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 As an assistant at a struggling lower-league club, he begins to reshape the team from within challenging outdated tactics, unearthing hidden gems, and reigniting hope in the dressing room.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.

The quiet of the Dutch countryside lingered in Niels's bones as he boarded a morning train from Utrecht to Amsterdam.


The memory of the dusty field, the boys' laughter, and the creaking windmill mingled with the postcard from Crawley's U12s, tucked carefully in his notebook.


The words on the postcard 'They're still talking about your last session' lingered in Niels's mind, blending with his reflections on leadership and legacy.


His backpack sat heavy at his feet, a symbol of the journey ahead, filled with lessons and promises made. Crawley's heartbeat, in the form of that simple message, pulsed softly beneath it all.


The train's gentle hum carried him through fields of green and shimmering canals, the Dutch landscape slipping by under a pale summer sky.


Chapter 104 - Thomas