Winter suddenly came to Hwang Hee-chan, the pain of missing the season for the first time
Winter suddenly came to Hwang Hee-chan, the pain of missing the season for the first time
Blog Article
Hwang Hee-chan (28, Wolverhampton), the national team's goaltender, is having a hard time due to the unexpected cold weather. He hit a career high just a few months ago, but missed the season for the first time amid prolonged silence.
Wolverhampton came from behind to lose 1-3 to Aston Villa in the fifth round of the English Premier League (EPL) at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, on the 21st.
Wolverhampton (1 draw and 4 losses), who has not won a game since the opening fanfare, tied for last with Everton.
Hwang Hee-chan was on the bench list on the day, but failed to play on the ground. It is Hwang Hee-chan's first absence of the season, who consistently played as a starter and bench until the previous game.
It is the first time in a year and five months that Hwang Hee-chan failed to play without variables such as injuries since the Nottingham Forest match in April last year.
Hwang Hee-chan's absence was also affected by his recent slump. Having shown his best performance (12 goals, 4 assists) since advancing to the EPL last season, he has remained silent without scoring a single goal this season. Bragging about his sharp goal-scoring ability, he has rarely attempted even shots other than goals. In fact, Hwang Hee-chan has recorded only one shot this season.
As Hwang Hee-chan failed to show the same performance as in previous years, the time to play is getting shorter and shorter. He played full-time against Arsenal in the opening match, but the more games he played against Chelsea (60 minutes), Nottingham (30 minutes) and Newcastle United (19 minutes), the less time he spent on the ground. Hwang Hee-chan lost his chance to play in the third round of the Carabao Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion, where he started for the first time in a long time.
As Hwang Hee-chan's slump continues, voices of criticism are also rising. "Hwang Hee-chan cannot start the game with this kind of performance," said the local media "Moly New News," which mainly delivers news on Wolverhampton. "He is the worst player in Wolverhampton this season." The Athletic, the British version of Hwang Hee-chan's transfer, even claimed that "he has three months to change his fate before the winter transfer market opens," adding that a new round of negotiations may be needed if he fails to find a place in the first team.
Hwang Hee-chan's difficulties at the beginning of the season remind us of the 2020-2021 season when he was in Leipzig, Germany. Hwang Hee-chan had only three goals and three assists in official matches as he had difficulty adapting immediately after moving to Leipzig from Red Bull Salzburg (Austria).
Unlike then, it is hard to understand that he fell into a slump in Wolverhampton, which has no problem with adaptation. Wolverhampton was not even a matter of competition for the main player because there was no other reinforcement after Pedro Netu left for Juventus. Some point out that it was the aftermath of the 2023-2024 season, when he ran tirelessly. In other words, Hwang Hee-chan finished the season without any major injuries, but he was struggling this season because he did not have enough rest to do the Asian Cup at the same time. 메이저놀이터
There are also hopeful observations that Hwang Hee-chan's slump will not last long. Hwang Hee-chan scored a goal in the away match in Oman in the third qualifying round for the North-China World Cup in Asia, so his sense of goal was alive. If Hwang Hee-chan can focus on scoring in the center, where enough space is given, like the match against Oman, a rebound is possible.