Chapter 14: Host Family

Klaus Fischer was a seasoned veteran in the football world. He could tell that Guardiola valued Lin Quan and also recognized Lin Quan's abilities. He believed that with Guardiola's character, he wouldn't lie. So, Lin Quan's ability should be quite good. However, being good doesn't necessarily mean being suitable.

Werder Bremen's poor performance was mainly because they favored attacking. Coach Thomas Schaaf's 4-4-2 formation saw both full-backs joining the attack, and even the center-backs would get involved in the offense. This led to too many players forward, leaving their defense vulnerable. Once the opponents countered, it was easy to break through their defensive line, resulting in one-on-one situations. In the previous Bundesliga season, Werder Bremen topped the league in one-on-one situations against them. This wasn't something to be praised!

To address this issue, Werder Bremen needed a strong player, especially one with outstanding defensive abilities, skilled at intercepting, in the defensive midfield. It would be best if they were like Makélélé or Vieira, but of course, that was impossible. Players of that caliber simply wouldn't join Werder Bremen. So, they had to search for suitable candidates among the young players from top clubs and bring them in on loan.

The result was Barcelona giving them a playmaking defensive midfielder, which left everyone at Werder Bremen a bit unsure of what to do. With De Bruyne already loaned from Chelsea, the team now had an organizer in midfield, allowing the defensive midfielder to focus on defending without needing to participate too much in the attack.

Therefore, Klaus and others felt that Lin Quan might find it difficult to fit into Werder Bremen's tactical system. So, he didn't mention anything about Lin Quan's tactical position or playing time after joining the team. He just assured Guardiola that the club would take care of Lin Quan, which put Guardiola at ease.

Werder Bremen, being a financially struggling mid-sized club, often needed to rely on loaned players to carry the team. If they tarnished the team's reputation, they might not have future cooperation with other clubs. So, Guardiola had complete faith in Klaus's assurance.

Thus, he discussed the arrangements for Lin Quan's accommodation with the club. The club offered two options: first, Lin Quan could live with the young players from the club. Second, he could stay with a die-hard fan's family arranged by the club.

Guardiola respected Lin Quan's choice and agreed to the second option.

Therefore, Klaus had the sports director, Esin, drive them to the host family near the stadium.

This family consisted of a couple in their late thirties. The husband's name was William Victor, who was a local beer distributor. The wife's name was Anna Victor, who worked as a civil servant in the city hall.

This is a typical upper-middle-class family in Germany. The couple's combined annual income is around 100,000 euros, which is good, and they have a certain social status.

The couple has a pair of lovely children with blond hair and blue eyes. Their daughter, Angela, is 12 years old this year, similar in age to Guardiola's eldest daughter, while their son, Gray, is 10 years old and still in elementary school.

The entire family of four are die-hard fans of Werder Bremen. Whenever there's a home game for Werder Bremen, they rarely miss it, and they always attend together as a family.

The couple's age is similar to Guardiola's, and with Lin Quan currently a player for Werder Bremen, they hit it off right away. Guardiola and his wife, Sara, were very pleased with this host family.

Before parting ways, Guardiola warmly gave Gray a football with his own autograph.

And the William family presented Guardiola with a bucket of their prized pure grain beer.

To quickly adapt to the team, Lin Quan chose not to join Guardiola and others for skiing in Switzerland, but instead opted to stay in Bremen. Before the team's training camp began, he decided to start training on his own.

The intensity of youth team matches is significantly different from Bundesliga matches. If he approached Bundesliga matches with the mentality of playing in the youth team, he would definitely be overwhelmed.

So, before the league starts, he has a lot of work to do.

Such as improving his physical fitness to be able to cope with the intensity of Bundesliga matches.

Additionally, he needs to enhance his body's ability to withstand physical challenges, so he doesn't fall easily.

Furthermore, he needs to watch videos of the team's matches from the past few seasons, study the team's tactics, in order to better integrate into the team's tactical system.

Klaus's concerns were not shared by Lin Quan.

Although he previously played as a defensive midfielder in the Barcelona youth team, after replicating the attributes of Messi at his peak, he can play in many positions.

Including winger, shadow striker, attacking midfielder, and he can even fill in as a striker.

Of course, returning to his original position as a playmaking defensive midfielder is also not a problem.

After joining Paris Saint-Germain, the elder Messi played mostly as the team's playmaking core.

Therefore, his responsibilities don't conflict with De Bruyne's; he can fully entrust the organizational and linking tasks to De Bruyne.

As for the role of the final finisher, that's where he comes in.

If De Bruyne is targeted by opponents, then he can also drop back to take over the task of organizing the attack, playing as a dual attacking midfielder.

Of course, none of this is up to him to decide. What he needs to do is to prove to the head coach that he is capable of playing in these positions.

The location of the host family is very close to the team's training base, less than 2 kilometers away.

He's not old enough to get a driver's license yet, and with such a short distance, there's no need to drive anyway.

So Lin Quan spent 200 euros to buy a bicycle as his means of transportation to and from work.

That night, Anna prepared a sumptuous dinner to welcome Lin Quan's arrival.

"Lin, don't feel constrained here, just consider this place as your own home!" Anna smiled and poured Lin Quan a glass of juice, as he was underage and couldn't drink alcohol.

And for professional athletes, drinking alcohol is also improper behavior that can affect their competitive state.

"Thank you, Mrs. Anna!" Lin Quan politely thanked her and took the juice.

William poured himself a glass of beer and continued the conversation, "We at Werder Bremen are always very accommodating to young players. The team captain, Fritz, is a very upright guy, and with him around, you won't be bullied in the team."

At this point, William's eyes dimmed slightly, and he sighed, "It's a pity that that guy, Weiser, left."

The Weiser mentioned by William, whose full name is Tim Weiser, was the starting goalkeeper for Werder Bremen last season.

He was hailed as Kahn's successor and was a bold and passionate goalkeeper.

Such a person is easily a team's spiritual leader, and Weiser played that role in Werder Bremen.

Weiser's outstanding performance, coupled with his long-term commitment to Werder Bremen, made significant contributions to the club, so he was deeply loved by the fans.

His departure left many fans feeling regretful.

William realized that his emotions affected everyone, so he didn't continue this topic but instead raised his glass to Lin Quan and offered his blessings, "Lin, I wish you a quick foothold in the team and become our pride!"

(End of this chapter)