After the match with Udinese, Lu Wenbin received a single-game reward for this UEFA Cup match.
According to the system settings, the experience rewards for a single League Cup game are 20,000 experience points for assists, 40,000 points for goals, and 80,000 points for wins.
This experience reward is four times that of the Bundesliga, which is quite generous.
Of course, judging from his experience in the first game, Lu Wenbin feels that this much experience is indeed required in the League Cup, and anything less would be unacceptable.
Lu Wenbin neither had any assists nor led the team to victory in this game. He only scored a goal and earned 40,000 experience points.
But it was these 40,000 experience points that made Lu Wenbin breathe a sigh of relief, and also gave him more confidence in leading the team to defeat Udinese and successfully turn the tables in the second round.
With these 40,000 experience points, Lu Wenbin's level experience increased to level 13, 188,212/200,000. He only needed 12,000 experience points to upgrade.
In the next Bundesliga match against Dortmund, even if Lu Wenbin does not score a goal or provide an assist, as long as he can help the team win, he can gain 20,000 points of winning experience and upgrade. Then he can use the skill points rewarded by the upgrade to increase his strength.
However, Hoffenheim does not have to think about the match with Dortmund now. They have to deal with the bombardment and questioning from the German media first.
In the mixed channel, Lu Wenbin was the first to be surrounded by reporters.
Because now Lu Wenbin is not only the top scorer in Hoffenheim, but also the top scorer in the Bundesliga, he naturally has to bear more responsibilities and pressure.
Although he scored a goal in the second half, his silence in the first half can be seen as one of the main reasons for Hoffenheim's home defeat and impending elimination by Udinese.
Lu Wenbin's physical fitness, ability to tackle tough problems, etc. were all questioned. Even Lu Wenbin's skin color and ethnicity were questioned.
Lu Wenbin's previous consecutive goals were also questioned by some reporters as the reason why Hoffenheim gathered the entire team's strength to feed Lu Wenbin.
These doubts naturally made Lu Wenbin very angry.
Lu Wenbin directly stated that Hoffenheim would not be eliminated, and he would definitely lead Hoffenheim to defeat Udinese in the second round and advance to the group stage of this season's UEFA Cup.
Then, Lu Wenbin turned away and parted ways with the reporters unhappily.
Later, at the post-match press conference, head coach Ralph and captain Salihovic were also besieged by the German media, questioning why Hoffenheim, the Bundesliga leader, lost at home
Is it a tactical problem of the head coach, or is it that the players are arrogant, underestimate the opponent, and have a problem with their mentality
Ralf took all the responsibility on himself, admitting that he was not well prepared, which led to the team being restrained by Udinese's tactics and then losing at home.
However, Ralph also said that losing 1-2 at home is not the end of the world.
Hoffenheim will definitely prepare seriously and successfully turn the tables in the second round.
Salihovic also said that Hoffenheim would never give up early. They would definitely fight to the end with Udinese in the second round and finally create a miracle to eliminate their opponents and advance to the UEFA Cup group stage.
Just because 95% of the teams can’t do it doesn’t mean Hoffenheim can’t do it!
Hoffenheim is one of the 5% of teams that can turn the tables and perform a miracle away from home after losing.
That evening and the next morning, the German media who were optimistic about Hoffenheim before the game changed the subject and began to criticize Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim's money-driven football, which was not popular in the first place, successfully aroused collective condemnation from the national media and fans.
"Hoffenheim suffered its first defeat of the season, and the prospects for the UEFA Cup are bleak!"
"The Bundesliga's No. 1 lost to the Serie A's No. 7 at home. Hoffenheim's money-driven football doesn't work in the European arena!"
"Lu Wenbin is trapped by the chain defense, the magic is gone!"
It wasn't obvious when Hoffenheim was winning consecutive games, but now that they have only lost 1-2, it seems as if the team is about to fall apart and collapse.
This is the public opinion environment for Hoffenheim in today's German football.
It was not noticeable when they were winning consecutively, but once they showed signs of decline, they became the target of ridicule and abuse from the national media and fans.
Who made their boss a wealthy man
Who made them have enough money
Who allowed them to poach Andreas Beck, a product of Stuttgart's youth training, with a high salary
Hoffenheim players and fans can all see the envy, jealousy and hatred mixed in these criticisms.
As a result, Hoffenheim fans became more united and their support for the team became stronger. Every day, hundreds of die-hard fans gathered outside the training base holding banners to support the team and cheer them on.
…
Ignoring outside criticism, after the match with Udinese, the team did not take a day off the next day but continued training.
Before the training started, Ralph held a tactical meeting within the team.
In view of the problems exposed in this League Cup game, Ralph and the coaching staff discussed it overnight and decided to make fine adjustments to Lu Wenbin's position.
Before this, Lu Wenbin basically played as a shadow forward in the 442 formation and a winger in the 433 formation.
But this match against Udinese made Ralph and the coaching staff realize that it was very dangerous to keep Lu Wenbin on the forward line, as there was a possibility of being trapped by the opponent.
Although in the short term, most Bundesliga teams will not reach the defensive level shown by Udinese in this game.
But as long as this game is used as a reference, other teams can follow suit and consciously cut off the passing routes between Hoffenheim teammates and Lu Wenbin, and Lu Wenbin's threat will be reduced a lot.
Therefore, in order to avoid this situation in the next game where the players don't know how to deal with it, Ralph first adjusted Lu Wenbin's position in this tactical meeting and defined him as a frontcourt free man.
Generally speaking, Lu Wenbin still plays in his original position, after all, his teammates are more familiar with that style of play.
If encountering a situation similar to that in the Udinese game, Lu Wenbin can retreat to the midfield position, and there is no restriction on whether it is the middle or the wing.
Except for Ibisevic, whose position remains unchanged, Lu Wenbin can switch positions with any teammate in the midfield or frontcourt.
Lu Wenbin can go wherever it is easier to catch the ball.
However, letting Lu Wenbin retreat to the midfield does not mean that Lu Wenbin is required to run long distances from the midfield to the penalty area to shoot. Lu Wenbin's speed, dribbling and physique do not have the ability to run long distances to attack the enemy in the Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup.
The purpose of doing this is to allow Lu Wenbin to withdraw from the penalty area to obtain a more relaxed passing environment, and then shoot outside the penalty area.
Although Lu Wenbin's long-range shooting power is not great, his shooting accuracy is still far superior to that of other players in the team.
As long as the ball hits the goal frame, there is a high chance of scoring a goal, just like the goal scored by Lu Wenbin in the second half of the game against Udinese.