Almighty Coach

Isn’t Dalu Group an enterprise engaged in real estate? How could a job in this company suit me? As Dai Li thought of this, he asked, "Chairman Fang, are you planning to enter the sports industry?"

"We are not ’planning to,’ but have already entered the sports industry!" Dalu Fang said. "The Dingtian Soccer Club is quite familiar to you, right?"

"The Dingtian Soccer Club? It was the double winner of the league championship and the FA Cup of last season! How could I be unfamiliar with this club?" Dai Li said.

"Dalu Group owns shares in the Dingtian Soccer Club," Dalu Fang said.

"I thought the Dingtian Soccer Club was wholly owned by Dingtian Group. I didn’t expect you to also own shares of this club," Dai Li said.

"I made this investment several years ago. I only bought some shares, but I don’t participate in the management," Dalu Fang responded. "Are you interested in being a coach in the Dingtian Soccer Club?"

"Chairman Fang, you must be kidding me, right? The head coach of the Dingtian Soccer Club is Harman, a world-famous coach who used to win the World Cup," Dai Li said.

"Harman is indeed the head coach. But they need physical trainers now. I have just heard from Haiquan that you have resigned. You used to be the physical trainer of the National Table Tennis Team, so I am calling to ask if you are interested in being a physical trainer for the Dingtian Soccer Club. If you are interested, I could recommend you to them," Dalu Fang said.

"There should be more than one physical trainer in Harman’s team, right?" Dai Li asked.

All famous soccer coaches would establish a team of their own. In modern soccer, the head coach was definitely the soul of the team, but the team of the head coach was composed of three groups. The first group would be the technique group, including the assistant coaches, the goalkeeper coaches, and the performance analysts. The second group would be the sports management group, including the physical trainers, the dietitians, the coach of scientific research, the psychologists, etc. The third group was the medical group, which included the team doctors, the physical therapists, the rehabilitation therapists, the massage therapists, etc.

There would be more than one person in each position of the team; for example, they would have two or three assistant coaches, two or three physical trainers, and several analysts and coaches of scientific research.

The world’s top coaches, like Harman, would not work in a club alone. His team had been working with him for decades, including several senior experts. It could be considered as a totally mature coaching team.

In addition, on ground of Harman’s level, he would hire coaches in Europe if his team was shorthanded. After all, soccer coaches in China were far less competent than their European counterparts.

Then Dalu Fang explained, "Harman’s team has two core physical trainers who have been following Harman for many years. One of the physical trainers, whose name is Franz, went back to Germany to have surgery. I guess he might be absent for the rest of this season. The leagues in Europe have already begun. It is difficult to find an appropriate candidate now in Europe; so Harman decided to recruit several experienced physical trainers in Asia to fill the vacancy that Franz left."

"It’s just a temporary position, right?" Dai Li said disappointedly.

"What? Do you want to enter Harman’s team or not? The level of coaches of our country is too low for Harman!" Dalu Fang laughed straightforwardly. "This time the recruitment of physical trainers is performed in the name of the Dingtian Soccer Club. If you could join them, you will sign the labor contract with Dingtian, so technically speaking, you will be an employee of the Dingtian Club, and not a member of Harman’s team. However, you have to follow Harman’s orders in the training."

"As for remuneration, you should know the investment scale of Dingtian Group in soccer. If you could join them, they will definitely offer you a pretty good salary, which will be more than you have made in the national team."

...

That night, Dai Li couldn’t sleep and spent all night tossing and turning in his bed.

The Dalu Fang’s proposal had given Dai Li a feeling that he was about to turn his life around.

The Dingtian Soccer Club could be considered an upstart in recent years. Two years ago, it was still a League One club; later, it was acquired by Dingtian Group. After the large-scale investment of Dingtian Group, this club was successfully promoted to the Super League, and gained the championship of the Super League.

Dingtian Group also staked a lot on their soccer team by not only purchasing top players from around the world, but also hiring Harman, who was one of the best coaches in the world. Therefore, the strength of the Dingtian Soccer Club became amazing in a very short time. Although this club was still less powerful than the clubs in Europe and South America, in Asia, it had already become a first-class club. The next goal of the Dingtian Soccer Club was the championship of the AFC Champions League.

Professional soccer is an authentically-commercialized professional sport, which the system views differently than the other sports I have coached so far! Dai Li’s heart was again full of excitement.

After all, Dai Li was a professional coach. He was extremely unwilling to open a gym by leaving the professional sports industry. If he hadn’t been forced by circumstances, he wouldn’t have left the National Table Tennis Team so soon.

Now, an opportunity to go back to the professional sports industry was placed in front of him, and it took Dai Li’s breath away immediately.

Moreover, Dai Li was equipped with the coach system. He could only upgrade the system and become stronger by continuing to train athletes.

I want to be one of the world’s top coaches. Opening a gym and providing training courses in a small place like Yuzhou is not my fate! I should see the world while I am still young.

Dai Li sat up straight on the bed immediately. He had made up his mind to join the Dingtian Soccer Club and face new challenges.

...

Dingtian Soccer Club

Harman, whose hair was already beginning to silver, was leaning on the seat back, and said in a low voice, "Franz has sent me an email. In his mail, he said although his tumor is benign, the possibility of the tumor turning malignant couldn’t be ruled out. His doctor still recommends that they remove the tumor first. Now he has made a surgery appointment and is waiting for the surgery. It seems he will be absent for the rest of this season."

"In the next few months, I will have a lot of overtime." A dark-haired man who was over 50 smiled ruefully.

The dark-haired man’s name was Claude, and he was another physical trainer on Harman’s team.

"Don’t worry. I have asked the club to hire more physical trainers. Although we won’t find someone who can replace Franz at this moment, we can use the strength in numbers. We will find some physical trainers in Asia to share some of the work with you. You won’t be over-exhausted if you just arrange assignments to be completed by others," Harman said.

However, Claude shook his head in a bitter face. "I am not optimistic about the capabilities of the Asian coaches. What worries me is that my assignments will never be completed."

"I hope that young and beautiful Ms. Xiao won’t let us down!" Harman let out a long sigh.