In the first four rounds of the World Qualification Tournament, China's national soccer team struggled a little bit, ranking in the lower reaches of Group B with only one win and three losses. Although this result is closely related to head coach Li Tie's tactical layout and team command, the overall strength of the domestic players should not be ignored. Especially regrettable is, wearing the No. 10 gown Zhang Xizhe, this had been known as no less than De Bruyne's Guoan generals, in the national football stage performance can be described as disastrous.
Zhang Xizhe has had a stellar career, starting with Chinese Super League giants Beijing Guoan at the age of 19, and with his outstanding individual ability and the team's nurturing, he was given a valuable opportunity to play for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Although he was dropped after only half a season, the experience earned him the attention of many fans. Over the years, he has been a mainstay of the Guoan team, working in tandem with players such as Augusto and Bakambu, and his passing ability has been hailed as the Chinese Super League version of De Bruyne. So far this season, he has contributed four goals in the Chinese Super League, becoming the core strength of the team.
However, Zhang Xizhe's national team career is far less prominent than in the Chinese Super League. From the Pellan era to the present, several coaches have not regarded him as a core player. Only Gao Hongbo and Li Tie trusted him, especially Li Tie gave him the No. 10 jersey. However, his performance has been unsatisfactory, both in organizing attacks and handling free kicks, and he is a different player from the one in the Chinese Super League. One of the most impressive times was against Saudi Arabia, when Zhang Linpeng grabbed the ball and handed it to him to organize the attack, but he passed the ball to Wu Lei and the two of them started a small short pass in place. In addition, his defensive ability is also obviously insufficient, opposing players can easily break through his defense, which makes it difficult for him to serve as the core of the midfield. Overall, Zhang Xizhe has been able to play well at the club thanks to the support of Augusto and Baccambu, as well as the relatively slow pace of the Chinese Super League. However, on the stage of the World Qualifiers, his problems were exposed when the intensity of the defense increased.
