After waiting for 667 days, Wu Lei finally broke the Goal Drought in La Liga, which was a rare piece of good news for the Chinese men's football team for a long time. So the question is: why can the martial arts king, who has not scored for a long time, break the drought in this game?
Subjective reasons: self-discipline + optimism, and strive to persevere
From Wu Lei himself to find the reason, the first is that although he is in adversity, he has never wanted to give up, has always maintained the professionalism and positive attitude that professional players should have, worked very hard in training, and as long as he gets playing time in the game, even if it is only a few minutes, he will run at full strength.
Espanyol coach Vicente praised Wu Lei: "He is a very strict child and will do everything we ask." Wu Lei will always keep smiling, always looking for and finding the state, which he deserves. ”
This spirit of self-discipline and optimism allowed the king of martial arts to survive the most difficult moments, and also let the coach always understand his characteristics and value, and did not completely abandon him, which led to the substitution of this game and the victory.
Objective reasons: time, teammates, coaches, all are indispensable
As we all know, Wu Lei's advantages and disadvantages are very distinct: excellent running position, sensitive sense of smell, but the ability to fight alone is not outstanding enough, and sometimes he can't grasp the opportunity to break the door, so he needs more trial and error time and cost, and needs the feeding cake of his teammates.
Wu Lei last scored in La Liga on 13 June 2020, when he was still the spaniard's main player. This season, he has been completely reduced to a substitute, the most recent start was on October 23 last year, and he was replaced after only half-time. After that, the king of martial arts either did not play, or only played for a few minutes, before this battle, the longest one was 15 minutes, and before he could catch a shooting opportunity, the game was over.
Against Celta, Wu Lei came on as a substitute in the 67th minute and played 23 minutes, which is already very rare, so that he can find the feeling of the game and play his own characteristics. Therefore, if you want the Chinese striker to score, more playing time is very necessary.
Wu Lei's former good partner is Vargas, who likes to pass the ball to the King of Wu on the field, Lei Zi's two Europa League goals, and the classic goal of the absolute draw with Barcelona, all came from his assists! However, Vargas has left Espanyol, and one of the major difficulties that Wu Lei faced after playing was that his teammates did not pass him, he was isolated, and the number of touches was very small.
Fortunately, there is also Dadel. On March 2, 2019, Wu Lei scored his debut goal in La Liga, and it was Dadel who gave him a direct assist at that time. In this game, the same Espanyol No. 10 assist allowed him to break the ball drought.
In addition, Wu Lei's first shot was Puado's ball. So, as long as his teammates pass the ball and create opportunities for him, then the Chinese Golden Globe winner has the ability to give back.
Of course, the most important thing is that the coach trusts him and uses it on him. In this game, Wu Lei replaced the right winger Embarba, and both shots were on the right side of the penalty area, which is very similar to the goal area of barca. His last La Liga goal, also picked up Embarba straight, inserted from the right rib behind the Alaves defence.
For Wu Lei, who is already 30 years old, it is more and more difficult to take the ball on the left side, cut inside to confront the opposing center-back, and then complete the shot, as before; and on the right side, when he cuts to the right side of the penalty area without the ball, receives a pass from his teammate, he can shoot directly, the less the ball, the less adjustment, the more decisive the shot, the more likely he is to score. Therefore, Vicente could consider using Wu Lei more in this way.
Of course, can this kill make the Wuqiu King start again? When will his next goal come? These are still unknown, but Wu Lei, the manager, the team and the fans have all gained confidence from it, which is precious and the hope for the future.