"Los..... Los! Los! Los!"
"Faster, faster, faster! Speed up, pick up the tempo!"
At the Dortmund Training Base, Jürgen Klopp's shouts echoed across the entire field.
Today was Borussia Dortmund's closed training camp. The club specially sent personnel to guard the base, prohibiting all media, fans, and scouts from approaching. Klopp was an impatient man; as soon as he had an idea, he would immediately push for it. Yesterday, he had just discussed with the players about speeding up the tempo in the final third and trying to practice one-touch passing combinations. Today, he immediately gathered the players to conduct offensive training.
First, it was the three-man midfield combination of Nuri Şahin, Jin Hayes, and Sebastian Kehl. Then, Mario Götze and Jakub Błaszczykowski were gradually added, combining wing play with the centre. Finally, the forward Alexander Frei also joined in, occasionally dropping back out of the penalty area to participate in passing and receiving.
It felt like this one-touch passing wasn't that difficult. Teams with intricate passing like Arsenal and Barcelona could easily execute it. In reality, Barcelona's La Masia players were companions who had trained for many years under a unified system, having long developed sufficient chemistry with each other.
Arsenal had also been coached by Arsène Wenger for many years before gradually finding their rhythm of artistic football. Borussia Dortmund had no tradition in this area to begin with. Last season, under Thomas Doll, the Bumblebees were still a team adept at defensive counter-attacks, breaking through defences with wing attacks.
Even though Klopp's Bumblebees practised high-pressing in the new season, their offence wasn't particularly delicate, basically relying only on the connection between Şahin and Jin Hayes, plus Jin Hayes's individual breakthrough ability.
The quick penetration and progression Klopp wanted to practice had only been trained for less than one season. Now, on top of that, they had to speed up the tempo and achieve one-touch passing progression. This was like having just finished learning the basics, and suddenly being asked to perform advanced pieces—he was asking a lot.
Jin Hayes felt fine; his exceptional ball control could easily complete quick one-touch passes, and he could pass to the general direction even with his eyes closed. As for how perfect the precision and creativity of his one-touch passes were—well, at least they were fast.
If Jin Hayes was like this, players like Şahin, Kehl, Götze, and Błaszczykowski felt even worse. Each time one more person was added, the coordinated runs between players became one level more complex. As a result, passes on the field would suddenly become chaotic, passes and runs weren't coordinated, and mistakes were continuous.
"You run into space! I passed it to your front!"
"Are you blind? There's a defender in front of me, how can I get past?"
"Brother, I'm open here! Why didn't you pass?"
"Your pass was too off, are you a professional player?"
"Oh my! My bad, I didn't control the strength well."
Every time there was a mistake, the players on the field would complain to each other.
Mats Hummels, who was in charge of the defensive group, stood by happily, watching the show. He was too happy to see these guys struggle.
"You guys suck, I easily defended you trash just now. And you want to beat Manchester United with this?"
"You motherf*cker!" Şahin responded with some colourful language he'd picked up from Jin Hayes.
"Hit me!" Hummels was still taunting him from the side. He hadn't been happy for more than a few seconds when Klopp's instruction came.
"Defensive group, you don't need to defend anymore, join in too. Start integrating into the passing and possession progression from the backfield."
"Huh?" Hummels's boomerang came back so fast, his smile had now shifted to Şahin's face.
People like to stay in their comfort zones. Change means pain. Today, the Dortmund Training Base was filled with cries of agony. Looking at the young players running on the field, Klopp's expression was a bit grim, and he shook his head helplessly.
"It's a complete mess."
"I think you're too impatient," assistant coach Željko Buvač commented calmly. "Our original progression was also very sharp, and our passing accuracy was very high, the tempo wasn't that slow either."
According to Borussia Dortmund's previous fast attack, each player's rhythm was a three-step process: trap the ball, observe, pass. This was entirely within the normal rules of football, and most teams played this way, so what was wrong with it? Nothing was wrong.
Borussia Dortmund's progression speed was not slow at all, and their forward passes were bold and incisive. Moreover, they also had a nuclear weapon. As long as Jin Hayes was in a good enough position, they could just blindly look for Jin Hayes. He would solve the subsequent offensive problems, sweeping away the opponent's backline with one moment of brilliance. Was this not enough?
"No, far from it. Against weak teams, we can easily crush them like this. But when we encounter truly strong teams, teams that are good in tough matches, we will easily hit a wall. If we don't adapt to the new tactics quickly before playing Manchester United, we will probably have a very hard time."
It was a good thing Klopp said this privately. Otherwise, it would have stirred up a hornet's nest among other fans. Real Madrid, Juventus, and Arsenal fans would have all condemned him, asking who he was calling a weak team.
"That's true, but do you want to get fat in one bite? The artistic football offence you're talking about requires time to take the team's cohesion and chemistry to the next level, only then will practice be effective. Otherwise, if you rush for success like this, it will only leave the team at a loss."
"No, no, no, you're underestimating them." The training ground was still a mess. But Klopp had seen a glimmer of hope in their recent performance. Through the link-up play of the two technical players, Jin Hayes and Şahin, the players on the field seemed to be gradually finding the feel for one-touch passing progression.
...
Bundesliga Matchday 26, Hertha Berlin vs. Borussia Dortmund.
This might be a good opportunity to test the new tactics, and one of the few chances to practice before playing Manchester United.
"Play boldly in this match. We've been practicing the new tactics for a week, it's time to put them into practice."
"Coach, those routines you mentioned, they were still a bit rusty yesterday in training. Do we really have to use them today?" Captain Kehl stepped forward to voice the team's doubts.
"Hertha Berlin is currently ranked 4th, they're not a weak team either. I'm afraid—"
"Don't be afraid, it's just a league match. If we lose, it's on me." Klopp waved his hand, taking the blame onto his own shoulders. Of course, he knew the team's current situation. The complex passing and running routes designed by the coaching staff were still executed poorly yesterday in training. But if they didn't practice now, were they going to wait until they faced Manchester United to practice?
"Jürgen—forget it, suit yourself." Assistant Buvač wanted to complain a bit more but swallowed it back. He realised that Klopp was truly a fanatical gambler.
According to the typical coach's personality, the league would definitely be prioritized. As long as they maintained their points, the league title would be within reach. That would at least guarantee one trophy. Klopp's current actions were still consistent with what he had said before: "I want it all."
Was this guy still thinking about the Champions League title?
Sacrificing the league for the Champions League—what if it turned out to be a total failure, and they ended up with nothing?
Assistant coach Željko Buvač originally wanted to persuade him a bit more, but then changed his mind and gave up. If he could be easily persuaded, his name wouldn't be Jürgen Klopp. Fine, if he wanted to go crazy—then he would go along with it. Anyway, the head coach was Klopp, not Buvač.
"What, got an opinion?" Klopp even turned back and glared at him.
"No, I wouldn't dare."
"Hehe." Klopp seemed to have seen through Buvač's thoughts and grinned.
For Jin Hayes, he just needed to play the match well according to the coaching staff's requirements. If anything went wrong, Klopp would have a lot to consider. After the match began, Hertha Berlin indeed adopted a low stance at home. They feigned an attack, then quickly retreated into a defensive counter-attack mode, letting Borussia Dortmund attack.
Borussia Dortmund players initially used their previous style: Nuri Şahin passed to the wing, then Mario Götze on the left would look for an opportunity to cross to Jin Hayes in the middle. Before receiving the ball, Jin Hayes looked around.
"Seriously, guys? Where are they?" Şahin didn't make a forward run, Götze didn't move towards the centre after passing, and Alexander Frei didn't drop back. There was no one to pass to. Even if Jin Hayes wanted to make a one-touch pass, he couldn't, so he had to control the ball and then look for an opportunity to break through.
It was clear that Hertha Berlin's dense defence made them hesitant to take too many risks. With the defensive midfielder pushing up, Jin Hayes dribbled back two steps, drawing three Hertha Berlin defenders to surround him. Using a clever turn, he dribbled back and then looked for an opportunity to turn and circle.
Like walking a dog, he drew the three opponents behind him, then suddenly accelerated with the ball, charging into the penalty area. With enough passing space, Frei dared to drop back outside the penalty area, also pulling out a centre-back. The two exchanged a glance, a silent signal, Jin Hayes passed the ball and accelerated forward. Frei feigned receiving the ball and breaking through to the left, deceiving the centre-back's centre of gravity, then suddenly stopped and turned, making a one-touch pass to the right flank.
"Wall pass! Beautiful!!" The commentator Mehmet Scholl's eyes lit up; he sensed a hint of something. Borussia Dortmund seemed to be seeking a change today.
Hertha Berlin's left-back rushed forward to intercept Jin Hayes. In the past, Jin Hayes would definitely have tried to dribble past him. But now, Jin Hayes didn't trap the ball; instead, he used the outside of his foot to send a through ball.
"Continuous one-touch passing! Jakub Błaszczykowski!! He's broken through!" Right winger Błaszczykowski, noticing his teammate's subtle movement, accelerated his run early. If Jin Hayes had chosen to dribble past the defender, he would have wasted his energy on a sprint for nothing. It proved that Błaszczykowski's trust was rewarded; Jin Hayes's one-touch pass was perfectly timed.
Błaszczykowski smoothly dribbled the ball inside, cutting into the penalty area unmarked.
Bang! The low cross was incredibly fast, passing through the gap between the defender and the goalkeeper. Götze had already arrived at the far post, sweeping it in with his left foot. The ball flashed past, hitting the bottom corner and nestling into the net.
"OHHHH—Beautiful team play!! Borussia Dortmund, with continuous one-touch passing, unleashed a flowing attack! The Olympiastadion has fallen!" 0-1. Borussia Dortmund took the lead.
"Yes!!!" Seeing such a delightful attack, Klopp cheered with his arms raised on the sidelines. It had to be his most trusted disciple, Jin Hayes. He orchestrated the crucial attack in the middle, leading his teammates to complete the goal with the new tactics. Although Jin Hayes didn't have a goal or assist, his ingenious outside-of-the-foot through ball was the key pass in this goal. Through this goal, Klopp vaguely saw the complete form of Jin Hayes.
"Beautiful!!"
"Well done! Jin, great pass!"
"Right? See how crucial I am!"
"Damn, you're showing off!"
After the goal, the Borussia Dortmund teammates clearly relaxed a lot. Jin Hayes joked with them, taking credit, which earned a laughing curse from Şahin. However, at the moment of that outside-of-the-foot through ball, it was as if a certain realisation flashed through Jin Hayes's mind. Jin Hayes wanted to grasp it, but the feeling quickly slipped away.
Could it be that he had a new enhancement? The thought lingered, but he pushed it aside for now—there was still a match to win.