Chapter 633 - 121: The Perfect Striker; Severely Underestimated
As Dortmund recovered in the locker room after their 2-2 away draw with Werder Bremen, an MPV departed from Weser Stadium.
The match had just ended, so the roads leading south from Weser Stadium were heavily congested.
After some difficulty, they finally merged onto Highway 1, heading east toward Hamburg.
Only then did the men in the MPV let out a collective sigh of relief.
They had to rush to Hamburg Airport to catch their flight back to Barcelona that night.
Fortunately, Bundesliga matches were always held at 2:30 PM.
The whole ordeal was exhausting. Even with a chauffeured car for the entire trip, they felt worn out.
Had any reporters or fans been there, they would have recognized them instantly.
Barça’s head coach Guardiola and his two assistant coaches, Tito Villanova and Domenech Torrent.
"Didn’t we already scout him in person at the Bernabéu? Why did we have to come again tonight?"
Tito Villanova was baffled.
Guardiola had requested and arranged the trip; they had simply complied.
"It felt different," Guardiola said simply.
Villanova and Torrent exchanged a glance, their expressions a mixture of resignation and helplessness.
A ’feeling’ was the hardest thing to put into words, and the most difficult to grasp.
And yet, Guardiola was someone who put great faith in such things.
When they got back, Barça had a La Liga matchday 35 game the next night: the city derby at home against Spanish.
However, the match had little bearing on the league title race, and even the derby itself didn’t carry much weight.
They were eight points clear of Real Madrid in the league, and Barça had never really considered Spanish to be rivals.
"So, what was the takeaway from today’s trip?" Villanova asked curiously.
Guardiola didn’t answer right away. He was silent for about twenty seconds before he slowly said,
"Wang Shuo is severely underestimated."
’Underestimated?’
’Severely?’
Villanova and Torrent found that hard to believe.
If they didn’t know Guardiola’s character—that he wasn’t like Mourinho and didn’t have a habit of making outrageous statements for the sake of it—they would have burst out laughing.
"How is that possible? He’s already being compared to Messi and Ronaldo," Villanova reminded him.
’That’s Messi and Ronaldo we’re talking about!’
’He’s firmly in the top three in the world. How could he possibly be underestimated?’
"In terms of individual ability, Wang Shuo deserves to be compared to them. But when I say he’s underestimated, I’m referring to the tactical level."
Once again, Villanova and Torrent exchanged a bewildered look.
"In a high-pressing tactical system, Wang Shuo is almost the perfect striker!"
Guardiola’s statement stunned Villanova and Torrent once again.
’That’s incredibly high praise!’
’If word of this got out, Wang Shuo’s market value would skyrocket even further.’
"Of course, he’s not mature yet—he’s only 20. His physicality has improved rapidly. It’s not a strength, but it’s no longer a weakness. His heading is a bit weak too, but none of that is the main issue."
"His movement off the ball is his ultimate weapon!"
At this, Guardiola looked at Villanova and Torrent and posed a question. "Didn’t you two notice? Dortmund was a completely different team before and after Wang Shuo came on the pitch."
"Lewandowski is excellent, and Dortmund made another very shrewd signing, but he is no Wang Shuo."
"The tactical value Wang Shuo brings to the team is something Lewandowski can’t offer. That’s why Dortmund is able to score goals after Wang Shuo comes on!"
Villanova and Torrent were left speechless.
’Sometimes they really wondered, was this metaphysics or science?’
’If you called it science, even Guardiola himself couldn’t articulate a coherent system or theory behind it.’
’But if you called it metaphysics, it just so happened to work every single time.’
"You remember Cooper, right?"
"Of course."
"Then why do you think Cooper’s Valencia team reached the Champions League final twice but lost both times?"
Villanova and Torrent fell silent.
It wasn’t that they didn’t have an answer, but that explaining it would be a long and complicated affair.
"Or think about this: after Cooper left for Inter Milan, his successor at Valencia was Benitez. From his time at Valencia to his tenure at Liverpool, which position gave him the most headaches?"
"Striker," Torrent blurted out.
"Exactly!" Guardiola shot his assistant an appreciative glance.
"When Cooper coached Real Mallorca, he introduced a completely new tactical philosophy with a South American flair. It was a breath of fresh air for Spain at the time, and it made us start to embrace elements of South American football."
"When he got to Valencia, why was their top scorer always Mendieta?"
"And why was Gerard only able to thrive under Cooper at Valencia?"
Gerard was once hailed as Guardiola’s successor.
Most people remembered him for transferring from the Barça youth academy to Valencia, making a name for himself with the Bat Legion, only to be bought back by Barça for a hefty price of over twenty million euros, where he ultimately failed.
He went on to play for several other teams, but never managed to recapture that same spark.
The brief peak of his career was confined to his time with that Valencia team under Cooper.
In the world of football, nothing is ever a coincidence.
Especially not in the fiercely competitive European Football Scene.
Gerard, along with Cooper’s Real Mallorca and Valencia teams of that era, sent shockwaves through Spanish football and generated a massive response.