Nicholas Marjan, known as Niels, was an Asian football-obsessed loner in the modern world. A master of FIFA Career Mode, addicted to YouTube tactics videos, and followed every twist of the transfer window like it was life or death, he lived the beautiful game from behind a screen.
Until the day he died.
And woke up in the late 2000s, in the body of a once-promising young player at a lower-league English club. A player whose career had been cut short by a brutal ACL injury. With his playing career over before it could truly begin, his second life offers no glory on the pitch.
But Niels still has one weapon: his mind.
Armed with future knowledge of football's evolution, and guided by a mysterious, almost cheat-like instinct for scouting raw talent, Niels steps into the world of coaching. As an assistant at a struggling lower-league club, he begins to reshape the team from within challenging outdated tactics, unearthing hidden gems, and reigniting hope in the dressing room.
His methods are unorthodox. His instincts, uncanny. And soon, whispers about the "young coach with a gift" begin to spread.
This isn’t the story of a player chasing glory. It’s about someone reborn to change the game from the sidelines. From forgotten training grounds to Europe’s biggest stages, Niels is on a mission, 
not just to win, but to rewrite what it means to lead.
He once dreamed of lifting trophies as a player.
Now, he'll do it as a coach.

Wednesday morning was overcast and quiet at Broadfield Stadium's training ground. After Monday's reset, there was a calm focus in the air.


The pitches were damp with mist, and the smell of wet grass mixed with the faint scent of passing trucks.


Niels arrived at dawn, his pickup rattling to a stop at the training ground gate. He felt a mix of determination and unease. The draw with Notts County had sharpened the squad's focus, but the upcoming match against Swindon, a team known for their relentless pressing felt like a major test of Crawley's fragile momentum.


The media pressure was building. Online, Reddit threads and fan forums buzzed with frustration: "Where's the creativity? Pogba isn't Pirlo," one post complained.


Another added, "Freeman's flair is all hype, no goals to show for it." The criticism weighed heavily, especially after the BBC called their win a "fluke."


Chapter 132 - Pressure and Promise