"Then I'll say it, the plan is... don't let me play."
"What??"
Arteta's face instantly changed, appearing incredibly surprised. He had never encountered a player who made such a request.
Cao Baiming looked at him, all these reactions were within his expectations.
Cao Baiming's expression was calm and collected, and he continued.
"It's not that I don't want to play at all. You can use the other system you prepared before the starting lineup. Let Messi orchestrate the attack, and my playing time can be arranged entirely for the second half."
"The purpose of doing this is to disrupt the opponent's rhythm..." Arteta finished Cao Baiming's sentence, looking thoughtfully at the tactical board in front of him.
"Exactly! It seems your comprehension is quite good, befitting a head coach!"
Hearing Cao Baiming's praise, Arteta felt something was off. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable. He felt like he was being complimented, but at the same time, insulted.
"There's no need to elaborate on Messi's role. If I'm not on the field, Messi will undoubtedly be the team's organizational core. This is beyond question. However, the opponents won't guess it because they won't anticipate that Cao Baiming's name will be absent from the starting lineup..."
"With Messi constantly creating opportunities in midfield, the opponents will inevitably have to passively change their previous tactics and redeploy their forces to the midfield to restrict him. During this transition, an advantage might already be gained!"
"Of course, even if an advantage isn't gained, it doesn't matter, because I'll be on the field in the second half. The rhythm the opponents have painstakingly shifted will surely not be adjusted back immediately. Our tactics will quickly shift from slow possession play in the center to quick attacks on the flanks. This way, the traps they set will be completely useless!"
Arteta listened, his expression becoming increasingly excited.
"Brilliant, simply brilliant!..."
"This way, even if the opponents are prepared, all their preparations will be in vain, hahaha!"
Arteta was already agitated. Although he only understood Cao Baiming's plan partially, even vaguely, he couldn't suppress the sense of accomplishment, as if this was an idea he had come up with himself.
Implementing this plan was not easy, especially with only two days left to prepare. There were still many detailed issues to arrange and adjust in the tactics, making the workload immense.
Cao Baiming smiled faintly and then prepared to turn and leave.
Now, half the problem was solved. The rest would depend entirely on himself, not on others!
Soon, the training content was adjusted. With time already tight, the club even increased the daily training time by one hour.
This temporary change caused dissatisfaction among many players, but when they heard Cao Baiming's idea, they accepted it willingly.
After all, no one wanted to lose to Bayern in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The common sentiment was to win, to win by any means necessary, and to win beautifully. Bayern Munich had not lost a single game in the Champions League this season. Their arrogance needed to be curbed!
Otherwise, their players would become even more overconfident, and the fans would be even more exaggerated, already pre-booking the championship!
"Think they're strong just because they beat PSG? They have no idea what true terror is!"
"Let them feel the terror of the Premier League!"
"Paris Saint-Germain isn't much of a threat. With Messi gone, what can Mbappé possibly achieve?"
"Everyone, let's go, let's try to blow them away in the next game!!!"
"Charge!!"
After two days of training, under this new tactical approach, the players' performance exceeded expectations.
In the time bubble, all of this had already come to pass. With this countermeasure, while it couldn't guarantee the opponent would fall for the trap, the simulations almost always resulted in victory!
After the final training session, Cao Baiming returned to rest, and his phone rang on the way.
It was Mike calling...
"Hello, I said try not to call at this time. Is there something important?"
Mike paused, but his breathing betrayed his excitement.
"I've been keeping an eye on the stocks you told me about a few days ago. The one we invested the most in has risen by one hundred and ninety-seven percent in the last two hours!!"
"One hundred and ninety-seven percent? That's tripling our investment?"
"That's right! It's still rising. Rumor has it the company's technological research and development has made significant breakthroughs and they've partnered with several tech giants! All of this happened within hours. Even insiders only found out today, but how did you..."
Mike trailed off mid-sentence.
Cao Baiming was extremely excited.
"How much did we invest?"
"A total of seven billion! We are now the fourth largest shareholder!! Oh, and the other companies are also performing very well..."
Hearing this, Cao Baiming suddenly realized that the prediction in the time bubble might indeed be correct!
"Thank you! You've worked hard. Your salary is increased today, take a hundred million to have some fun!"
Mike was thrilled. Hearing about a salary increase seemed to trigger some kind of conditioned reflex, instantly boosting his spirits.
"Hahaha, thank you boss, thank you boss. A hundred million raise, right? Wait, a what...???"
"One hundred million," Cao Baiming said calmly.
For a few seconds, there was no sound from the other end of the phone...
As a professional manager, Mike had indeed seen large sums of money, such as player transfer fees and agency commission, but one hundred million euros was still an almost unimaginable concept!
He had never even seen one hundred million euros, let alone possessed it. He had never thought he would be able to accumulate one hundred million euros; it was simply an unattainable figure!
Yet, what Cao Baiming had just mentioned was a salary of one hundred million euros!
"Boss, did I hear that correctly? You're going to give me a salary of one hundred million euros?"
After composing himself, Mike finally asked.
"That's right. Consider it a bonus. You've handled quite a lot for me lately. Keep up the good work, and there will be more to come."
Hearing this, Mike was finally convinced. He bit his finger fiercely.