Chapter 779: Frohling’s Headache!
"Wait, what?! Bastian-san and Morita-san are suffering from injuries?!" Higo coughed violently the first time he heard the news from the assistant coach, Tomasz Waldoch. "What is going on with them?" He asked, his tone full of concern.
It was the morning two days before the game against Union Berlin would be played, and the moment Higo arrived at the training ground, he met Waldoch on the way, and the assistant coach seemed to be distraught. Well, if the news were indeed true, Higo would also feel the same, as two main players being out just two days before the game would give everyone a big headache.
The Polish man himself just sighed as a deep bag could be seen under his eyes. "Well, to put it briefly..."
After that, Tomasz Waldoch explained this matter to Higo, and the goalkeeper was speechless here. "Fuck! How could we be so unlucky like this? I mean, two injuries for our two main players at the same time like this?! If I believe in conspiracy, I would think that this is the opponent sabotaging us, you know?!"
"Oh, I know." Waldoch smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately, while Bastian is just unlucky, Morita’s injury is completely our fault here."
"Really?" Higo blinked questioningly.
"Yeah, we should know that after that two-month break, it will be hard for some players to catch up with the hard training session again. Some players have already asked the medical team for a check-up when they felt discomfort, but Morita has never done so until now, so we only found out about this just a few hours ago."
Well... That would be in line with the image of Morita that Higo knew. In his mind, the boy, the best midfielder in the country for his generation, would only show his strong back, never complaining about his discomfort. It was as if he thought that pain was his shame, and he needed to grit his teeth to get through every phase in his life.
’Yeah, after this, I will have to visit him with Kumiko-chan and Sakura-chan. They will be able to give him a good smack in his head.’ Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching when imagining that. "Anyway, what would happen for the next game?" He asked, shaking his head quickly to get his focus back in this conversation.
"Oh, I have some ideas, but the final decision will still be in the Boss’s hands." Waldoch shrugged. "Anyway, everyone should be in the meeting room right now. Let’s go."
Once they entered the meeting room, Waldoch went to the coaching staff immediately, while Higo sat straight at the back where Fabian was sitting. The blonde winger was finally back after two weeks of self-quarantine, and while his condition was still not at its best to play the next game, at least he was ready to come at any time to be the special soldier for the team.
"Hey, Fab! You good?" He asked.
"Well, decent enough, I think. At least, my nose and tongue are starting to come back to me again." The man snorted a little bit. "Anyway, lower your voice, please. Mind the atmosphere here." He hissed quietly, nudging at their surroundings with a subtle head move.
Higo blinked for a moment, glancing around. That was when he realized that the silence there was heavy, what with everyone trying their best not to look at the front of the room. Not that he could blame them, as the boy blanched instantly when he saw the coach’s expression there.
It was as if someone had just killed his family, as the man was boiling with rage right now. Even though no one was to blame, that didn’t mean they would dare to push their luck. Not when they knew that the anger could explode at any random time, and they didn’t have any desire to suffer from the collateral damage.
"Okay, you guys are here," Frohling spoke, his tone deep and eerie. "At this point, I’m sure you know that we have just lost two of our main players from two different injuries, and I have to say that the timing is the worst right now. Unfortunately, we have to adapt here, so listen carefully to this new adjustment."
All the guys straightened their backs immediately. Although no one knew how serious they would take this instruction, at least in front of their head coach, they still had to put an act here.
"First things first, defender, this will be the easier part." The coach mumbled. "While Bastian’s injury sucks, some people can still replace his role. After thinking carefully about it, I have decided that the one who will replace him will be you, Timo."
Well, there was no surprise here. The man whose name was mentioned, Timo Becker, just nodded quietly. He was another experienced player on the team, just falling short to the bench because of Ozan Kabak’s arrival this year. The man would definitely want to establish himself once again, and this was his chance to show why he deserved to be in the starting lineup.
Higo himself also nodded secretly. Although he wasn’t close enough with the man, being the team’s main goalkeeper, the boy had communicated with him several times in the past, and Timo Becker was a disciplined and unassuming defender, one who would work well with the right command.
"As for Morita... This is a little bit more troublesome." Frohling frowned. "His creativity and soft touch with the ball are not something that this team can replace so easily, but we have to try. Suat, Greg, Jonas, we will try our best to do a simulation training, and I will see who among you three will be ready for the game. Get ready, okay?"
Those three perked up immediately when they heard their names were mentioned. They were the names who were always among the regulars during the last head coach’s tenure, so of course, they would be eager to have a chance to fight back again.
They looked at each other competitively, and with a single nod that showed their fighting spirit, at least one of them said, "Don’t worry, Boss! You can trust me for the next game!"