Gold Medal Coach: Chapter 17

At 10:30 p.m,, Jiang Shaoyu wasn’t sleepy and Qi Heng wasn’t in a hurry to go home. Therefore, Yu Mingxiang simply took the two of them to the meeting room next door to chat and reminisce.

Sister Yu easily brewed a pot of stomach-warming Pu’er tea and said with a smile, “Ah Yu, your mouth is still so tough. A few newcomers were about to cry after being scolded by you. They probably have a headache wondering how to write a self-criticism. However, Ye Zi definitely won’t have a headache. He is skilled in this area.”

Qi Heng laughed. “Ye Qingming is used to being arrogant and only Ah Yu can handle him. As for the group of children, they have no strength to fight back at all in front of Ah Yu.”

Qi Heng actually agreed very much with Jiang Shaoyu’s concept of leading the team. If they were on the field and overwhelmed in the first game, the referee wouldn’t give them time to slowly adjust. Instead, the second game would start a few minutes later.

The talent and operation level of professional players was naturally important but psychological quality was equally important.

Jiang Shaoyu took two sips of tea before looking at Qi Heng and asking, “Vice-chairman Qi, how was this national team selected?”

Qi Heng helplessly rubbed his temples when he heard this question. “You aren’t in the country so you don’t know much about the situation here. In fact, I wanted to have a good chat with you about this. In recent years, the domestic A-grade League has been booming and major clubs are backed by capital. They receive a huge amount of income from the game.”

“The league has calculated the financial affairs. Last year, the revenue from the competition tickets and official live streams alone was enough to support most clubs. Therefore, compared to the World Series where no results have been achieved, the major clubs pay more attention to the domestic market.”

“The domestic competition is held in large cities and fans going to the scene to watch the competition will naturally generate income such as accommodation, catering, tickets and merchandise purchases. This drives the entire e-sports industry chain. The income is higher so the clubs are content with the status quo. In any case, the potential of the domestic market is huge. It is enough to feed them so why does it matter if we can’t get results in the World Series? They can just push the blame to the national team and continue to let things rot.”

Qi Heng spread out his hands helplessly. “Last year, the live stream ratings of the domestic A-grade League finals was twice as high as the ratings for the World Series.”

Jiang Shaoyu: “……”

Twice as high? It could be seen that domestic audiences had long lost confidence with the World Series. After failing to get results for five consecutive years, the e-sports fans were so disappointed with the national team that they didn’t even bother to watch the live stream of the World Series. They just looked at the results on the Internet when the match was finished and said, ‘We lost again!’

Perhaps in the subconscious minds of most people, they couldn’t beat foreign players and it was normal to lose.

Then just play at home.

The more people thought like this, the harder it would be for the national team to produce results. Even professional players would lose their motivation when ‘losing’ became natural.

It was very obvious in this year’s World Series. In the match against the United States, Coach Zhang thought ‘We can’t beat them anyway. Just send the new recruits to train them.’ If they didn’t even feel there was a possibility of fighting before the match started then was it possible to win?

Jiang Shaoyu frowned and lowered his head while deep in thought.

The situation of the national team was far more complicated and worse than he thought.

The entire environment had no confidence in the Gun King’s World Series and the intervention of the capital behind the major clubs made the selection of the national team restrained and difficult to move.

However, Jiang Shaoyu would never allow the next national team to continue to be rotten. He came back here to clean up the mess!

Jiang Shaoyu said sharply, “So the fifth national team was actually selected by the club, right?”

Qi Heng smiled bitterly. “Yes, the sponsors for the national team were all the capital behind the clubs and they naturally want to send their own players to the national team. They don’t care if the World Series is won or lost. Being able to enter the national team and going abroad on a round trip already makes the players seem quite special.”

He sighed and lowered his voice. “For example, Mo Hantian is a sniper who is backed by capital. Lu Xingyun has the very rich TNG Club behind him. Shi Xiaobin might be too cautious when playing games but the boss of RED likes him very much because he has a good personality and looks cute. His mother fans are all over the country and his merchandise is very popular. A simple chibi pillow of him has sold millions of copies alone.”

Jiang Shaoyu: “……”

It was really rotten to the roots. No wonder why these people were weaker than the other! They didn’t enter the national team based on strength but was recommended by the clubs?

Jiang Shaoyu frowned. “I am fully responsible for selecting the members for the next team. If they can’t play well then they should be changed. I’m not afraid of offending the clubs.”

Qi Heng asked, “Are there no players you like in this national team?”

Jiang Shaoyu shook his head. “That isn’t true. Liu Shaozhou is quite good. This apprentice you trained has a strong comprehensive quality. He is calm and composed. He has the style of Captain Qi back in the past.”

Qi Heng was happy after being praised. “It is no wonder why you singled out so many people but spared Lao Lin and Xiao Liu. This is saving face for me! Xiao Liu can indeed currently be the best sniper in the domestic league based on statistics.”

Jiang Shaoyu praised it. “Yes, he also has the strength to fight against snipers from other countries.”

Yu Mingxiang interjected. “What about your old teammates from ACE? Ah Yu, what do you think about them?”

“I have always been at ease with Xiao Zhou. He plays steadily and his error rate in the game is very low. Lao Lin is ready to retire and I have to talk to him about the specific situation. Ye Zi’s personal style is too strong so I need to develop tactics for him with scouting as the core. His knife battles and street fighting are very powerful and can play a miraculous effect if he has suitable teammates.”

Jiang Shaoyu paused before adding, “As for the newcomers… let’s see how they perform.”

It seemed that the next national team would have a large change of blood.

It wasn’t known how many members of this Gourd Babies Squad could stay in the end.

Qi Heng touched his chin and asked, “Ah Yu, do you have any ideas regarding the selection method of the national team? I can make some preparations in advance.”

Jiang Shaoyu had already thought about it and he said calmly. “The excellent domestic e-sports players are all playing in the professional league. Once the next league season starts, I will pay attention to their performance in the field. I will also go to the major clubs to inspect in person and watch their daily training videos. Then I will select some people to enter the national team according to the comprehensive score.”

Qi Heng agreed. “It is really necessary to go to the club for an inspection. Perhaps there are some strong players who can’t get the recommendation of the club, whether it is because their popularity isn’t high enough or their relationship with the leaders isn’t good enough.”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “I think so as well. I will personally go to the club to watch them play training matches and try not to let them bury these players with high strength but low popularity. In addition, there will definitely be some potential people in the public sector. I plan to hold a ‘Rising Star Cup’ individual challenge in April of next year to give these people a chance.”

Yu Mingxiang’s eyes lit up. “Do you mean a Rising Star Cup that only amateurs can participate in? Professional players aren’t allowed to compete?”

“That’s right. I can learn about professional players through the club but I need a way to discover those with potential who are amateurs. Those who are interested in e-sports but haven’t signed to a team can play through this event.”

Yu Mingxiang was excited as she suddenly thought of a person. He was the genius who didn’t become an e-sports player and refused all club invitations—Ah Yu’s personal apprentice, Pei Feng.

At that time, Pei Feng offended all the major clubs and completely cut off his career path. Perhaps he could also get a ticket to the national team through the Rising Star Cup?

Jiang Shaoyu looked at the calendar on his desk and asked, “Is it until after the professional league ends that the quota of the national team is determined? How long is the team training period?”

Yu Mingxiang’s mind returned and she hurriedly replied, “The A-grade League ends in October and the national team is officially assembled in November. The team trains for one month before going to play the World Series. It is like this every year.”

Jiang Shaoyu frowned. “The training time for the team is too short. You might not necessarily win even if you put five powerful players together to play a game. In team games, cooperation and tacit understanding are more important things. No wonder why their cooperation was so bad in the training match. They all played on their own and it was a mess. Their tacit understanding hasn’t grown at all.”

They were all temporarily selected for the national team. How could they raise their tacit understanding in just a month?

Don’t look at people like Mo Hantian and Shi Xiaobin who played quite badly in the national team. If they played in their own teams with their familiar teammates then their performance in the domestic league was actually quite good.

It was just that in the national team, the teammates around them were unfamiliar and the rhythm was completely different.

It wasn’t that easy to integrate players from different clubs into a tacit team.

Jiang Shaoyu said solemnly, “This time, I will determine the candidates for the national team in advance and set aside at least three months of training time.”

Qi Heng nodded. “It makes sense. It is only after more cooperation and adapting to each other that we can achieve results in the World Series!”

Yu Mingxiang followed up on these thoughts by saying, “By the way, there are a few more colleagues in the national team. Do you want them to come see you tomorrow? There is one engineer and two teaching assistants. If there is anything you need help with, you can ask them to assist.”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “Yes, let them come to my office tomorrow at 9 a.m.”

The grand national team couldn’t only have Jiang Shaoyu as the commander. He only arrived at the base tonight and went directly to meet the players. He didn’t have time to meet these colleagues.

He would officially take office tomorrow so he should also take care of the coaching staff.

—

The next day, Jiang Shaoyu went to the cafeteria early for breakfast. Then he took Doudou around the e-sports park.

It was the first time Doudou had come out for a walk after returning to China. He faced a new environment and was running around excitedly.

Xia Li looked through the window and saw Coach Jiang walking a dog on the sports field. She was stunned and hurriedly sent a message to the national team’s ‘Newbie Group’: Coach Jiang got up so early. He also has a puppy!

The players looked out the window.

They saw a tall young man dressed in simply white clothes and black pants. He was holding a dog leash in his hand and walked leisurely on the sports field. A cute toy poodle puppy was running around in front of him. The golden sunlight shone on the man and the puppy and this scene actually gave off a type of quiet warmth.

Unexpectedly, Coach Jiang was a very caring person and had a cute puppy. Would he be sharp-tongued toward the puppy? Would he call it stupid?

The group was intrigued.

Mo Hantian’s mind returned and he asked in the group: Xia Li, you got up so early today? It is only 7 o’clock.

Xia Li: How can I get up so early? I haven’t slept all night! [Dizzy.jpg]

Shi Xiaobin: I also haven’t slept. I am still 200 words short for my self-criticism and I’m trying to hold back [split open.jpg]

Lu Xingyun: I’ve just finished editing the electronic version and I’m going to copy it out by hand.

Tang Kai: I’m still a bit short. Jiayou!

Everyone rubbed their sore eyes and continued to lower their heads to write the self-criticism.

Jiang Shaoyu slept very well last night and woke up refreshed in the morning.

At 9 a.m., Sister Yu took her colleagues to the coach’s office to formally meet him.

The engineer of the national team was called Qin Bo and he was a graduate of the computer science department. He wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a plaid cotton shirt. It was the typical clothing of a programmer. He came to the national team due to his love of e-sports.

He had the detailed data of players from all over the world in his hands and many graphs and tables that could comprehensively judge the strength of each player. In addition, the national team’s Intranet training platform and various training software were developed by him.

Out of the two teaching assistants, one was called Anna and she was a top student of the foreign language department. She was proficient in many languages and was the life assistant of the head coach. She was also responsible for interviews and translations when playing abroad.

The other was the 40 year old assistant coach, Lao Cui. He had very rich coaching experience and was a veteran in the e-sports circle. He was responsible for the daily training supervision and psychological counseling of the players.

There were few people but they were all excellent.

These assistants had their own characteristics and their abilities were quite strong.

Jiang Shaoyu took the initiative to shake hands with them. “In the future, please help me a lot. Let’s manage the national team together.”

They replied simultaneously, “Everything is arranged by Coach Jiang!”

Jiang Shaoyu finished meeting the assistants and called for the team doctor in private. He handed over his electronic medical record and several additional inhibitors. “Dr. Xue, my pheromones disorder needs to be controlled with inhibitors for a long time. Please bring these inhibitors with you in the medical box when we go in the future. If I forget to bring it or something happens, you can use this spare medicine in an emergency.”

Dr. Xue saw the pinpricks on his pale arm and felt a bit distressed. Injecting inhibitors every day had a huge negative impact on the body. However, the omega in front of her was strong and calm and no sad emotions could be seen at all. She took the inhibitors and placed them in her carry-on medicine box. She told him softly, “I understand, Coach Jiang. Your situation is very special and I will pay close attention to it. If you feel any discomfort, feel free to call me. My phone will be on standby 24 hours a day.”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “I hope you keep this matter a secret and don’t tell the players. I have already mentioned it to Sister Yu and Vice-chairman Qi.”

Dr. Xue immediately promised. “I understand. I won’t say anything.”

Jiang Shaoyu set up a WeChat group and pulled in all these assistants. The group was named: The Behind-the-Scenes Work Team of the Sixth National Team.

The preparations for the new national team had officially taken its first step today.