but he is indeed an indispensable figure. Because his existence can improve the level and combat effectiveness of the entire team.

But in Rickon's view. Zhou Yi belongs to the latter.

I also consciously let Gotze and Zhou Yi often cooperate, whether it is training or competition, so that they have more contact. They are now the golden partners in my team. Yebara introduced.

Speaking of golden partner, Rickon suddenly thought of another person.

By the way, what about Mark Wagner?

Him? Yebara was surprised why Rickon would suddenly ask this person.

Yes, he was still outstanding in the U17s, how is he doing?

He...hasn't played in my team yet.

Rickon was a little surprised when he heard this: It's not about him, is it? Isn't he and Zhou Yi's cooperation very tacit?

The problem is that he only cooperates tacitly with Zhou Yi. He doesn't cooperate well with everyone else...

Is that so... Rickon frowned, but didn't continue to ask.

He also just cared about Mark in passing. The focus is still on Zhou Yi and Gotze, he doesn't care how far Mark can play.

Rickon asked casually, and then stopped mentioning this person.

But Yebala suddenly remembered this person.

He noticed Mark's performance in the recent training period, and the previous changes.

One obvious change is that when Mark confronts his teammates in training, it is not so easy to lose the ball.

It is said that he is training strength with Zhou Yi, it seems that this kid is really working hard.

When Mark was transferred to his team, he looked down on his performance. What is the value of a striker who can only rely on Zhou Yi to send a nanny to assist and score goals?

He completed a hat-trick in the team game, and it can't change Yebara's evaluation of him.

To be honest, it's because Zhou Yi's level is high, and it doesn't mean that Mark Wagner's level is also high.

But unexpectedly, Mark Wagner did not give up. Although one day, his performance was very bad, but he continued to work hard. And it keeps getting better and better.

There are not as many players in the youth team as in the first team. There are only twenty people, so the coach is very clear about everyone's performance.

Ricken suddenly mentioned Mark today, which reminded Yebara that Mark hadn't had a chance to play since he changed. Shouldn't such a hard-working youngster be given a chance to show what he's learned in training?

Yebara used to think that Mark was a useless player without Zhou Yi, but now, Mark has proved in various trainings and team games that he can perform well without Zhou Yi. As a striker, he finally dared to Confronted with the opposing defender.

And not just dare to fight.

In the team game, Mark ran more actively than before. Even if he can't score, his running can also create space for other teammates.

When Mark was just promoted to U19, Yebara saw a young man who positioned himself as the successor of Inzaghi.

He can catch Zhou Yi's assists and score goals.

But other than that, his contribution to the team is almost zero.

With the development of modern football for so many years, an Inzaghi-style forward has long since lost his foothold.

The role of the striker is not only to score goals, but also to be given more responsibilities, such as playing the ball for teammates, such as controlling the opponent's possession and delivery of the ball in the backcourt, such as going up to intercept when defending in a high position...

A mere copy of Inzaghi is worthless in Yebala's eyes.

He doesn't need a second Inzaghi.

But after this period of hard work, Mark is also undergoing changes. From a forward who only knows how to score goals and can't help anything but goals, he has become an active runner who dares to head-on with the opponent's defender. A person who can hold the ball and can participate in the team's offensive system.

He is more comprehensive than before.

This is not the kind of sea change that happens overnight.

It's about improving a little every day, and every day is a little bit better than yesterday.

If Ricken hadn't mentioned Mark suddenly, Yebara probably wouldn't have thought of it.

But thinking about it now, Yebara realized how much Mark had improved during this period.

And the efforts he had made for these negligence also reappeared in Yebala's mind.

Should such a hard-working player, regardless of his ability, be given a chance?

but……

Yebara thought again that the next game would be the Ruhr Derby. Dortmund u19 challenged Schalke 04u19 away.

This kind of competition does not seem to be used for rewards... (To be continued.)