Chapter 1017: Punishment for the Midfielders & Higo’s Current Situation

"Come on, Morita! The ball is in front of you! Run!"

"Mustafi, you are the veteran here! Read it better! Anticipate where the second ball will go!"

"Jonas! How could you get beaten in the duel again?! Do you want to visit the gym or what?!"

It was the day after the whole team was back from Stuttgart, and Frohling didn’t even give the players any time to take a breath and enjoy a day off.

No, that humiliating defeat was enough to blind the man’s emotions, as right now, he was punishing the three midfielders for their terrible performance two days ago, when they got beaten left and right in a rebound scenario.

The punishment itself was simple: being made into a mini-game.

A player would cross a ball to the penalty box where no striker was fighting, and the defenders there would clear the ball to the space in front of the penalty box.

The task for the trio of midfielders was to rush from inside the box to get the second ball, or at least prevent the opponent from getting a comfortable space to recycle the play.

As for the opponent, well... That was where the punishment part was, as Frohling didn’t even hesitate to let six players fight against those three for that rebound.

Yeah, it was 6v3, with one player having to contain two from the opponent’s side.

The punishment would only be deemed over once that trio managed to win at least 30 rebound balls, which was not something easy since they were outnumbered.

So, yeah, in the end, everyone looked at them in pity as one by one, those three wilted from exhaustion as they couldn’t even stand properly after the punishment was over.

"Damn..." Morita panted heavily while also lying on the ground, his heart pounding too fast for his liking. "Evil... Sensei is evil..."

"Fuck, this is the first month I am here, and I already face this bullshit?!" Mustafi also couldn’t help but groan, holding his knees while letting all the sweat fall to the grass.

As for Jonas Hofmann, the boy couldn’t even speak anymore, being so close to the death door already just from this punishment session.

While the others might be concerned about them, Frohling didn’t even think about that. No, this punishment was monitored by some of the guys from the medical team, so if something bad happened, they would be able to stop it directly.

If anything, though, the coach was so satisfied with the result of the punishment that he saw it.

In the first thirty minutes, those three couldn’t even coordinate properly to get the rebound ball and snatch it from their opponent.

However, the improvement appeared gradually, as they started communicating with each other more, allowing them to cover more ground and protect the second ball exactly like the coach wanted.

If there was a graphic of how they did that, everyone would be astonished to see that the first ten wins that they got today came in the first hour, and yet, in the next hour, the same 60-minute period just like before, those three managed to complete the 30 wins that the coach set for them.

This showed that once everything clicked inside them, they could win any rebound balls with the teamwork that they had been training today.

’Yeah, maybe the next game wouldn’t be as bad as before...’ The man murmured inwardly.

Of course, there would always be an anomaly here, a person who didn’t feel joy or pity when he saw those three being tortured by the head coach.

This time, that person was none other than Ao Tanaka, as the boy felt immense pressure from this punishment.

It wasn’t the kind of pressure for him to avoid the punishment at all costs, but the boy could see clearly that after the punishment was over, those three got better at playing together, and now, he felt like his chance to get into the first team somehow became harder than ever.

’Shit! I should’ve volunteered to join this shenanigan! It would also help me integrate myself quicker into the team! Now, I wasted that fucking chance, Goddamnit!’

Yeah, at this point, the boy regretted that he didn’t get punished with the other three as well.

Unfortunately, the coach didn’t even blink when he brushed off his request. After all, in the last game, he only came from the bench in the second half to replace Hofmann, and the boy managed to hold his ground well enough to improve the midfield with his mobility.

In the coach’s words, he would never punish someone who didn’t make a mistake, so Tanaka had to accept that the midfield line would grow stronger than ever without him.

The defeat against Stuttgart was also a wake-up call for the team, making them realize that without Higo protecting the back, they were so fragile and easy to be torn apart.

It wasn’t like Fahrmann did a bad job, per se. No, if anything, with a little preparation that he had, the man was quite decent between the posts, making some important saves that held back the opponent’s offense in the crucial moment.

However, once again, Fahrmann was not Higo, and the man couldn’t give a reassuring feeling that everything was going to be okay even if the defense slipped.

That was probably the feeling that only a top goalkeeper like Higo could give, one that reassured the team’s defense that someone bigger than them would always have their back.

Unfortunately, though, they still had to fight with Fahrmann on the back once again, as in the next game, Higo was still not being allowed to join the team.

"While yes, he has been joining the training session in full in the last couple of days, that doesn’t mean he is ready to go," Guzman explained.

"However, in some strength tests that we have done so far, his fingers still couldn’t hold on against a normal shot, let alone a powerful one. If you forced him, he would be prone to make a mistake, and not only that, his situation could get worse in the future."

Higo just sighed as he listened to the explanation, shrugging at the head coach helplessly.

"Sorry, Sensei, but the doctor has already given his instructions. I cannot do anything else here..."