Before he realised it, Ethan had already spent three years managing New Manchester United.
After transmigrating to England and becoming the owner of this legendary club, Ethan had spent three full years there. He was now 26 years old, still in the prime of his youth and always filled with confidence.
However, deep down, he was more mature than anyone else.
He possessed more than twenty years of additional memories, some of which concerned the future and were highly likely to come true. With all of that constantly flooding his mind, Ethan felt it would be difficult for anyone in his position not to become mature.
But he did not allow that maturity to hinder his ideals or ambitions. Instead, he turned it into an advantage, allowing himself to retain the energy and courage of a young man while avoiding common youthful mistakes, such as being overly ambitious or seeking quick success.
Sometimes, even Eva, the person closest to him, would say that Ethan was a natural actor who lived his life as though he were standing on a stage.
Ethan felt that she had a point.
After transmigrating, he seemed to have gained another identity. Was he the Ethan born in England, or the man who had lived his previous life elsewhere?
It was difficult to distinguish what was real from what was borrowed.
The only certainty was that Ethan would never allow himself to live another mediocre life. He was determined to accomplish something extraordinary.
Football was the field he understood best and the one in which he had the greatest confidence.
This year, New Manchester United had earned a considerable amount from player sales. The transfers of Distin, Ståhlson, Kitson, Crouch, and Poulsen had brought substantial funds into the club. Apart from the portion spent on new signings, the rest was invested in the club's development.
The North Stand at the City Ground had been expanded, increasing the stadium's capacity to 14,000.
However, to better align with the future development of English football, Ethan converted the original standing areas into seating. Even so, the club's average ticket price remained £15, the lowest among all League Two clubs.
It was one way of repaying the supporters.
The training facilities at the Newton Heath base were also being improved further.
Several new training pitches had been added specifically for the youth academy. The playing surfaces used by the reserve team and the under-18 side were also upgraded, and the club planned to install undersoil heating beneath every training pitch at Newton Heath.
Construction had also begun on an indoor training facility, which was particularly important given Manchester's frequent rain.
But the most important part remained the laboratory.
Ethan's investment in the laboratory had always been astonishing. Whether it involved introducing new equipment or developing technology, he had never been reluctant to spend money, and Professor Fryer and his team had never disappointed him.
New Manchester United's player fitness database had now been completed. The next stage involved maintaining and updating it.
Research and development on the nutritional supplements were also progressing steadily, although the level of investment required was no longer as great as before.
At the beginning of 2001, Ethan had allocated all the transfer income from Distin and Ståhlson to the laboratory to establish a research project known as the Meditation Chamber.
The project had now produced its first results and had begun to be used in training, although further improvements were still planned.
After two years of heavy initial investment, the laboratory had entered a more stable stage.
The club now only needed to provide a budget for daily operations, technical improvements, and equipment upgrades. Compared with the original investment, this amount was minimal, yet the benefits it brought to the club were enormous.
For example, not a single New Manchester United player had been unavailable for more than two weeks during the previous season.
That alone demonstrated the laboratory's contribution.
Even minor injuries had been rare, particularly those caused by training or matches.
Because of the laboratory's outstanding work during the previous season, everyone at New Manchester United trusted it greatly.
The players no longer needed instructions from the coaching staff. They actively cooperated with the laboratory's adjustments and physical tests because every one of them wanted to suffer fewer injuries and have more opportunities to play.
...
To make the laboratory feel more welcoming, Ethan had replaced the original iron fencing that surrounded it.
Trees were planted around the perimeter, while ornamental flowers and plants filled the courtyard, making the entire area look much more pleasant.
Although it was still housed in the original single-storey building, the exterior walls had been redecorated, and the interior facilities were far more complete than when the laboratory had first opened.
It was not only the laboratory. Every part of the Newton Heath training base, both inside and outside, was constantly being improved.
After entering the laboratory, Ethan first went to the office but found no one there.
He searched around and eventually found Professor Fryer and his team standing outside the Meditation Chambers.
The so-called Meditation Chamber consisted of five separate rooms.
Each room contained a carefully designed reclining chair that could automatically adjust to an ergonomically suitable position according to the user's body shape.
Once someone lay down, even their hands and feet could rest comfortably on the chair, allowing the entire body to relax.
Professor Fryer and his team were currently observing Essien inside one of the chambers.
"The Meditation Chamber essentially uses a process similar to hypnosis," Professor Fryer explained to Ethan.
"After the player lies down on the chair, the upper section of the machine lowers and surrounds his head. He can no longer see or hear anything happening around him."
"What is the purpose of that?" Ethan asked curiously.
Professor Fryer smiled.
"We first show the player calming images similar to those used during hypnosis, accompanied by soothing and uplifting music. This gradually guides his emotions and helps him relax.
"Once he enters the correct state, we begin guiding him into meditation. The length of that process varies from person to person."
"After the player enters a meditative state, we begin playing sounds and images from matches, mainly focusing on mistakes he has made.
"For example, we might show a defensive error Essien made in a friendly, or a moment when he hesitated and the team conceded, along with other similar situations."
Ethan listened in astonishment.
"Isn't that similar to Mourinho showing the players video clips in the analysis room and helping them recognise their mistakes?"
"Not at all!" Professor Fryer shook his head with a smile.
"Our machine cannot replace the head coach.
"All we can do is try to trigger the player's memories and help him mentally return to the situation as it happened.
"He then judges for himself. What did I do wrong? What should I have done instead? How could I have responded better?
"At the same time, you can see the small electrodes attached to his head, chest, hands, feet, and other parts of his body.
"These allow us to monitor his heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, and other physical data while he experiences those situations again."
At this point, Professor Fryer laughed.
"You may not believe it, but our experiments have shown that when a player relives a mistake, fully understands the details of what went wrong, and identifies how to correct it, he is much less nervous the next time he encounters a similar situation."
"So you repeatedly use meditation to place the player back in the moment, reducing his anxiety so that when the same situation happens again, he can respond more calmly," Ethan said admiringly.
It was a brilliant idea. He only wondered how effective it would prove in practice.
"Exactly," Professor Fryer replied with a laugh.
"Because the player is in a meditative state, the experience leaves a very deep impression on him. That makes it easier for him to correct weaknesses and mistakes.
"At the same time, the data we collect gives us a clearer understanding of the player's physical condition during match situations, allowing us to coordinate adjustments in other areas."
"In addition, this type of training can be extremely helpful for players returning from injury, especially from a psychological perspective.
"Using this method, we can reawaken the body's competitive responses and help the player recover match sharpness more quickly."
"Of course, all of this is only supplementary. The real work still depends on the coaching staff and the players themselves," Professor Fryer concluded modestly.
Ethan smiled and shook his head before patting Professor Fryer appreciatively on the shoulder.
"No, Professor. I think this is remarkable.
"Do you know what I believe? These subtle improvements are having an enormous effect on our team and our players."
Professor Fryer was delighted to receive Ethan's praise.
Ethan had strongly supported his research from the very beginning, and now the project was finally progressing in the right direction.
Professor Fryer planned to write an academic paper on the subject.
As an experienced professor, he understood that if he could provide reliable data to support his findings, the paper would create a major sensation in sports science.
Naturally, the paper would not reveal any of the laboratory's core secrets.
Even so, it would bring him considerable recognition and success.
Professor Fryer felt excited at the thought, but beneath that excitement was deep gratitude toward Ethan.
When he had been unable to find investors, he had almost abandoned hope of continuing his research.
Ethan's arrival had saved the project.
Over the previous two years, Ethan had supported his experiments almost without reservation.
Professor Fryer felt that he could never fully repay that kindness.
The two continued talking outside the Meditation Chamber.
Before long, Essien completed his session and walked out.
He was clearly still immersed in the meditative state he had just experienced. It took some time before he gradually became fully alert again.
However, the experience had left a very deep impression on him, particularly the details of the mistakes he had made.
During his post-session report to Professor Fryer, Essien said he could not yet say whether the experiment would genuinely help him.
At the very least, however, he now clearly understood where he had gone wrong.
He knew what he should do the next time he encountered a similar situation and how he needed to correct his weaknesses.
That alone satisfied Ethan.
No player was perfect.
Every player improved through a continuous cycle of making mistakes, correcting them, and progressing.
Now that Essien understood his mistakes, the next step was to correct them.
Once he did, that would be proof of his improvement.
There could hardly be a more ideal result from a training session.
(To be continued.)