Coaching career started as a college team coach

"When your college classmate becomes the head coach of a team in the English second-tier league"

Author: Yang who only knows how to make soup

First of all, this is not a headline party.

When you see this post, my childhood friend has just won another victory in England.

His team defeated the powerful Premier League team Hull City in a penalty shootout, and next, his team will face Manchester United in the League Cup semi-finals.

That is the Manchester United, the Manchester United you are familiar with.

He is only one step away from breaking into the League Cup final and playing the final at Wembley Stadium.

His name is Wei Le, a head coach, a Chinese, and now he is coaching Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English second-tier league. Of course, you may be more familiar with their other name-"Wolves".

More than a year ago, he was still sitting on the bed in my dormitory and discussing with me what to eat in the evening.

Time passed too quickly, and he in England may have forgotten that this day last year was the day he left school. Before he left, he made an appointment with me and asked me to record what happened in this year.

So, I wrote this post.

So you have to come and see it, or I will be sad.

——

When typing this line, Han Yang suddenly laughed. He seemed to see Wei Le's disgusted expression. On the desktop of the laptop was the document he was writing, and below the document was the live broadcast source of the game he had been looking for for a long time outside the wall.

Han Yang listened to the Russians' mumbling commentary, and from time to time he could hear the commentator mention the word "Wei", but it was not standard at all. Han Yang wanted to teach the Russians how to speak Chinese himself.

Han Yang was wearing headphones, and his roommates were of course asleep, and Wei Le's bed was still empty. Han Yang looked back, then turned back and continued to write.

——

When I was a child, I thought he was just a not-so-qualified football fan, a "fake fan" who liked to comment. He didn't play football as well as me, and I laughed at him.

I admit that although I have seen countless people, this time, I really made a mistake.

In the summer vacation after high school, he told me that he wanted to be a head coach.

Then I watched him start learning from the most basic E-level coaching certificate. I really can't forget how happy he was when he showed me his certificate. I laughed at him, saying that he could be a coach after passing this exam.

He said that it was more than just an E-certificate, he wanted to be a head coach in the top five leagues.

I said I didn't believe it, China had never had a head coach in the top five leagues, it was not as easy as you said.

Then he told me that since there was no head coach, he would be the first one.

Wei Le, maybe you have forgotten this conversation, but I still remember it clearly. I laughed at you for bragging without thinking, but now I believe you, and you will be the first one soon.

He and I were admitted to the same university and the same major, and of course we played in the same college team. At that time, he played as a goalkeeper, I was a winger, and he later became the captain.

However, probably in the second semester of his sophomore year, Wei Le accidentally broke his leg while playing football.

Well, he can't play football anymore.

I felt bad, but Wei Le was fine. I asked him if he was not anxious, and he told me -

"If my broken leg is destined, then it means that I am definitely not good at playing football. God is closing the door for me, and I have to take this opportunity to find the window he left for me."

Then he found it, because there was no window at all, and he pushed open the door that God had closed for him from the inside.

This makes sense, because that's how doors are used.

So goalkeeper Wei Le was replaced and head coach Wei Le came on stage.

The law school team that year was not the strongest team, but it was the only team in the entire school that really had a head coach. When other teams were still making appointments for outdoor games, he showed us what professionalism is again and again.

He is the best head coach and the best captain.

Whether it is training arrangements, tactical adjustments, or the ability to boost morale, it is far better than most people of the same age. I think he can lead a team better than some professional coaches.

I still remember the games I played and the teammates who fought side by side with me. We defeated the foreign team and won the championship.

It is hard to describe how happy I was, because I knew very well that every victory Wei Le led us to was real.

It was also at that time that I realized that Wei Le should leave.

Because college football could no longer accommodate him.

I graduated in a hurry, drank a bottle of graduation wine, cried at the door of the dormitory, and then nodded and bowed to get an office job, and hurried through the bumpy subway.This is not the life he wants, and it is destined not to be his life.

Eagles should always soar in the sky, and only sparrows will be satisfied with staying on branches.

He seized his opportunity and got a ticket to the national coach training course. It was on this day last year that I sent him on the plane from the Capital Airport to Pudong in the afternoon.

I don’t know what he experienced and learned there. But he went from complaining to me almost every night about the difficulty of the course to being able to handle it with ease later, just one or two months later.

Some people are born to work in a field. I understood this truth after seeing Wei Le, because he was born to be a head coach.

In February this year, I looked for your news everywhere, but I was disappointed because I basically didn’t find it. But a big thing happened this month, that is, a young Chinese coach joined the coaching staff of the Wolves youth team.

That day, Wei Le came back to apply for leave of absence. The counselor asked him what he was going to do, and he told the counselor that he was going to pursue his dreams. I still sent him on the plane, this time to London. He came and left in a hurry, and the bed next to mine in my dormitory was still empty.

Has your dream come true now? How much has it come true? If I ask you this, you will probably give me a finger-slit distance.

Wei Le went to England, and we had a time difference. I really couldn't stand the seven-hour time difference. And I can feel that he has found what you really love and is willing to run for it.

You told me that your boss is called Silas, and his English is not as standard as yours. You told me that your boss's boss is called Kenny Jackett, and this old man is particularly optimistic about you and often invites you to drink.

You began to integrate into the team, began to integrate into the first team day by day, and began to do more and more important work.

Then one day, you told me that you wanted to be the head coach.

More than seven hours later, I asked you when I just got up, didn't you always want to be the head coach?

What did you say? You said, but now, you really want to be the head coach.

I told you, if you want to do it, just do it, buddy supports you.

I admit that I just thought he was just talking nonsense. Who doesn't have a melancholy moment? He was probably drunk and talking to me about the future.

Then, a few days later, you sent me a photo of you and a foreigner.

You told me that his name was Rodri and you were in Spain. In addition, you are now the head coach of Wolves.

So I was dumbfounded - is this true or not?

Then, I felt more and more that things were going to be magical realism.

I also checked Wolves at the time. They almost got relegated last year, so I didn't have much confidence in whether Wei Le could succeed in Wolves, or in fact, I didn't have any confidence, because it all happened too suddenly, and I didn't think you were ready.

But you told me with one victory after another that you were ready.

I didn't miss any game. Even if I couldn't watch the live broadcast, I would try my best to find the video. Of course, I still have you. If I really can't find it, I will ask you to send me the full video.

High-definition version without commentary, it's not easy to get outside.

But who made you the head coach?

Everything is going so fast, it's really unreal. I can't really connect the guy who's talking in the camera with the guy who was lying in the bed next to me a year ago, even though you have the same voice and the same face.

I'm glad you're on your way.

I still remember that before your first game as coach, you were so nervous that you couldn't sleep, and you pulled me out to talk.

I said, "You've made incredible changes. You just may not have noticed it yet. You've done a great job as a coach."

I asked you to believe in yourself, just as I believe in you.

Keep going, Wei Le, I'm rooting for you from the other side of the world.