Chapter 639: Last Preparation Before the Derby!

Time passed by, and while the team was still in a gloomy atmosphere, at least Higo had already come out of that bubble and became more cheerful. He spent more of his time chatting with people around, especially those whom he knew to be Schalke fans, wanting to integrate himself into the community.

Still, this little mission had to be stopped abruptly, because a day before the game day, Frohling finally came out of wherever he had been earlier. The man looked so haggard, with a dark bag appearing deep below his eyes, showing that he didn’thave any good sleep in the last couple of days.

The most disheartening part, though, was that even with him being like this, the man still looked so stressed, as if he hadn’t found the formula to face the game yet. The man scanned the whole team for a moment once they sat in the meeting room, and his first reaction was to let out a deep, tired sigh.

"Honestly, this is probably going to be the most difficult game in my coaching career." He mumbled quite loudly, enough for the others to hear what he said clearly. "The loss of two pillars in the midfield... This is going to be a big hole that is impossible to fill perfectly. Schopf, sorry, but it seems you have to work harder than before in the next game." He apologized to Alexander Schopf, the last remaining midfielder out of the original trio.

"Don’t worry, Boss! Until the captain and Morita are back, I will guard the midfield area with all of my might!" The man nodded solemnly. Even though he didn’t say it out loud, with the two focal points in the midfield gone, this was also his chance to shine, so there was no way he would let it slide easily.

"Idrizi! Fontein! I don’t expect a masterclass performance from you. Just play solidly, listen to everyone else, and don’t make a mistake!"

This was quite a harsh thing to say to the bench players, but Frohling felt the need to emphasize this part to the two midfielders who were going to replace Morita and Jonas Hofmann. He was so afraid that in a rare chance to play like this, they would overdo something and make a fatal mistake that would only throw away the game to the opponent’s side.

Those two nodded as well, not showing too much reaction. They had been the regular substitutes so far, so no one was surprised that they were chosen to replace Morita and Jonas Hofmann in the next game.

"Randy, the same is for you. You will shift to the left side to replace Fabian, but you don’t need to hog the wing side so tightly. Roam around the channel, don’t overcomplicate things, and when the chance comes, do it decisively! Don’t try to show off too much; our aim is to win the game first!"

"Yes, Sir!" The Ghanaian striker shouted as if he was in the middle of a militaristic training.

Frohling took a deep breath, once again trying to calm down his nerves. "The next game will be difficult for us. Unlike before, we will be surrounded from all over the pitch, and they even have some of the guys who are regulars in the Bundesliga to play. So, don’t panic! Stay patient, and wait until the opportunity arrives! We don’t need 60 or 70 percent possession! Even 30 is enough! Once they let their guard down, let’s kill them decisively!"

"Yes, Sir!"

After this, they started to prepare for the game tomorrow. At least, the mood gradually changed into a better one, what with the coach finally talking to them.While he still didn’t address anything about the three players who were moved up to the main team, at least all the players knew that the man was still thinking about the team.

Unfortunately, it was still a little bit too late. With one day left, there was not a lot of preparation that could be done, so they couldn’t help but treat Dortmund II as an ordinary opponent. No one knew what kind of disaster this could lead them to, and they just had to wait until tomorrow to see it by themselves.

Once training was over, Higo walked to his apartment immediately, and he also met Morita on the way. The boy had just done the training session with the first team, and he didn’t seem to be happy with it.

"I mean, they all could see I am good, but their first instinct is to isolate me, for God’s sake! Even my own teammates in a 5v5 game! It is like they don’t want to win at all!" He threw his hand up in exasperation.

Higo couldn’t help but feel pity for his friend. "Maybe it is because you still haven’t mastered English or German fluently enough?" He asked.

"Bah! No one cares about that! I can even see someone from South America who only spoke Spanish, and yet he is being more accepted than me!" Morita growled, clearly getting so frustrated with this situation. "Fabian and Jonas are still better. At least, they are local dudes with reputation, so no one dares to suppress them openly. Me, though? I am just a punching bag in the training session!"

Higo just nodded along, listening quietly to his friend’s complaints during the journey back to the apartment. He also greeted some of the people whom he met, especially those whom he had already known from the Bosch a few days ago.

"Since when did you know all of those guys?" Morita couldn’t help but ask, curious.

"I don’t know, a few days ago, I guess." Higo shrugged.

He also started telling his escapade to the Bosch, including his interaction there. Morita’s forehead wrinkled for a moment, as if he was offended that Higo didn’t invite him to something that fun. Once Higo told him about people’s expectations for the derby game tomorrow, though, the boy fell into silence for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, this is also something that I have just noticed. People here are so crazy about their rivalry with Borussia Dortmund." He murmured wanly. Then, the midfielder turned to Higo, patting the boy’s shoulder solemnly. "With that kind of an expectation from the people in this town, you cannot let the team fall apart, Higo. Don’t let the opponent get through you."

In return, Higo just sneered and said, "Of course, I know that. Who do you think I am?"