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Chapter 387

The problems already existed there, but these problems were covered up in the successive victories.

Including the Super Cup, Hoffenheim has played five official games in the new season, scoring goals every game. From this aspect, Hoffenheim's offense seems to be no problem, but in reality?In addition to the fact that the opponents in the German Cup are too weak, Hoffenheim only scored five goals in the other four games, averaging a little more than one per game. This kind of offense is really too weak for a team that wants to hit the championship.

Where is the problem?Hoffenheim’s offense was not weak last season. Ibisevic scored 21 goals and Long Bisheng scored [-] goals. This scoring rate is second only to the striker combination of Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. There are also many big victories with three goals and four goals.

Even in terms of defense, their problems are not small. They conceded three goals against Bayern, which can be said to be the reason for Li Jie's absence.

But Lannick still thinks there is no problem.

The offensive problem lies with Long Bisheng. In these few games, Long Bisheng did not constantly attack the opponent's defense line like last season. He kept running to open up space for his teammates.

As for the defense, the problem lies with Kolarov. After all, he is a newcomer, and the transfer took too long. He and the team practiced together not much earlier than Long Bisheng and Li Jie. Breakthroughs, wide crosses and excellent free kicks are his biggest characteristics. That is to say, Kolarov's type is completely different from Simunić's. After spending the club's transfer fee of 900 million euros, Rangnick must of course let Kolarov's abilities be fully utilized, so the defense, including the midfielder Gustavo, must re-adapt to the new tactics. It is normal for performance to fluctuate.

The running-in of the lineup and the exposure of shortcomings are definitely not a bad thing in the early stages of the league-at least it is much better than appearing at the critical moment of the championship.

So Rangnick, who was not worried, flew to Zurich with his assistant coach after the third round of the league to participate in the draw ceremony for the group stage of this season's European Champions Cup.

Rangnick didn't pay too much attention to this ceremony. As Hoffenheim's first participation in the Champions League, even if they performed well in the Europa League last season, they could at most be ranked third. That is to say, they will always meet two European giants.

Although Hoffenheim's reputation in Europe has gradually increased in the past few years, their head coach Rangnick still has no status in front of those wealthy head coaches, and he is unwilling to fawn over other famous coaches.

There were more and more people in the hall, and as the noise outside the hall became louder, Lannick knew without looking that more and more famous coaches had appeared, causing noise from reporters and fans watching outside the hall. Every year, the Champions Cup draw ceremony would attract a large crowd of spectators, because in other places you rarely see so many famous coaches and even the chairman of a wealthy club appear in one place at one time. Whether it is reporters who want to get some news or fans who want to see the honor of stars, this place is flocking to this place.

Suddenly, there was a silence outside the hall, and then the loudest cheers came. Lannick, who was immersed in his own thoughts, was also startled. He couldn't help but look up to the outside of the gate, wanting to see who the hell was coming.

Soon, his doubts were resolved - a middle-aged man who looked a bit old, not tall, and ordinary-looking was about the same size as him, his temples had turned gray, but his appearance was still as handsome and cold as a certain movie star.

"The chairman and head coach of Newcastle." Maric whispered in Rangnick's ear.

Lannick nodded, of course he knew who they were, no wonder it caused such a big commotion.

Before 2003, although Newcastle was the most popular team in England, they were just an ordinary team in the European arena. They hadn't even won any championships for more than 60 years, but just after that year, Newcastle's history changed drastically.

From 2003 to 2011, eight seasons, two league titles, three League Cup titles, one FA Cup title, three runner-ups, three No.3. These are domestic achievements. In the European arena, two Champions League titles, one Champions League runner-up, three semi-finals, two quarter-finals-this is Newcastle's achievements in the past eight years. An important giant with eight championships in eight seasons. Although there is no feat of winning all the championships in one season, the victory is stable. For a club, winning one championship every year is much more important than winning three championships a year.

What's more, they also have a legendary chairman, a chairman who has never been unwilling to be alone, likes to give himself the name of an assistant coach and sits on the coaching bench, but can bear the chairman who never dictates the position of the head coach-this makes him the most favored by the Premier League football circle.

However, with the influx of foreign capital in recent years, this tradition has been strongly challenged. Those new owners are rich, willing to invest, and ambitious, so they prefer to interfere in the affairs of the team. Under the power of money, few head coaches dare to say "no" to such voices. At this time, Pei Wei, as the second foreign owner in the history of the Premier League to invest in a Premier League club, respects the tradition of the Premier League. How can he not get more attention and praise?
They also have a very characterful head coach, the Portuguese Jose Mourinho. This handsome head coach who looks more like a movie star has never been a quiet head coach. In his first season as the head coach of Newcastle, he fought with Ferguson in the media, and he insisted on making Ferguson suffer. He satirized Fulham. The world's galactic battleship is stranded in St. James...

It is said that Ferguson is still unwilling to retire. He just does not hope that he will not be able to play against his old opponents Wenger, Benitez and Mourinho in the future. It is not only exciting to play against such opponents, but also an extremely exciting thing.

In the past, the Premier League was a two-horse struggle between Ferguson and Wenger. After he came, it was the three kingdoms. When Benitez came, it was the four-nation army chess... The strength of the Premier League in the European arena in the past ten years has been created by these talented and individual coaches.

A Chinese proverb can best explain Rangnick's mood after seeing Pei Wei and Mourinho: "A man should be like this!"

After seeing Pei Wei hugging Wenger and Benitez and Mourinho shaking hands with them, Rangnick turned his head. He knew that this was the goal he wanted to pursue. Hoffenheim also has a rich chairman and excellent coaches, but in terms of background, it is still far behind Newcastle, because Newcastle has been a strong team in England from the beginning, but what about Hoffenheim?Amateur teams only.

Just as Rangnick turned his head, Maric gave him a push and whispered: "Pei and Mourinho are coming your way."

"Ah?" Lannick was taken aback, and turned his head quickly, just in time to see Pei Wei walking towards him with a smile on his face, and first stretched out his hand to him: "Ralph... This is the first time we met... Where is Mr. Hoffman? Hasn't he come?"

Lannick held Pei Wei's hand, not knowing why he was so enthusiastic to shake hands with him: "Ah, Mr. Chairman didn't come. Originally, he hoped to come with me, but he has been ill recently."

He was telling the truth. Hoffman, who is nearly seventy years old, has indeed been in poor health recently.

Pei Wei shook his head regretfully: "It's a pity, maybe I should find a chance to see Mr. Hoffman... I have always admired Mr. Hoffman's miracles in Hoffenheim."

No matter how big the miracle is, can it be as big as the miracle created by Newcastle?Rangnick was a little dissatisfied, but he quickly dismissed the idea, because he saw the sincerity in Pei Wei's eyes, and recalled that Pei Wei used six years in China to bring his hometown team from scratch to the No. [-] club in Asia. Rangnick knew that Pei Wei really admired Hoffman's contribution to Hoffenheim.

Only by paying can you know the hardships.

"I sincerely hope that Hoffenheim can achieve good results in this season's Champions League...it is very important to Hoffenheim." Pei Wei smiled and said a few more words before leaving with Mourinho.

"All we can do is fight on." Lannick thought in his heart.

(End of this chapter)