For Mark Lane, who was an orphan in his previous life, living alone was something he had long been accustomed to.
Pouring himself a glass of water, Mark Lane excitedly summoned his system panel:
[Name: Mark Lane]
[Age: 18]
[Height: 175]
[Weight: 62]
[Preferred Foot: Right]
[Club: Wolfsburg]
[Owned Card: Samba Elf]
[Attributes: Ball Control S, Shooting D, Passing D, Defense D, Physical D]
[Rating: Starting Player for a Lower-Tier Team in the Top Five Leagues]
[Potential Points: 2]
As Brazil's football elf, Ronaldinho's dribbling ability was absolutely legendary in the history of football.
He was also one of the contemporary footballers who best combined technical flair with practical efficiency!
Someone once said a classic line:
Ronaldinho can dribble past you in a hundred ways, while Messi can dribble past you a hundred times in one way!
He had obtained Ronaldinho's exclusive card, and his Ball Control attribute was directly rated S, which was perfectly fine!
But when Mark Lane saw the other attributes, he couldn't help but curl his lips, mockingly self-deprecating:
"I have to say, I'm really bad..."
The five major attributes were further subdivided into several minor attributes, directly represented by numerical values:
For example, under the [Ball Control] attribute were [Dribbling], [Ball Protection], [First Touch], and [Flair Moves].
And Mark Lane, who had obtained the [Samba Elf] card, had a terrifying 99 in [Dribbling], [Ball Protection], and [Flair Moves], except for [First Touch]!
This meant that among the four basic techniques of passing, stopping, carrying, and shooting, he had maxed out in dribbling!
However, apart from that, the various minor attributes under the other four major attributes all fluctuated around fifty or sixty.
Especially the [Physical] attribute, which was somewhat dismal:
[Speed] 62, [Explosiveness] 63, [Strength] 48, [Balance] 53, [Flexibility] 62, [Stamina] 55... From the overall attributes, the system's rating was also very reasonable.
However, the system overlooked one thing.
If players were divided into geniuses and ordinary people, then Mark Lane, who possessed Ronaldinho's exclusive card, was a very lopsided genius!
Compared to players who knew a little bit of everything, being exceptionally good at one particular ability allowed him to play an unexpected role at critical moments.
Although with his current poor physical confrontation, stamina, and passing/shooting abilities, he was at most a super bankrupt version of Ronaldinho without speed and explosiveness!
However, just this legendary dribbling ability alone was enough for him to establish himself in the Bundesliga!
But establishing himself in the team and becoming an important member of the team were not the same thing.
One must know that this Wolfsburg team was full of famous players!
De Bruyne, Perisic, R. Rodriguez, Dost, Gustavo, Naldo... As far as he knew, this Wolfsburg team would stir up a green and white storm in the Bundesliga next season!
However, whether he could become a starter, or even the core, of this Wolfsburg team seemed difficult at the moment.
With his current physical qualities and technical ability, he couldn't play as a striker or a midfielder; he could only play as a winger.
And his playing style would be to break through opponents with his excellent dribbling, tear open the opponent's defense, and thus create opportunities and space for his teammates.
His competitors would naturally be the team's wingers.
As far as he knew, the team's starting left winger was the Croatia international, Perisic, nicknamed ""Sword" Perišić."
The right winger was the veteran Caligiuri, who had played over a hundred games in the Bundesliga.
On the bench, there was also the Portugal international Vieirinha!
From an overall perspective, he couldn't compete with any of these three!
One must know that at the age of eighteen, stable playing time was key to improving one's game.
If the team couldn't give him enough playing time, he might consider requesting a loan.
Judging from yesterday's debut, the system would issue tasks for each match.
If he completed them, he would receive corresponding rewards.
This meant that he had to play more games to earn potential point rewards and become stronger!
Therefore, instead of wasting time guarding the water cooler or being part of the towel-waving cheer squad at Wolfsburg, it would be better to go to a team with stable playing time to level up.
However, he had also considered that with the departure of the team's midfield core, Diego, there would be fewer players in the attacking front.
Even if he couldn't become Wolfsburg's starting winger, with a bit of effort, he should still be able to become the first substitute for the winger position.
After all, he possessed Ronaldinho's dribbling ability!
"Start as a substitute, then slowly improve my abilities, and then compete for a starting position..."
Thinking of this, Mark Lane also began to ponder.
Where should he allocate the two points he had just gained?
Firstly, as a winger, a lack of speed was unacceptable.
Whether it was dribbling past opponents or crossing, faster speed was required.
However, in today's game, during several one-on-one encounters with Hannover defenders, Mark Lane clearly felt that simply by changing his rhythm, he could dribble past most Bundesliga defenders.
Besides, even if he added points, it would be difficult for his speed to become faster than Perisic's in a short period.
Being able to dribble past opponents was not the key.
The key lay in the decision-making after dribbling past opponents!
If he could only dribble past opponents but couldn't make reasonable decisions afterward, then he would just be a lone wolf obsessed with dribbling.
Such a player would not gain the trust and affection of coaches and teammates, nor could he become the team's core!
Therefore, what he should do was to quickly strengthen his physical confrontation ability, so that after dribbling past opponents, he wouldn't be easily pulled down or directly knocked away by opponents.
Moreover, if his physical confrontation was stronger, the probability of injury during dribbling would also decrease.
Ultimately, he allocated the two potential points he had just gained to the [Strength] attribute under the major [Physical] attribute.
It just so happened to increase from 48 to 50!
Looking at his attribute panel, Mark Lane suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, as if he was playing a real-life football game!
"I feel more than just a little stronger, but two points stronger..."
... The next day.
8:30 AM.
Inside the meeting room at the Wolfsburg training base.
Wolfsburg's sporting director, Allofs, was intently reading the newspaper in his hand.
The newspaper in his hand was the freshly published "Bild" from this morning.
"Bild" is the largest daily newspaper in Germany and even Europe, with its ninth to thirteenth pages being their star section — Sports!
Bild's sports section mainly focuses on Bundesliga League reports, while also covering other German football events.
Because its football journalists are not only meticulous like Germans but also very professional, with a considerable amount of exclusive reports on various teams.
They are relatively authoritative in match analysis and trend predictions.
And on today's sports page, there was a summarized report on the just-concluded eighteenth round of the Bundesliga League.
Among them, Wolfsburg's home match against Hannover became the focus of the report!
After trailing 1-3, they managed to score two goals in the last five short minutes, securing a dramatic draw.
And the 18-year-old Wolfsburg youngster Mark Lane, who came on in the eighty-eighth minute, and the Bundesliga winter transfer king De Bruyne, who scored his debut goal for Wolfsburg, became the heroes of the dramatic equalizer!
Although not as exaggerated as the British media, who always like to heap praise on their burgeoning young players, "Bild" also highlighted the Wolfsburg youngster Mark Lane in its report, praising him for changing the game's situation within five minutes of coming on as a substitute.
After all, in the world of football, stories of young players achieving fame are the most popular!
Sitting opposite him was the team's head coach, Dieter Hecking.
Putting down the newspaper, Allofs immediately asked, "What do you think of this kid?"
"Based on his performance as a substitute yesterday, he already possesses the ability to establish himself in the Bundesliga. Especially his dribbling, it's definitely the best in the team!"
"However, during his time in the youth team, he never displayed this ability..."
Hearing this, Allofs, wearing glasses, raised an eyebrow, "So you think he suddenly had a breakthrough?"
"Dribbling talent isn't developed overnight. I'm more inclined to believe he was hiding his true ability!"
"And just from his silky dribbling, he's worth a professional contract!"