Chapter 277: Chapter 276: Ruining Another One
Despite Drogba being regarded as a top-notch tough guy with a body for national defense,
his style of play and an old injury still caused him to be injured multiple times over his career.
Otherwise, his potential could have been even higher.
Of course, after placating Drogba’s emotions, Deng Kai also set higher expectations for him, "But to come back to it, do you know why you always fail to score?"
That was the million-dollar question.
Drogba had been dreaming of finding out the answer.
Bad luck once or twice is plausible, but it can’t always be bad luck.
He even started to wonder if he had offended God and that God was playing tricks on him.
A fat peach: No, it’s me playing tricks on you.
In fact, Drogba was not far from scoring in each match.
He had already hit the crossbar once, the post once, the goalkeeper twice, and a defender’s body thrice.
If even half of those turned into goals, that would already be three or four.
Five matches, three goals, two assists, plus tactical contribution, isn’t that what a divine striker is?
Don’t expect other players to meet the same demands you have for Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
These are the world’s top players!
Ibrahimovic: Damn it! Who the hell said that?
Deng Kai: I did!
Ibrahimovic: Then I think you’re right, Brother Kai!
"Your playing style is what makes your scoring efficiency low. Intense scuffles and confrontations will definitely affect your shooting touch," Deng Kai had analyzed Drogba’s situation, "Also, your technical abilities are still somewhat lacking. Some opportunities that are truly yours, you have a hard time seizing."
"Do you know why you’ve been starting in recent matches? It’s because Mr. Trigella is satisfied with your performance on the field; you’ve met the basic objectives he set for a player in your position."
"Drawing defenses, movement, covering, serving as a pivot, winning headers... you do all these very well."
"But did you notice? None of these include scoring!"
"So your scoring opportunities are beyond these tasks. When you drop back to receive the ball, do you only pass it back or hold off the opponent and then pass back?"
"With your ability to contest, you could actually turn and knock the ball away using the opponent’s pressure and unleash a powerful long-range shot! You have the physical quality and power for that!"
"I see you practicing shots in the box, but honestly, how many chances do you think you get to shoot from inside the box? Your pace isn’t fast, and once you’re in the area, your shooting preparation is enough time for others to disrupt the football."
"Moreover, your task involves frequent pulling away, dropping back, and moving, while the real opportunities to shoot inside the box are for Ronaldo, me, Quaresma, Viana. Your chances are on the outside!"
"Even when the football does reach you inside the box, and you actually get the ball, the team’s task for you is to draw attention and serve as a pivot to create shooting opportunities for others. Do you understand now?"
"You may be capable of more than just that. But you must first perform these tasks well before you can have the chance to do more."
"Including the long shot I just mentioned, you can’t try it often, only occasionally on top of your primary duties. You might feel this is unfair..."
Drogba nodded.
If what Deng Kai said was true, then it did seem a bit unfair to him.
Where is it written that a striker isn’t allowed to shoot on goal?
Besides, Drogba wasn’t without the ability to score from inside the box; treating him purely as a workhorse seemed a bit like bullying, didn’t it?
Deng Kai laughed: "But isn’t the last player who thought it was unfair now your substitute?"
Achoo!
On the training field, Ibrahimovic always felt like someone was cursing him.
Suddenly, Drogba didn’t feel it was unfair anymore; if this was the price for starting, he still preferred it.
"Actually, it’s not really unfair," Deng Kai quietly told Drogba, "The opportunities you create are mostly used by Ronaldo, me, and Quaresma."
"You could go study it... nevermind, you definitely don’t have the time, I’ve done the research for you, if you were to squander these opportunities yourself, you’d have to be scoring an average of three and a half goals per game to be comparable."
"I’m not questioning you, but you can count on your fingers, are there any players in world football who score an average of three and a half goals per game. That’s your value!"
Drogba had an epiphany!
So that’s how it is!
He couldn’t possibly achieve an average of 3.5 goals per game, no one can.
He was far from achieving an average of even one goal per game.
Wasn’t he sold by Le Mans without any reluctance precisely because his goal-scoring efficiency was too low?
Previously, he was hovering around an average of 0.35 goals per game.
But similarly, this proved that his ability to create opportunities was strong.
Drogba was satisfied.
If he could become one of the top centre-forwards in creating opportunities, that was also a path to big money.
The team physician listened on the side, startled.
He wanted to ask, were all these opportunities truly created by Drogba alone?
Wasn’t it also thanks to Deng Kai’s brilliant passes, Viana’s organizing, Ronaldo’s sprints, and Quaresma’s dribbling that they were created?
Among them, Deng Kai and Quaresma had a considerable share.
Truth be told, the opportunities that Drogba created and utilized himself were just about average, right?
Better to take the rare chance to score a goal himself than having it taken by another.
All this reasoning had long since made Drogba dizzy.
Now, Drogba had three thoughts in his head.
The first was to recover from his injury as quickly as possible, to return to the pitch sooner.
The second was to train in long-range shooting, especially turning and volleying from a distance.
The third was to practice playmaking, aiming for simplicity in creating plays, to suddenly accelerate the team’s attack from his position, to create more shooting and scoring opportunities, to realize his personal value, to treat the team as a home and his teammates as family, to serve the entire midfield and offense wholeheartedly!
Deng Kai was pleased with Drogba’s perceptiveness.
All set, another has been tricked, ahem... another has been taught!
...
News of Drogba’s injury quickly spread throughout the team.
Ibrahimovic was over the moon when he found out.
That’s not right, the Swedish genius wouldn’t go wild with joy over someone else’s injury leading to his own ascension.
He maintained a serious expression, preserving the dignity of his genius.
Then, his ten toes jubilantly waved inside his football boots, sliding on his knees in celebration, even pulling off a siu!
But reality delivered a heavy blow to the Swedish genius.
October third, the fifth round of the Primeira Liga.
Sporting Lisbon faced the reigning champions—Boavista!
At Deng Kai’s suggestion, Trigella resolutely chose the old and short Joao Pinto as the team’s centre-forward.
And it worked out pretty well.
Pinto himself contributed an assist.
Ronaldo and Quaresma flew down each wing, each scoring a goal, securing the scores.
The sides tied at two apiece.
In the final moments, Deng Kai’s long shot led to a corner.
Viana took the corner kick, and Pepe, who had come on as a substitute for Deschamps, leapt up and powered a header into the net, scoring a stunning winner against the strong opponent!
Sporting Lisbon achieved a five-game winning streak in the league!
