Chapter 725 - 134: Derby! Born Leader! Clash of the Three Giants! Another Hat-Trick! Being Wang Shuo’s Enemy is Terrifying!

They were all young, someone else was footing the bill, and most importantly, it was an incredibly expensive restaurant—so, naturally, they didn’t hold back. Everyone began to feast.

At this moment, these Arsenal stars were acting just like ordinary people at an all-you-can-eat buffet: zeroing in strictly on the most expensive items on the menu. With Subotic, Vermaelen, and the others egging everyone on, a lively atmosphere was instantly set.

To avoid disturbing other patrons, Wang Shuo had simply booked the entire first floor, allowing everyone to let loose without any reservations. He even popped open the Man of the Match champagne he had won just the day before to celebrate with his teammates.

After a few drinks, the mood heated up even further. Everyone started to banter and brag enthusiastically.

Once the vibe was right, Wang Shuo suggested that they discuss yesterday’s match.

"Let’s do something fresh today! Our internal sharing session will be held right here!" As he spoke, Wang Shuo pointed outside the restaurant, where quite a few media reporters had already gathered after catching wind of their party. "But let’s not get too excited. Keep your voices down so that mob of reporters out there doesn’t eavesdrop."

The prospect of sneaking around right under the media’s noses? It was absolutely thrilling!

The effectiveness of the sharing sessions Wang Shuo had recently been promoting in the locker room was now on full display. None of them resisted this kind of open exchange; everyone was willing to share their thoughts.

For instance, Alexandre Song felt absolutely speechless about his situation. "The ball literally came looking for me. I didn’t even move."

Koscielny also felt innocent. He had assumed the ball would be saved by Szczeny and never expected it to slip through. He instinctively raised his foot to clear it, but not only did he fail to do so in time, he ended up knocking the ball into his own net instead.

As they chatted, the topic shifted to the team’s zonal marking during set-piece defenses. Zonal marking and man-to-man marking were exactly what they sounded like: the former meant each player was responsible for a specific area, while the latter involved sticking to an opposing player. It was hard to say which method was definitively superior. After all, attacking players would constantly be on the move. Whether it was zonal marking or man-to-man, there was always a risk of losing track of someone.

Wang Shuo gradually began to understand. The real issue was a lack of focus among the players! And the root cause of this was precisely the fact that the Gunners had been far too vulnerable to conceding goals from set pieces for a long time. Because they conceded easily, the players experienced anxiety and pressure when defending. Under that anxiety and pressure, they made mistakes, which in turn led to more goals conceded.

It was a vicious cycle. Of course, compared to other Premier League teams, the Gunners’ players were admittedly a bit weaker physically, putting them at a disadvantage when defending set pieces.

"Wang, do you just not feel fear?" Hazard asked Wang Shuo curiously.

The area around the long table instantly quieted down. Everyone turned their heads to look at Wang Shuo. They all wanted to hear the answer. From the match against Manchester United to the recent game against Blackburn, Wang Shuo had repeatedly turned the tide at crucial moments.

Was he truly fearless?

Wang Shuo smiled. He couldn’t exactly tell them that he felt confident because he had a cheat system backing him up.

"You know, actually, my home country hasn’t had much achievement in football, but we’re incredibly good at table tennis." Wang Shuo mimicked a table tennis swing.

Everyone present nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know about this. Your achievement in table tennis is even higher than Brazil’s achievement in football. You utterly dominate."

"I’ve heard that too. There are only two kinds of table tennis: China and everyone else."

"I used to play table tennis, but I wasn’t very good at it."

The players chimed in one after another.

Wang Shuo raised a hand, gesturing for everyone to quiet down.

"I once had the honor of meeting a very famous table tennis player from China at an event. I asked him, ’How do you manage to pull off so many classic comeback victories?’

"He has won many championships, a lot of them coming from behind or by withstanding immense pressure in unfavorable situations to grind out a tough win."

Everyone nodded.

"He turned it around and asked me a question. ’In a table tennis match, you’ve reached the seventh game. The score is 10 to 9, and you are losing. Just one more lost point and the match is over. How do you play?’"

Wang Shuo threw this question out, laying it before all his teammates.

The Arsenal players all revealed thoughtful expressions. This was the ultimate adversity—there was absolutely no room for retreat! Some opened their mouths to say something, but immediately realized it felt wrong. In the end, everyone was at a loss for words.

At Arsenal, at least at this current stage, no one had reached the absolute peak level. Except for Wang Shuo!

"Captain, what did he say?"

"Yeah, what did he say?"

"What’s the answer?"

Wang Shuo smiled and gestured for everyone to settle down.

"He told me that the more critical the moment is, the less you can afford to be distracted.

"You don’t need to think about a messy tangle of complicated things. You just need to focus on doing one thing right.

"The landing rate! The landing rate!! The landing rate!!!

"The landing rate refers to the percentage of success in getting the ball to land on the opponent’s side of the table after every hit.

"It’s a seemingly basic but extremely important core metric in table tennis.

"He said that no matter how advanced your playing style is, or how numerous and brilliant your ideas are, they are entirely useless in such crucial moments. Only by guaranteeing your landing rate can you ensure that the ball you hit is of the absolute highest quality."

The entire room fell silent.

Wang Shuo’s meaning was simple: the more critical the moment, the more you must adhere to the simplest and most essential core principles!