Capítulo 27: Worth of a Winger
Aberdeen has the potential to become a strong team in the Scottish Premier League; however, they are currently struggling to find their form.
In the first half of the game, they seemed out of sync with the rhythm of the Bundesliga and appeared unfamiliar with the field, resulting in a lackluster performance.
However, things took a turn in the second half when Aberdeen picked up the pace of the game, employing long passes and using a high-pressing strategy commonly seen in the Premier League to challenge Werder Bremen.
Although Aberdeen's players may lack finesse, they compensate with their physicality and strong impact.
Notably, their high center forward, demonstrates exceptional heading ability.
The shift to playing long passes proved effective for their offense, leading to a pivotal moment in the 56th minute.
Werder Bremen's defender made an error, allowing Aberdeen's high center forward, to regain possession.
Niall McGinn, recently transferred from the Scottish Super League giants Celtic, seized the opportunity and fired a powerful shot that found the back of Werder Bremen's net, resulting in a score of 2-1 in favor of Aberdeen.
On the sidelines, Coach Schaaf rose from his seat, sensing the danger.
Despite the current lead, he sensed the unfavorable situation on the field.
Aberdeen's impactful tactics were putting pressure on Werder Bremen's defense, forcing them into a frenzied defensive response.
Werder Bremen found themselves in a defensive dilemma, desperately trying to contain Aberdeen's advances from both flanks.
If they failed to regain control, their opponent could potentially score again.
Afraid of what to come, Aberdeen launched a super long pass from their own half in the 63rd minute.
However, their high center forward, faced intense pressure from Werder Bremen's two center-backs but using his body he still scored the goal with header.
The goal caused an uproar among more than 30,000 fans present at the stadium.
The fans held their heads in disbelief, their gaze fixed on their own goal.
Coach Schaaf's expression turned a bit ugly, and he angrily kicked an empty mineral water bottle that lay in front of him, clearly dissatisfied with the team's poor defense.
In that moment, he made a firm decision to acquire a strong defender from the market before the transfer window closed.
He simply couldn't tolerate the team's weak defensive performance any longer.
Therefore, as long as the price didn't exceed the team's budget, he was willing to accept a figure below five million for the right defender.
Meanwhile, on the bench, Lucas sat there in astonishment.
Considering his height and header skills, he rarely uses headers to attack goals during training sessions and games.
The fact that such a long-distance pass of over 50 meters and he still headed the ball in the net left him dumbfounded.
Lucas involuntarily shrank his neck as he watched the opponent execute the header.
From such a distance and with such force, if he were in that position, he would probably be knocked unconscious by the ball and be stretchered off the field, right?
Is the opponent's head made of iron? Wouldn't a header like that result in a concussion?
These were the thoughts of a layman with limited experience in heading.
In reality, midfield players often uses headers to compete for aerial balls and deliver them to teammates when defenders or goalkeepers clear the ball.
For someone who struggles with headers, being struck by the ball can indeed be painful.
However, players skilled in heading know how to generate and absorb the force, making it a less uncomfortable experience.
Lucas hesitated for a moment. Heading skills were still highly practical in certain situations.
Especially when there was limited space on the ground to control the ball, and a teammate delivered a high or semi-high pass, heading allowed for a quicker attack.
This prevented defenders from having time to react and intervene.
But given my height, would I be able to effectively compete for landing points after practicing headers?
Just as Lucas's thoughts wandered, Coach Schaff called out his name, interrupting his contemplation.
"Lucas, go warm up and get ready to play!" Coach Schaaf said.
Upon hearing this, Lucas promptly stood up and without uttering a word, swiftly headed towards the warm-up area.
When the team scored their first goal, he sensed an opportunity to make an appearance.
And with the concession of the second goal, he was now 100% certain that he would be called upon to play.
Although winning or losing a warm-up match held relatively little importance, losing a game in front of their home crowd against a seemingly weaker opponent, especially in such a manner where the lead is overturned by the opponent's consecutive goals, would have a significant impact on the players' mentality.
Werder Bremen's lineup consisted mainly of young players who were prone to psychological fluctuations.
If they failed to stabilize the situation and turn the game around quickly, this loss could potentially create a massive underlying problem for their upcoming matches.
Five minutes later, Lucas was given the opportunity to take the field.
As he stepped onto the pitch, instead of immediately launching into an attacking frenzy, he chose to observe.
The Aberdeen players didn't pay much attention to this unfamiliar young player, neglecting to mark him closely as Cottbus had done previously.
This provided Lucas with a sense of relief.
Given his exceptional skills similar to Messi at his peak, as long as he had enough space to dribble it's enough, once he gained momentum, it would be nearly impossible to stop him without resorting to fouls.
While the Aberdeen players were unaware of Lucas's capabilities, his Werder Bremen teammates were well aware of his strengths.
In the 76th minute, Werder Bremen intercepted the ball in their own half.
The ball swiftly passed through the midfield and defense 4-5 times with one touch just like tiki-taka, eventually finding its way to Lucas's feet.
Lucas, reminiscent of a winger from the first half, dashed along the sideline towards the opponent's half as soon as he gained possession.
Observing this, the Aberdeen players assumed he would deliver a low cross, resulting in only their wide players marking him.
Other players intuitively moved to cut off the passing lane between Lucas and Fullkrug.
Lucas was effectively prevented from passing the ball to the striker.
Additionally, due to De Bruyne's exceptional performance in the first half, he also became a target for the opposition.
The Aberdeen midfielder closely marked De Bruyne, denying him any chance to receive the ball.
..
.
Upon noticing the opponent's defensive positioning, Lucas felt a surge of excitement. The gap in Aberdeen's defense was significant.
He accelerated with the ball towards the front line, catching the defender who was defending him off guard. Anticipating this, he promptly accelerated and retreated towards the goal line.
To his astonishment, as he took a step back, he realized that the opposing player actually cut inside.
Aberdeen's defensive player immediately reached out and tried to drag Lucas down in an attempt to stop him.
However, Lucas's speed was too swift, and he passed the defender without even touching his jersey.
Seeing Lucas smoothly evade Aberdeen's winger, everyone on the Werder Bremen bench couldn't help but rise to their feet.
"Here he comes!"
Aberdeen's full-back, witnessing his teammate being bypassed by the opponent, muttered a curse under his breath.
Reacting swiftly, he stepped forward to block Lucas, denying him the opportunity to take a shot.
In recent years, cutting inside and shooting has become popular among football wingers.
Wingers who possess speed, dribbling ability, and the capacity to cut inside and shoot are highly sought-after in today's football.
Examples include Messi from Barcelona, Ronaldo from Real Madrid, and Robben and Ribery from Bayern Munich.
The market value of these players reaches tens or even hundreds of millions of euros. They are the kind of players who are priceless and unavailable for purchase in the market.
As evidence of this scarcity, Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, is rumored to be valued at over 80 million euros.
But Tottenham is still reluctant to sell him and intends to raise his price more.
This highlights the scarcity of talented wingers in the game.
However, when wingers cut inside, they often find themselves in a weaker foot position. If the timing is right, it is easy for opponents to steal the ball and disrupt their offense.
Aberdeen's full-backs were skeptical that a young player like Lucas possessed such exceptional ball control.
They believed his left foot couldn't possibly be as strong as his right.
Thus, when the ball landed under Lucas's left foot, the full-back extended his leg, expecting to intercept the ball.
But to his surprise, the ball was swiftly passed between his legs.
"Huh?"
The full-back was perplexed.
"Where did that kid in front of me go?"
"Where's the big player I was defending?"
Confused, he turned around and realized that Lucas had made his way into their own penalty area.
And then he realised something's wrong — why was the football in their own net?
(End of the chapter)
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