The hotel room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioning and the soft tapping of rain against the window. Milan's skyline shimmered in the distance, the San Siro barely visible through the mist. In the center of the room, a coffee table was cluttered with notebooks, empty mugs, and a tactical board scattered with magnets in red and white.
Julian Nagelsmann sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, studying the board with the same focus he would give a live match. Across from him, Benjamin Glück and Sandro Wagner were locked in a debate that had been going for the better part of twenty minutes.
"Alright, so we're agreed on the back line," Wagner said, rubbing his forehead. "Baumann in goal, Kimmich on the right, Raum on the left, Tah and Rüdiger in the middle. Goretzka and Groß sitting behind Bukardt up top. The question is still the three behind him."
