In addition to considerations of honor, for Lu Wenbin personally, the triple crown is also his system task, involving rewards of dozens of skill points.
When the experience required for upgrading is increasing and it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain skill point rewards through upgrading, he will never voluntarily give up the three championships and related rewards.
There was nothing the team could do if they were eliminated by their opponents due to their lack of strength, but Lu Wenbin could not accept that they gave up on their own initiative before the game even started.
Therefore, when Hope asked Lu Wenbin to speak, Lu Wenbin first apologized to the coaches, and then clearly stated his determination to continue fighting on three fronts and strive to win the triple crown.
Gustavo and Eduardo were complete unknowns before joining Hoffenheim, and they had no honors to show for themselves, so they were naturally very envious of the treble.
In addition to the influence of Lu Wenbin's leadership aura, they also clearly supported Lu Wenbin's views, declaring that they were not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and were determined and determined to fight to the end on all three fronts.
When coaches such as Ralph heard that players who played in the game themselves, such as Lu Wenbin, Gustavo and Eduardo, wanted to continue fighting on three fronts, they were speechless.
After all, it is players like Lu Wenbin who are participating in the competition. They are not afraid of hardship or fatigue, so what are the coaches afraid of
Although from a strategic point of view, Ralph and other coaches think it is wise to give up the UEFA Cup and the German Cup now, but when the players are all determined to win the treble, if the coaching staff does not believe in the players, insists that they can't do it, and wants to give up two competitions, it will definitely be a serious blow to the team's morale and confidence.
By then, the deflated team might not even be able to win the league championship.
At this time, the club chairman Hope made the final decision. The team will not give up any game and will continue to strive for victory in all three events. The coaching staff only needs to try their best to allocate the players' physical strength and playing time.
If Hope's decision results in the team losing all four major titles after the season, Hope will not blame Ralph. The team's current achievements have exceeded Hope's expectations.
If there is a chance to take a bigger gamble, take it!
After hearing what the chairman said, Ralph and other members of the coaching staff stopped talking.
In addition to the team's strategic decision, Hope also directly appointed Lu Wenbin as the second captain. During Salihovic's absence, Lu Wenbin served as the team's on-field captain.
No one objected to this point. Lu Wenbin had the ability and prestige to be the captain.
After returning to the team's training base, Ralph called all the team members together to unify their thoughts: the team's next goal is to continue fighting on three fronts, striving for victory on all three fronts, and all players on the team must be prepared to try their best.
As for the decision to announce Lu Wenbin as the team's second captain, it was also supported by the entire team.
Lu Wenbin's achievements this year and his leadership aura made him become the captain at the age of 18 without any opposition.
In addition to these two things, Lu Wenbin privately communicated with head coach Ralph, stating that there was no problem with his physical fitness and hoped that he would not be rotated in the next game.
In less than three months, he will definitely be able to persevere.
Ralph agreed that Lu Wenbin would not be rotated unless necessary, but he also said that if the physical coach gave a warning, Ralph would still rotate Lu Wenbin to let him rest.
Lu Wenbin had no objection to this.
Next, Hoffenheim began preparations for the German Cup quarter-finals.
Obasi returned to the team and started to follow the recovery training. However, because he had just returned to the team, he was definitely unable to play in the German Cup match and was not even included in the 18-man roster.
There are only 28 days in February. Just three days after the away league game against Dortmund ended, on March 3, Hoffenheim faced Schalke 04 at home in the German Cup quarter-finals.
The devil's schedule is no joke, and it is not unreasonable for the coaching staff to want to give up the German Cup and the UEFA Cup.
However, now that the team has reached a consensus and made a decision, they must do their best to win.
Because the German Cup is a decisive match and no mistakes are allowed.
Therefore, Hoffenheim played all its main players in this game, which surprised many media and fans who thought Hoffenheim would give up the German Cup.
Schalke 04 was also a bit disappointed.
Naturally, they hope that Hoffenheim will give up the German Cup, and it would be best if Lu Wenbin doesn't even play.
However, things went against their wishes. Since Hoffenheim had fielded all its main players, Schalke 04 could only fight Hoffenheim to the end at the Rhine-Neckar Arena.
Before the game started, when everyone saw the 18-year-old Lu Wenbin wearing the captain's armband and leading the team out, there were exclamations from the commentary booth and the press booth.
Many commentators were surprised and said: "Oh my God, Hoffenheim actually let the youngest player in their team be the captain on the field!"
“Is this probably the youngest captain in the adult professional league?”
"Anyway, there shouldn't have been a team captain younger than Lu Wenbin in the top five leagues."
"This is too young, can he convince the public?"
However, the sudden applause and cheers from the audience proved the fans' love and support for Lu Wenbin.
As for whether the players accept Lu Wenbin as captain, it will be revealed in the game later.
Although he was a little nervous as it was his first time as captain, Lu Wenbin still successfully completed the pre-match ceremony that a captain should perform.
Then, at 20:30 on March 3, the 2008/2009 German Cup quarter-final match between Hoffenheim and Schalke 04 officially began.
In order to ensure offensive power, Hoffenheim restored the 433 formation in this game, with Gustavo as the single defensive midfielder, Eduardo and Copado as double attacking midfielders, and Lu Wenbin, Parjic and Demba Ba as the three forwards.
The defense was already unstable and a defensive midfielder was withdrawn, so Schalke 04 naturally would not give up the opportunity to attack.
So, the two sides started a fierce offensive battle in the Rhine-Neckar Arena.
As if to prove to everyone that he had no problem being the captain, and also to prove to the head coach that he had no problem with his physical fitness, Lu Wenbin fought very hard in this game.
In the 14th minute, Lu Wenbin got a chance to shoot in the penalty area through continuous running and sudden change of direction, and shot the ball passed by Copado towards the goal.
If Neuer had not reacted quickly and saved the ball from going out of bounds, Hoffenheim would have scored a goal in the 14th minute.
However, Neuer's outstanding performance alone could not stop Hoffenheim, who were ambitious to win the treble even though their main players were injured one after another.
Soon, Hoffenheim scored their first goal of the game.
(The first update will be on April 22, please give me your monthly votes and recommendation tickets!)