Whether financially or on the pitch, they were a very small club.
"Don't underestimate them. It's precisely because of their long-standing weakness that they've set many precedents in German football."
"Oh?" Wang Shuo's curiosity was piqued.
"As you know, there's always been a tradition in German professional clubs of promoting former players to core management positions."
"But in '91, Mainz President Harald Strutz made a stunning decision. He hired a 28-year-old Christian Heidel to be the team's general manager."
"What shocked the entire German football scene was that before that, Christian Heidel had never even worked in the professional football industry."
"Why?" Wang Shuo was utterly shocked.
'That's insane!'
'Even if it did happen in the early 90s.'
"Heidel is a Mainz native. His father, Herbert Heidel, served as the mayor of Mainz for a long time. With only a high school education, he began taking over his family's business, BMW Home, at the age of 21."
"In '90, BMW Home sponsored a Mainz match. That was his first exposure to football, and it earned him a fortune. So he sought out Strutz and proposed joining Mainz himself."
It all clicked for Wang Shuo.
'Even if he was leveraging his advantages as the son of an official and a wealthy heir, to achieve something like that by age 27… his ability was truly undeniable.'
"After Heidel took over Mainz, he began to radically overhaul the team. This included inviting Wolfgang Frank—a coach who was making a name for himself in Switzerland at the time—to spearhead a tactical revolution at Mainz in 1995."
"They were the first team in the German football scene to use a four-man backline and a zonal marking system. It was groundbreaking."
Wang Shuo nodded.
He had heard from his old principal, Gao Huairen, that even today, many German teams still played with a three-man backline.
In the 90s, the three-man backline system was all the rage in the Bundesliga.
"It's a shame, though. Wolfgang Frank coached Mainz on two separate occasions, in '95 and '98, but he never managed to get the team promoted to the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, his reforms were undoubtedly a massive success."
Hearing this, Wang Shuo couldn't help but think of the principal of his football academy, Gao Huairen.
'He was also a reformer in Chinese football. It's just a shame he failed!'
'Especially in '02, when they failed to qualify for the World Cup in Korea and Japan. That failure was devastating!'
'But people who have the courage to push for reform always deserve respect!'
"Entering the 21st century, Heidel continued to drive reform at Mainz. This includes the current first-team head coach, Jurgen Klopp; the second-team head coach, Peter Neustadter; and the U19 youth team head coach, Jurgen Kramny."
"Not only are they all young, up-and-coming coaches in their prime, but they also all played for that Mainz team under Wolfgang Frank."
"From the first team, to the second team, to the U19s, and all the way down through the entire youth academy, everyone follows that same modern, advanced football philosophy from Frank's era."
Wang Shuo thought of Barça.
'I never would have thought a similar team existed in the German football scene.'
'The difference is that Barça is a giant club, so their story is world-famous.'
'But Mainz is just a small, obscure team.'
'How many other stories like this must there be across the entire European football scene?'
"In this Mainz system with a four-man backline and zonal marking, player movement is paramount. In addition to a solid technical foundation, you must have incredible stamina."
"Also, because Mainz is a small club, they're very open-minded. They're not only willing to promote young players but also actively recruit and rely on foreign players. This could be a great opportunity for you."
"Right now, there's a 19-year-old South Korean forward in the U19s, and a 23-year-old Japanese midfielder on the second team."
Wang Shuo nodded silently.
Only after coming to Germany did he learn that Japan and South Korea arranged for many players his age to come to Germany for training every year.
The German Football Association had even signed agreements with both Japan and South Korea, giving players from those countries the green light to come to Germany.
China, on the other hand, lagged far behind its East Asian rivals.
...
Like most German clubs,
Mainz's training ground was right next to Bruch Road Stadium.
It was very small.
The youth academy was on the stadium's west side, separated from it by an ice hockey club's arena and a municipal multi-purpose sports hall.
The Mainz youth academy wasn't large either. From the youngest age groups up to the U19s and the second team, everyone shared three standard-sized football fields, staggering their training schedules.
The first team's training ground was adjacent to the north stand of Bruch Road Stadium, but it consisted of only a single training field.
This just went to show how poor Mainz's facilities really were.
But for that very reason, Mainz lacked the arrogant air of other German professional clubs.
This was especially apparent when Wang Shuo stepped onto the training ground with Thomas Essien, and the U19 head coach, Jurgen Kramny, immediately came forward to greet them.
"Hey, great to see you, Thomas!"
"Jurgen, my friend!"
The two men shared a warm embrace.
Wang Shuo wasn't surprised.
Thomas Essien had told him that he and Jurgen Kramny had been teammates for six months at Nuremberg during the first half of 1995, when Essien was on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
"So this is the Wang you mentioned?"
"Yes, Thomas. He's a very talented kid. His teacher was the one I told you about, my best friend, Gao."
"Oh, of course I remember."
Kramny immediately smiled, turned to Wang Shuo, and extended his hand. "Welcome to Mainz, my Chinese friend."
After receiving nothing but the cold shoulder since arriving in Germany, Wang Shuo was actually a bit taken aback by such a warm reception. He quickly shook Kramny's hand.
Wang Shuo knew from Thomas Essien that this affable-looking head coach was anything but simple.
The man was 37 years old. After retiring as a player for Mainz in '06, he took over as the U19 head coach. In just one year, he led the Mainz U19 team to promotion, and they were currently competing in the German U19 League's Southern Division.
Their record wasn't bad, either.
His tactical philosophy was very advanced and had garnered a great deal of praise and attention.
Thanks to his connection with Thomas Essien, Kramny was exceptionally friendly and warm toward Wang Shuo.
He personally led him into the locker room to meet all of his new teammates.
The Mainz U19 squad consisted of 25 players, including two goalkeepers.
Most of them were 18, with only one forward, a kid named Andre Schürrle, being the same age as Wang Shuo at 17.
Among the 25 players, there was only one other foreigner: Kim Jeonghoon from South Korea.
After some brief introductions, Wang Shuo was handed a training kit and joined the team's practice session.
The moment he started training, Wang Shuo immediately felt that something about him was different.
'How should I put it?'
As a player, he was keenly aware of his own body.
The daily training intensity for the Mainz U19s wasn't particularly high, and the drills were similar to what Wang Shuo had done with his previous teams.
After the warm-up, they began running laps without a ball.
After the first lap, Wang Shuo felt like he'd barely exerted himself at all.
So, on the second lap, he began to pick up the pace.
He wanted to get his body fully warmed up.
But to his surprise, he still felt nothing.
This surprised him, and a wave of delight washed over him.
'The boost from the passive skill, [Breathing], is this huge!'
Even after two full laps, his breathing remained perfectly even, without the slightest hint of strain.
So, on the third lap, he picked up the pace again.
He wanted to see just how far his stamina could go now that he had the [Breathing] passive skill.
But he was completely oblivious to the fact that after picking up his pace on the second lap, he had now reached the very front of the pack by the third.
He was even starting to pull away from the others.
This immediately made Thomas Essien's heart skip a beat on the sidelines.
'What's gotten into Wang Shuo today?'
'Why is he in such a rush to show off?'
'If he goes all out from the very beginning, will he even be able to last through the rest of practice?'
Wang Shuo paid no attention to any of this, completely immersed in the surprise and excitement of his new enhancement.
'Having a cheat ability feels amazing!'