The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 242 - 65: The Wang Shuo Effect! New Skill: Inverted Foot! Time to Dominate the Bundesliga
It wasn’t until his transfer to Monaco in 2006 that the number 9 jersey was inherited by Valdes.
But it was obvious that over the past few seasons, Valdes had proven himself unworthy of the legendary shirt.
At the very least, he was not a convincing, efficient goalscorer!
Head coach Klopp had previously revealed in a media interview that the reason for selling the Swiss forward, Frei, was his lack of individual skill and insufficient movement up front.
"Before I decided to coach Dortmund, I had a phone call with Frei. We had disagreements on things like our movement in the final third."
"That’s the reason he returned to Switzerland!"
Now that Wang Shuo, a player who better fit Klopp’s requirements, had joined the team, Valdes—whose performance up front was even worse than Frei’s—would probably have to step aside for someone more capable.
...
In the early morning, Wang Shuo woke up in an unfamiliar bed.
He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, an unfamiliar comforter, and an unfamiliar bed.
Turning his head to the side, he saw a window with no curtains. Outside, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
He just couldn’t get used to living in a hotel. He had rushed to a nearby department store, casually bought a bed and mattress, then a set of bedding, and moved straight in.
He had never been someone with high demands for material possessions.
To him, the most important function of a house was simply to have a place to eat, drink, shit, and sleep.
During his time in Germany, Wang Shuo had been constantly studying Dortmund.
He had also watched many recordings of Dortmund’s matches from the previous season.
Compared to Mainz, the Bumblebees’ strength was clearly a huge step up.
But compared to teams like Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg, they were still quite a ways behind.
For example, the goalkeeper.
Weidenfeller was known in the Bundesliga for being unpredictable, but he was already the best goalkeeper Dortmund could have.
The center-backs were currently Dortmund’s strongest link.
Hummels, Subotic, and Santana—these three center-backs were among the best-performing in the Bundesliga last season.
The key was that besides defending, they could also score goals.
Can you believe it?
The three center-backs scored 11 goals.
The two forwards only managed 19.
As a result, some media outlets had made a suggestion last season.
Instead of having three center-backs rotate for two spots, why not put one of them on the forward line?
He might even score more goals than Frei and Valdes.
Left-back was also a strong position for Dortmund.
Needless to say, the Brazilian player De De, when healthy, was still one of the best left-backs in the Bundesliga.
Lee Yongsoo was getting old and had left on a free transfer.
De De’s backup was the young Schmelzer, who had also performed quite well last season.
On the right, Owomoyela was an unexpected discovery.
Dortmund had originally pinned their hopes on Rukavina.
However, after a disastrous stint at Werder Bremen, the 29-year-old former German international, Owomoyela, arrived at Dortmund.
Despite being plagued by injuries at the start of the season, he completely secured his spot from late October onward.
Just how absurd was it?
From that point on, Rukavina didn’t get any playing time at all.
Not even for a single minute.
Thoroughly disappointed, Rukavina was forced to leave for Munich 1860 in the 2nd Bundesliga during the winter break and was now being used as a bargaining chip to sign Sven Bender.
This Dortmund backline, having been coached by Dom, was formidable and also a good fit for Klopp’s requirements.
Hummels was skilled at passing, Subotic had outstanding defensive abilities, and Santana was also quite formidable.
These were all elements that Klopp particularly liked.
They were also things that his former team, Mainz, had lacked.
As for the midfield...
Shahin, Kael, Sven Bender, Letalek, and also Tinga and Klinger.
The Brazilian veteran Tinga and Klinger were once stalwarts in Dortmund’s three-defensive-midfielder formation, but they clearly didn’t fit Klopp’s requirements now.
Don’t be fooled by Klopp’s emphasis on running and high-pressing; deep down, the guy was a fiend for technique.
To put it simply, he just liked players who could both run and had technical skill.
Shahin, Foyelner, Hainauer, and others were all this type of player.
Due to their age and technical characteristics, Klinger and Tinga would likely find it difficult to remain starters under Klopp’s management.
Up front, the main focus was on the two wings.
The Polish right-winger, Kuba, had an interesting story from last season.
He got injured during the winter break and missed a total of seven league matches, from matchday 18 to 24.
Dortmund’s record in those seven matches was five draws and two losses.
Wang Shuo had already heard of Kuba back when he was at Mainz.
The Polish winger had a tragic childhood. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
When he was ten, he witnessed his father stab his mother to death. This devastated Kuba, and he even gave up football for a time.
But in the end, he bravely walked out of that shadow.
On the pitch, the Polish winger was known for his tenacity. His speed might not be exceptional, but changing pace and direction was his specialty.
’I like this kind of passionate teammate, too!’
The biggest question mark now was the left wing.
Would it be Foyelner, Reus, or Grosskreutz?
There was no definite answer yet.
In addition, Klopp had also promoted a young talent from the Dortmund U19s named Mario Götze to the first team.
After watching the recordings of Dortmund’s matches and getting a better understanding of his new teammates, Wang Shuo genuinely felt that the current Dortmund squad had immense potential.
Most importantly, they were young.
