Coach Zhao, the situation isn't looking good. Have you thought about how to adjust in the second half?"
In a daze, Zhao Zhao felt someone speaking into his ear.
Opening his eyes, he saw an old man, about fifty years old, wearing a sports coat.
But Zhao Zhao didn't recognize this person.
Even stranger, the old man was clearly speaking English, yet Zhao Zhao understood him without any difficulty, as if he was already fluent in English.
"Who is he? Where is this place? How did I get here?"
Zhao Zhao couldn't help but ask the three soul-searching questions.
Then, he looked up and surveyed his surroundings.
Zhao Zhao then realized that he was in a huge football stadium, sitting in a suit on the Coach's bench by the field.
A match was underway on the field, and the stands were packed with spectators.
The noisy clamor and high decibels all desperately drilled into his ears, making his head ache.
What on earth is going on?
Wasn't I watching a game at home just now?
But how did I suddenly end up in this stadium?
This can't be a dream; it's too real.
Zhao Zhao felt a bit of a headache.
He raised his right hand and gently rubbed his temple with his thumb.
Suddenly, various memories flooded in, one after another, entering his brain and gradually making him understand his situation.
Zhao Zhao had transmigrated.
It was April 5, 2017.
The place he was in was the famous Old Trafford Stadium!
The current match was the 31st round of the 2016-2017 Premier League season, with Manchester United hosting Sunderland.
And Zhao Zhao's identity was actually the Coach of Sunderland!
"My goodness, I actually became the Coach of a Premier League team?" Zhao Zhao was both surprised and delighted.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary football fan with no attachments; now, to transmigrate into the Coach of a Premier League team, it was truly amazing!
It had to be much better than his previous state of being unemployed right after graduation, right?
Leaning over to look at the other side, Zhao Zhao indeed saw Manchester United Coach Mourinho sitting on the home team's Coach's bench, intently watching the match on the field.
All of this was real!
"What are you so happy about?" The old man's voice sounded again, "I really don't understand. Aren't you worried at all?"
Zhao Zhao looked at the old man who was speaking to him.
He remembered.
This was his assistant Coach, Breswell, whose face was currently filled with anxiety.
Zhao Zhao looked up at the scoreboard above the stadium stands; the match had already reached 40 minutes, and Manchester United was leading 2-0!
No wonder he was anxious.
However, Sunderland is a weak team, so is it strange for them to be two goals down against Manchester United away from home?
Being anxious is useless, right?
"Sigh, I also can't understand what Mr. Short was thinking, letting you be the Coach." Breswell shook his head again, "You don't have any experience, how can you lead the team well? Now look, you're about to be sacked again."
Listening to Breswell's words, Zhao Zhao suddenly felt a headache.
He rubbed his head, and more memories flooded in again.
It turned out that Zhao Zhao had only temporarily taken over Sunderland two weeks prior.
Before him, Sunderland's Coach was the Scottish "genius" David Moyes.
But in this Premier League season, Sunderland started with a 10-match winless streak and had since firmly occupied the bottom spot in the League table, never changing.
After 28 rounds, Sunderland's American owner, Ellis Short, could no longer tolerate it and fired David Moyes and his coaching staff.
Finding a suitable new Coach takes time, so the owner could only find a temporary Coach from within the club to fill in.
And so, Zhao Zhao, who was originally an assistant Coach in Sunderland's youth team, took office…
And the reason for his appointment was quite amusing.
"They're all garbage anyway, so let's pick the most handsome one. At least the fans will enjoy looking at him!" the owner, still in a fit of pique, had said at the time.
This was partly because Short, the American owner, often acted unconventionally. He had even argued with opposing Coaches and physically assaulted people during matches!
And on the other hand, it was also because Short didn't have many options at the time.
After all the first-team Coaches were fired, the only experienced Coach left was assistant Coach Breswell!
But Breswell did not have a UEFA Pro License, meaning he was not qualified to Coach in the Premier League.
Among the remaining Coaches in the club, all were from the reserve or youth teams, and only three or four of them held a UEFA Pro License.
Although Zhao Zhao was only 25 years old this year, a recent graduate from China, he had just obtained this license not long ago and happened to be interning with Sunderland's youth team.
Thus, with his good looks, he was suddenly pushed into the role…
"By the way, why didn't you go for the Pro License?" Zhao Zhao asked Breswell curiously.
"Did I not go for it? I couldn't pass! The coaching license is harder than advanced mathematics!" Breswell retorted, "I'm not like you Chinese, who are all especially good at exams!"
"Oh." Zhao Zhao rubbed his head.
Indeed, the talent for taking tests is truly ingrained in the DNA of every Chinese person…
As for Breswell, he was a professional player in his youth, having played in the top English League. After retiring, he also served as an assistant Coach for multiple teams, gaining rich experience.
But clearly, he was not good at handling exams.
"Can you please focus on this match first?" Breswell said again, "Did you forget that Mr. Short has given you an ultimatum?"
This sentence reminded Zhao Zhao.
He only now remembered that the situation he was facing was actually very grim.
Zhao Zhao's luck was not very good; after he took over as Coach, the matches were directly three consecutive away games.
And he had already led the team to two consecutive defeats!
In the 29th round, which was Zhao Zhao's first match after taking office, Sunderland lost 1-3 away to Burnley, who were also in the relegation zone.
Then in the 30th round, Sunderland suffered a crushing 0-4 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Before this match began, the owner had directly told Zhao Zhao that if they lost again, he would be immediately fired!
And now the score on the field was already 0-2…
In other words, his journey as a Premier League Coach might only last for an hour at most.
"You're young anyway, so getting sacked doesn't matter. I still have to support my family, so don't drag me down!" Breswell sighed.
Of course, he didn't think much of Zhao Zhao either, as the guy was young and inexperienced, and before taking office, he had only interned with some semi-amateur teams for the sake of getting his license.
But the problem was, if a new Coach arrived, they would often bring their own trusted people, and many times, they would clear out the old staff.
When David Moyes came, he also brought a whole team, but at that time, a Coach who understood the team's situation was needed for communication, so Breswell narrowly escaped.
But who could guarantee that the next Coach would be the same?
So, for Breswell, the best way to keep his job was to assist Zhao Zhao in playing well and strive for him to be made permanent.
At least a rookie Coach like Zhao Zhao would still need an experienced assistant Coach who was familiar with the team.
But now… it felt like it was already hanging by a thread.
Meanwhile, Zhao Zhao had also basically clarified the current situation.
"This is a disastrous start, damn it!" He cursed inwardly.
Who wouldn't want to continue being this Premier League Coach?
After two consecutive defeats, facing Manchester United away today, Zhao Zhao had set up Sunderland with a 4-5-1 defensive formation, just wanting to secure a point, at least to get past this hurdle first.
But Manchester United was simply too strong; they couldn't be beaten.
With goals from Rooney and Martial, Manchester United had taken a two-goal lead early on.
If things continued like this, after this match, Zhao Zhao would really have to leave.
And what's more, not only would he lose his position at Sunderland, but it would even become difficult to find a job in the future!
After all, who would want a rookie Coach who had lost every match he coached?
Thinking of his unemployed state in his previous life and now having to taste the bitterness of unemployment after transmigrating, Zhao Zhao's face no longer held the initial surprise, but rather a blank expression.
But just at this moment!
A line of text suddenly flashed before Zhao Zhao's eyes:
[Football Coach Simulator System Loading…]
[Loading successful. Current simulation points: 10.]
[You can use this system to simulate the most recent match. Each simulation will consume 1 point.]
"Hmm? This is…"
Zhao Zhao was first stunned, then overcome with wild joy.
The transmigration benefit, the system golden finger!
Looking at the system description, it seemed like he could save and load like in a game.
Although it wasn't the kind of golden finger that could instantly dominate everything, at least for a rookie Coach like himself, the fault tolerance rate was greatly increased.
With this, his coaching career, which seemed about to be cut Short, appeared to be saved!
Thinking of this, Zhao Zhao immediately gave the command:
"Start simulating this match!"