Chapter 288: Chapter 287 Zero-Assist Winger
Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans, who often contributed "magic" long-range goals, and former Barcelona and Croatia star Rakitic, had shots barely over 80.
Even among forward players, there are many whose shooting skills hover around the 80 mark, right, Sterling, Werner?
Premier League shooting skills!
Deng Kai’s scoring ability had seen an almost leap-like growth.
He felt that it was time to start designing some special tactics and training specifically for scoring.
...
On October 27th, the fourth round of the Portugal Cup kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon joined the fight, drawing against the Primeira Liga team Vizela.
Vizela wailed across the land.
This team once had hopes of promotion last season, but in the last moments, they were successively overturned by Rio Ave and Moreirense, ultimately missing the chance to move up, remaining in the Primeira Liga.
Among them, Moreirense was the team led by Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
Now that the two foes met, it was naturally...
Remarkably uneventful.
Simply because they were no longer on the same level.
Trigella made a significant rotation for this game.
Giving more opportunities to reserve players.
Left winger Kwame Ayew, center forward Ibrahimovic, right winger Joao Pinto.
Substitute midfielder Barbosa got the chance to start today as the left attacking midfielder.
The right attacking midfield was also supposed to be swapped out, but Deng Kai coughed lightly, indicating, "Allowing substitutes to play not only helps them find their form but also lets the key players familiarize themselves with them. If we change the midfield core, then this match will mean nothing to us other than providing rest."
Maxa immediately agreed: "Young players should be trained more. Able players should be given appropriate burdens. Kai is both young and able, if he is willing, I hope he can play the entire season in every single game!"
In the end, Deng Kai started anyway.
The two defensive midfielders were Paolo Bento and Pepe.
The injury Deschamps had suffered earlier, after the final checks, turned out not to be just presbyopia; he had a slight concussion and needed some time to rest quietly before returning to the pitch.
Whenever he passed the tests, that’s when he would participate in the matches; he was expected to be out for at least a month.
Besides this match, he was expected to miss several upcoming ones.
In the defense line, the two substitute center-backs, Marcos and Facundo, got the chance to start; Barzagli, because he was our own player with clearly higher potential, was given more opportunities to develop and started the game.
Feng Te: So I’m just ’someone else’s player’ because I’m on loan from Chelsea, is that it?
Barzagli: Uh, did you miss the words ’clearly higher potential’?
The goalkeeper was also a substitute.
From any angle, this team seemed not so strong.
But in fact, this Sporting Lisbon reserve lineup was even better than the Moreirense one that defeated Vizela last season.
Isn’t Ibrahimovic ten levels above Anderson?
Pinto, despite his age, is a Benfica legend, not someone Flavio can mess with.
Bento is a fringe national team player, isn’t he stronger than Macedo?
And not to mention Pepe, a world-class star, Moreirense couldn’t find anyone near his level.
Kilop and Alex were brimming with talent, and the gap between them and Barzagli might have been the smallest among the group. It wouldn’t be a problem for them to establish themselves in the Primeira Liga in the future, but world-class? Not so likely.
So, the result of this match was a foregone conclusion.
In the 5th minute, Ibrahimovic worked some magic in the area, earning a penalty.
Joao Pinto made no mistake and gave the team the lead.
In the 36th minute, Pepe passed horizontally, and Deng Kai scored from outside the box with a long-range shot.
In the second half, at the 77th minute, Deng Kai made an outside-of-the-foot pass, which Ibrahimovic received, fending off the defender to turn and shoot in one fluid motion.
Three-nil, Sporting Lisbon advanced to the fifth round without breaking a sweat.
October 31, Portuguese League Round 8.
Lisbon Sporting thrashed Avés.
November 8, Portuguese League Round 9.
Lisbon Sporting’s form began to fluctuate, and after being ahead, they were overtaken by Guimarães, resulting in their first loss of the season.
In that match, Pepe’s red card at the beginning of the second half was a key factor; his hot-headedness put the team at a considerable disadvantage.
November 14, Portuguese League Round 10.
Without their defensive midfielder, Lisbon Sporting paired Paolo Bento with Matthaus.
The two have similar styles, but Bento is a much weaker version of Matthaus, and they had many problems connecting in the defensive zone.
Ultimately, despite their own striker scoring four goals, they just managed to shake hands and draw with Paços de Ferreira.
In three games, Deng Kai scored two goals and provided one assist. It seemed not bad, but it was a slight drop compared to his previous efficiency.
Many people said this was the normal rate.
Moreover, as the league moved into the second half of the season, Deng Kai’s efficiency would decrease further, returning to the true norm.
But actually... Deng Kai was just calibrating his cannon.
He had the technique, he had the shooting skills, and the only thing missing was power in his kicks.
That’s why his shots inside the box were powerful, but his long-range shots were still lacking somewhat.
And for a midfielder, isn’t the majority of scoring opportunities from long range?
Deng Kai was still making strategic and personal ability adjustments.
Quaresma, with three goals and one assist, was frighteningly in form.
Ronaldo scored two goals in three games, his form declining.
As Deng Kai’s number of long shots significantly increased, Ronaldo’s goals correspondingly decreased.
Who is the boss? It goes without saying.
Regrettably, after these matches, Porto’s top striker Jia De’er overtook Ronaldo, reclaiming the position of top scorer in the Liga with an impressive fifteen goals.
Viana contributed two assists, bringing his personal stats to two goals and five assists.
For a midfielder, that’s pretty good.
But compared with Deng Kai’s five goals and nine assists, it seems to lack by a factor of two, right?
This is because Viana’s actual position on the field is much further back than Deng Kai’s. He is a proper midfielder, while Deng Kai is the real attacking midfielder.
This matter has to start with Deng Kai previously convincing Viana to drop back to receive the ball.
Viana took almost half a season to catch on.
No wonder Deng Kai and Ronaldo have a good relationship, yet he didn’t play on the left but chose the right.
Turns out, when Ronaldo on the left wing doesn’t accelerate, his ball control, dribbling, and ability to break free from defenders are insufficient, needing midfielders to drop back frequently to receive the ball.
However, on the right wing, Quaresma can carry the ball from the backfield to the front, and the cooperating attacking midfielder gets to reap the rewards.
The difference in Viana’s and Deng Kai’s stats is basically the difference in assists between Ronaldo and Quaresma.
The latter with ten goals and six assists.
The former with thirteen goals and zero assists.
You read that right.
The league has played ten rounds.
And left winger Ronaldo still has zero assists!
He really can do it!
A regular striker usually racks up a few assists, but to have none is easier than winning an assist king or top scorer title.
Without going through bone-chilling cold, one really can’t develop such a thick skin!
[PS: I don’t have a fever today, and my condition is improving. Despite a sore throat, as long as I don’t feel dizzy, I’m able to write. But after writing for a while, I start to feel a bit nauseous. I’ve discovered that any rapid eye movement causes this sense of vertigo and nausea. Does any reader know what might be causing this? I’m aiming to resume normal updates in a day or two.]
