Chapter 331: Chapter 77: Leader of the Flock: Wang Shuo! A Great Change in the Bundesliga! The Strongest Passive Skill: Foundation! Dortmund’s New Captain

’What should I do?’

Dortmund’s current lineup on the pitch was:

Goalkeeper: Ziegler.

Defense: Schmelzer, Hummels, Subotic, and Owomoyela.

Midfield: Shahin and Sven Bender as the two defensive midfielders, with Reus, Foyelner, and Kuba ahead of them.

Striker: Wang Shuo.

Dortmund didn’t have a tradition of deciding the captaincy based on seniority.

Among the players currently on the pitch, Klopp felt only three were qualified to wear the captain’s armband.

Coincidentally, they formed the spine of the team: Hummels, Shahin, and Wang Shuo.

Hummels had joined the team in ’08 and immediately became a starting center-back, performing exceptionally well.

And then there was Shahin, a midfield prodigy from the Dortmund youth academy. He was arguably the most ideal candidate for captain.

Originally, Klopp would have been fine with either of them taking the role.

Hummels had less seniority. Shahin had great control in the midfield, but his personality was a bit soft, making him less capable of leading the team through a tough fight in a crucial moment.

Of course, Hummels wasn’t particularly assertive either, just slightly more so than Shahin.

But now, Klopp had a better option.

If it were up to him, Klopp would choose Wang Shuo.

It wasn’t just because Wang Shuo was the team’s biggest star at the moment.

More importantly, Wang Shuo’s desire to win and his ability to inspire his teammates in crucial moments made him the kind of leader who could guide the team to a breakthrough.

But Wang Shuo had only joined the team in the summer of ’09. Strictly speaking, he had only been there for half a year, giving him the least seniority of all.

Klopp turned to look at Buvac.

Buvac had obviously guessed Klopp’s thoughts and gave a slight nod.

He then looked at Peter Krawietz, who also nodded.

With that, Klopp took a deep breath and cast aside his hesitation.

There wasn’t time to hesitate any longer.

’Let’s give this a try!’

’Besides, this isn’t the official team captain, just the on-field captain for now.’

’If any of the other players have an issue, we’ll deal with it after the match!’

With that thought, Klopp walked to the sideline, waved at Weidenfeller, and shouted onto the pitch.

"Wang, come over here a second!"

All the players from both teams, the Cologne fans in the stands, and the countless Bundesliga fans watching the live broadcast all witnessed this scene unfold.

"It looks like Dortmund is about to entrust Wang Shuo with a major responsibility!"

"Is Klopp planning to hand the captain’s armband to Wang Shuo?"

"Keep in mind, Wang Shuo only just joined Dortmund this past summer. Isn’t it a little too soon for him to be captain?"

"Back when Bayern made the unprecedented move of appointing Van Bommel as captain, it caused a massive uproar."

Wang Shuo quickly ran to the sideline and stood before Klopp.

At that moment, the captain’s armband that had been on Weidenfeller’s arm was now in Klopp’s hand.

As Wang Shuo arrived, Uncle Mustache grabbed his left arm and slid the armband on.

"Wang, don’t overthink it. Just focus on playing your game. I believe in you!"

Wang Shuo hadn’t expected Klopp to name him the on-field captain.

In that moment, he was truly moved.

And since Klopp was willing to trust him and give him this great responsibility, he certainly wasn’t going to refuse.

"Don’t worry, leave it to me!" Wang Shuo patted Klopp’s arm, then turned and ran back onto the pitch.

The new object on his left arm felt a bit awkward. Wang Shuo wasn’t used to it.

He even felt the captain’s armband was a little heavy.

But as he ran back onto the pitch, Foyelner was the first to come over, giving him a high-five and a hug.

"Let’s go, brother!"

At a crucial moment, his old brother from Mainz was there to back him up.

Kuba also ran over to give Wang Shuo a high-five and a hug.

Then came Sven Bender, Subotic, Owomoyela, and the others.

Reus and Schmelzer were farther away, but they made a point of running over as well.

Shahin and Hummels also ran over to shake his hand and give him a high-five.

The goalkeeper, Ziegler, clapped his hands together forcefully, shouted Wang Shuo’s name, and raised both his hands high in the air.

Receiving the approval of his teammates filled Wang Shuo with unprecedented confidence.

"OK!"

"Alright, boys, let’s pick up the pace! We need to get a goal as soon as possible!"

"Let’s go!"

Everyone immediately roared in agreement.

Only then did Klopp, on the sideline, let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He hadn’t made the wrong choice.

Wang Shuo wasn’t one to fight for the spotlight. He even voluntarily gave up penalty kicks to others, especially Shahin.

But that didn’t mean Wang Shuo had no standing in the locker room.

Quite the opposite. Some people’s standing is built up, step by step, by being unassuming and quietly putting in the work.

’Choose Shahin?’

’Perhaps not everyone would have been convinced.’

’The same would have been true for Hummels.’

’But choosing Wang Shuo... Klopp was sure he couldn’t go wrong with that!’

And on the pitch, under Wang Shuo’s leadership, Dortmund resumed their charge against Cologne.