Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 186: 186. A hellish start to the new season

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Lance had always relied on two templates to perform at an exceptionally high level.

Nagi Seishiro and Bachira Meguru

Two characters from an unknown work helped Lance create many famous scenes on the field.

One was a lazy genius, capable of showing divine ball control in small spaces and completing dazzling dribbles with unscientific moves comparable to a manga.

The other was a young man with a monster inside him, who could perform wild dribbling breakthroughs, relying on his primal instinct to cut through defences like a hot knife through butter.

However, both of them had a problem:

In their respective works, they didn’t seem to be characters primarily known for their shooting.

What to do after a breakthrough?

In the past, Lance had no worries at all.

After a breakthrough, isn’t it just a shot?

Creating a perfect shooting space makes it very difficult for the goalkeeper to defend.

Against mid-to-lower-tier Bundesliga teams, he was accurate every time.

Against world-class teams, such as Real Madrid in the Champions League, Bayern in the Bundesliga, or Argentina in the World Cup, Lance had also scored against them.

He initially thought he could use these two templates to conquer all teams in the world of football, but unexpectedly, on the day of the DFL-Supercup, Lance seemed to have truly hit the ”sophomore slump.”

That report he had scoffed at seemed not to be malicious slander from an opposing force, but rather to have some truth to it.

In any case, Guardiola must have thoroughly studied Lance, inside and out.

As a result, on the field, their defence consciously focused on blocking Lance’s shots.

No matter how Lance changed his approach, he ultimately had to shoot, and Lance’s dominant foot was his right foot; his weak foot’s shooting accuracy and power were far inferior to his right foot.

So, the problem arose:

No matter how he dribbled past opponents, it would always come back to his right foot.

Therefore, defenders could often ignore feints, they only needed to concentrate on preventing Lance from pulling the ball to his right foot for a shot, and in defence, they would try to stand on Lance’s right side, covering the right half of the field, leaving the left half completely open, allowing Lance to dribble from the left side at will.

This targeted defence made it very difficult for Lance to play.

Fortunately, the Nagi Seishiro template was powerful enough, and Lance created some chances.

His dazzling ball control and dribbling moves left defenders Dante and Boateng unable to cope, still creating some space for right-footed shots.

But at least 5 shots inside the box were blocked by goalkeeper Neuer!

Neuer, a World Cup-winning goalkeeper, clearly had the momentum of being the ”world’s number one goalkeeper.”

He made saves high and low in front of the goal, forming a despair-inducing ”Wall of Sighs.”

Even when Lance, with 100% rage, opened up a golden opportunity, a close-range shot inside the box, Neuer made a miraculous save.

Lance subtly began to question life on the spot.

Who exactly was the cheat?

After the match, Neuer revealed his secret in an interview.

”That’s right, the coaching staff and Pep, they studied a lot. We did a lot of targeted training. My goalkeeper coach also gave me many pointers. Lance is very strong; he was the most dazzling player at the World Cup, and it’s a pity I couldn’t face him there. However, his shooting, while seemingly strong, still has certain flaws. Each preparatory movement before a shot corresponds to a specific landing spot for the shot, I just need to anticipate his shot in advance, move my feet early, and I can save his shot...”

Ultimately, Lance had been thoroughly analysed.

Just like ”Chicharito” Hernández, who scored 20 goals in his first season after joining Manchester United.

The miraculous substitute often created miracles.

But in Hernández’s second season, he faced targeted defence, his goal tally significantly declined, and he was no longer miraculous.

After Coutinho joined Liverpool, he delivered an MVP-level performance in his first season, being named Liverpool’s Player of the Season.

In his second year, Coutinho was studied by opponents, and coupled with Klopp’s tactical adjustments, his performance declined across the board.

Mario G?tze, in his first season after joining Bayern, was still able to make the starting lineup and perform well.

In the new season, due to injuries and his own form, plus being studied by the whole world after scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final, his performance worsened, and he eventually found himself on the bench.

As analysed in a post-match column by Kicker:

”To say Lance is hitting a ’sophomore slump’ is too early. In fact, Lance’s performance in this match was still outstanding. He was perhaps the most dedicated player on the entire Bayer Leverkusen team. Son Heung-min, De Bruyne, Kie?ling, Rolfes, including the defensive midfielders, all performed quite poorly, completely losing their attacking impetus from last season. Are they all hitting a sophomore slump? Not at all.”

”The main reason is the significant squad changes caused by Bayer Leverkusen’s summer transfers, coupled with the disruption of the World Cup, which shortened Bayer Leverkusen’s pre-season preparation time, leading to the entire team not finding a suitable playing style and tactical details not being fully implemented. Everyone’s role was unclear, which easily led to confusion. Bayern Munich clearly had better chemistry, and their strength was already not weak. Bayer Leverkusen, in this state, had no reason to win; losing was normal.”

”Of course, it was also evident that Lance was being targeted. His biggest weaknesses now are still his physical strength and his shooting. Lance lacks long-range shooting ability, and there is still room for improvement in his shot selection and shooting details. There is a certain gap between him and world-class strikers like Lewandowski and Robin van Persie.”

”I find that all of Germany is too harsh on Lance. Post-match media reports were filled with criticism of Lance, and the ’sophomore slump’ narrative was prevalent. In the opinion of this magazine’s reporter, Lance is still the absolute core of Bayer Leverkusen, and he will lead Bayer Leverkusen to become the most competitive team in the Bundesliga and Champions League.”

”We believe that once Lance improves his shooting and physicality, and the entire team matures in their chemistry, Bayer Leverkusen will once again unleash world-shocking combat power!”

...

”Oh ho ho ho!!! The match is over!!”

”The home team, Borussia Dortmund, ultimately won the match!!”

”The fans at Westfalenstadion, this devil’s home ground, are incredibly excited!!”

”They have finally achieved revenge, handing Bayer Leverkusen their first Bundesliga defeat of the new season, and their second consecutive loss in recent matches!”

”Thanks to Reus’s brilliant goal, Borussia Dortmund defeated Bayer Leverkusen 1-0...”

”Lance tried to change his playing style, delivering multiple deadly threats while being surrounded. Unfortunately, Kie?ling lost his shooting boots; he wasted at least 3 clear-cut chances! The substitute striker Firmino also doesn’t seem to be a player who specialises in scoring goals... It’s a pity that Lance’s consecutive dazzling footwork inside the box didn’t result in any goals. Bayer Leverkusen regrettably dropped 3 points...”

If everyone in the locker room could still laugh after the last Supercup, the atmosphere in the Bayer Leverkusen locker room now was somewhat heavy.

The defending champions, who had high hopes before the season, Bayer Leverkusen had made a large number of transfers; they had intended to go all out to win the Bundesliga while also attempting to challenge for the Champions League title.

Who knew the start would be like this?

Forget about the Champions League title for now, even the Bundesliga title might be in danger!

”How about a new template, one related to shooting?”

Lance looked at the 70% fusion value, wishing he could fast-forward to the day it reached 100%.