Chapter 882: Half-Time Break

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

A few minutes after the second penalty was blocked by Higo, the referee finally blew the whistle three times in a row, not wanting to extend the first half further than necessary.

The players also went back to the tunnel right off the bat, especially those Mainz players. They didn’t dare to look at their own supporters, knowing that missing two penalties was a shame that couldn’t be washed away in that exact same second. Hell, right now, they even received the boos from the whole stadium, even though only around 1000 people came to the stadium.

"Fuck! Are you fucking serious or what?!"

"Play for your fucking badge, for God’s sake! Show some personality! Don’t just stroll around like a fucking slot!"

"This is the worst team I have ever seen, damn!"

Of course, since this wasn’t related to Schalke players, they didn’t really mind about it. Hell, if anything, they enjoyed the whole reaction from the spectators, finding themselves to be quite successful in triggering the anger inside the stadium.

Then, as the main character in the first half, the attention of course landed mostly on Higo. After all, even though he only made 3 saves in the first half so far- the fewest he had probably ever gotten in the first 45 minutes of the game this season- two of them came from a penalty scenario, one that should give the home team a lead right now.

"I heard Schalke got them for basically free, right?"

"Damn! How could they be so lucky?! Did they save the fucking world or what?!"

Besides the constant boos, some noises also came out in a heavy sigh, lamenting how Schalke would always get a good player while Mainz itself was at the complete opposite of it. However, Higo couldn’t care less about that, because he had already gone, wanting to get a little break in the locker room as quickly as possible.

Frohling had also been waiting for the players there. The moment everyone was finally in, the man couldn’t help but applaud, showing his appreciation to those who had fought tooth and nail in the first half.

"Good job, everyone! That’s a decent first half! Come on!"

Honestly, the man’s reaction startled them. After all, some guys felt like the team itself didn’t play that well, what with them only putting one shot on target so far. The two penalties also didn’t help, showing that their defense was still full of holes.

Honestly, if not for Higo, the team would’ve been down by two goals already, and at that point, what was left was for the players to end the game as quickly as possible without humiliating themselves too much in the process.

However, Frohling was serious here. Even though the man himself also knew that the performance was bad, the joy of managing to escape through two penalties was still clear by the end of the day.

"I am serious; it is not easy to come back to the locker room with no depression after such a crazy first half. At least, that deserves praise for your mental fortitude."

This time, everyone except Higo just looked at each other awkwardly, finally feeling like the coach was being sarcastic toward them.

"Of course, not everything is perfect, and that’s why we are going to fix it." The coach finally coughed, getting into his serious mode.

"Midfield, even with three of you controlling the tempo, none of you still failed to break through the opponent’s defensive side! Morita! Nabil! I haven’t seen your break-through pass since the beginning of the game! Come on!"

Those two names looked at each other wryly before the first one complained, "I would love to send a good pass or two, but the people on the frontline failed to coordinate with us, Sensei. When I turned around and looked at them, they would always have their backs against the goal and just want a normal pass, and when I needed them to slow down, they would blitz out of nowhere, leaving us with no support..."

"Yeah, Boss. It is not easy when our targets couldn’t connect well with us... It was as if we were fighting alone in the opposition half, you know?" Nabil Bentaleb added with a hint of grievance in his tone.

The three strikers: Mark Uth, Benito Raman, and Fabian Reese, snapped their heads instantly at them, not expecting this kind of betrayal from the midfielders.

Still, Frohling nodded at this, showing his agreement. "Indeed, the link between the midfield and frontline is a little bit weak, so Morita, you will have to move a little bit forward, getting close to the penalty box. Be the attacking midfielder, operating straight behind the striker. From there, you will be able to see everything with a clear head."

"Wait, me?!" The boy pointed at himself in surprise.

"Yes, you, of course. Who else do you think is capable?" The head coach just arched one of his eyebrows lightly. "What? You don’t want to do the task?" He asked challengingly.

"..."

Morita was so speechless right now, not expecting that he would get dragged into the mess that he had just helped create. ’Yeah, fuck it! Maybe that’s karma for you...’ The boy murmured under his breath.

Still, it wasn’t like Morita would refuse the order. Even though he was not comfortable playing in that position, the boy was still an excellent midfielder when it came to building up an attack, so getting closer to the end point was never something bad in this regard.

The only problem here was probably how Morita would be exposed to all the bulky and muscular Mainz players on their back. However, that was far from enough to make the boy back down, as in the end, he just nodded helplessly while accepting his new task.

"Fine! Do whatever you want!"

"Atta boy! That’s the reason why you are here!" Frohling nodded in appreciation. However, after shifting his gaze to the frontline, his eyes darkened instantly. "Okay, now... It is time to talk about our defensive part... Or the lack of it. Man, this is going to be a long day for you guys..."