The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 49 - 32: The Most Crucial Person

Christopher Dom was a towering figure in German football during the 90s.

Under his management, Stuttgart won the Bundesliga title with astonishing momentum.

This shot Dom to fame.

In ’96, he took over Bayer Leverkusen and built the Pharmacy into one of the most dominant teams in the Bundesliga at the time.

After the 2000 European Cup, Dom even came close to taking over the Germany National Team.

Just before he was to take charge of the Germany National Team, Bayern’s general manager, Hennes, suddenly and publicly accused Dom of long-term drug use. Despite Dom’s repeated denials, a hair test half a month later came back positive.

Dom resigned from Bayer Leverkusen and went to Turkey to manage Besiktas.

It wasn’t until the end of November 2006 that he returned to Germany for his second stint managing Cologne.

With the full support of Cologne’s general manager, Michael Meier, Dom initiated a series of sweeping reforms at the club.

The most significant of these was relying on the Cologne Sports Academy to recruit various talents and establish a data analysis department at Cologne.

Two things clearly demonstrated how much importance Dom placed on data analysis.

The head of the data analysis department, Florian Konides, was entrusted with immense responsibility, simultaneously managing the analysis, scouting, sports science, and Coordination departments.

Furthermore, Dom arranged for his own 21-year-old son, Marcel Dom, to study and work under Konides.

It was under Dom’s management that Cologne demonstrated formidable competitiveness in the 2nd Bundesliga this season.

They had now overtaken Hoffenheim to sit 2nd in the 2nd Bundesliga.

The only remaining obstacle between Cologne and the Bundesliga was their opponent in the 33rd round: Mainz.

Interestingly, Cologne’s Dom and Mainz’s Klopp were both the strongest contenders for the manager position at Bundesliga powerhouse Dortmund. It was down to one or the other.

Therefore, for both Dom and Cologne, the 33rd round of the 2nd Bundesliga was far more than just a simple match.

「The morning after the 32nd round of matches in the 2nd Bundesliga」

Dom held a review meeting in his office.

Those attending the meeting were essentially Dom’s most trusted core staff.

His longtime assistant coach, Roland Koch.

Konides from the data analysis department and his son, Marcel Dom.

Konides began, analyzing the current situation based on the results from the 32nd round of the 2nd Bundesliga, which were played yesterday.

"In the 32nd round, Fiat drew 0-0 away against Osnabrueck. They’re basically out of the running."

"Freiburg, playing at home, was scored on by Offenbach in the 83rd minute and lost. Their chances for promotion are now only a theoretical possibility."

"Borussia Mönchengladbach won 3-0 at home. As it stands, they’ve basically secured the title and a Bundesliga spot."

"The only suspense now is over the remaining two spots."

"Mainz defeated Wein Wiesbaden 3-0."

"Hoffenheim beat Koblenz 3-1 at home."

"And we defeated Augsburg 3-1 away."

"The current points table for the three teams is: we are in 2nd with 57 points, Hoffenheim is 3rd with 56, and Mainz is 4th with 55."

Three teams were vying for two spots, separated by only two points in total.

In terms of schedule, Hoffenheim had the easiest run-in.

Their next opponent was Offenbach, currently 13th in the table and basically safe from relegation.

Their final match was at home against Fiat.

Although Cologne was in 2nd, they had to play Mainz in the 33rd round.

When two tigers fight, one is bound to be injured.

A draw would essentially hand Hoffenheim a massive advantage for free.

And their opponent in the final round was an away match against Kaiserslautern.

That team was currently in 15th place.

One could imagine that to avoid relegation, Kaiserslautern would have to beat Cologne.

"Right now, the promotion race in the 2nd Bundesliga is extremely complicated. We can’t afford to be complacent. Only by winning against Mainz at home can we have some stability," Konides reminded them.

Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing this.

"Mainz has been in excellent form recently, showing the momentum of a major resurgence with a string of victories. That 17-year-old Chinese kid is especially noteworthy. Although he didn’t score yesterday, he got an assist, won the free kick that led to a goal, and was responsible for their two center-backs receiving a red and a yellow card. That kid is rising through the ranks incredibly fast. We have to take him seriously," Assistant Coach Roland Koch warned.

Dom had remained silent the whole time.

He listened to his assistants’ analyses and opinions while lost in his own thoughts.

When the others had more or less finished speaking, he turned to his son.

"Marcel, what do you think?"

Anyone could see that Dom had always intended to groom his son, especially in his data analysis abilities.

Everyone present was one of Dom’s trusted confidants, so Marcel Dom was accustomed to his father’s questions.

"Klopp’s coaching style has always been aggressive. That’s their trademark, and this match will be no different."

"That young kid will probably start up front, but our backline is solid too."

"Matip, Ozat, Mackenna, Muhammad... I believe our defense can hold them off."

Dom looked at his son, understanding the situation perfectly.

’It’s all pretty superficial, really. The general idea is correct, but it lacks detail.’

"For the next few days of training, have Matip play on the left and Ozat on the right. That will be more effective in limiting Mainz’s two flanks."