VfB Stuttgart Deniz Undav said that he's aware of the increased expectations placed on him and doesn't feel like he's been judged unfairly.
"I realize that when you perform the way I did last season with the World Cup, people hold me to a higher standard. They feel like I have to score in every game. I'm well aware of that," the forward told broadcaster DAZN after Stuttgart's 3-0 win against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Undav scored his team's opener, which was his first goal of the season. Last term, he found the target 25 times across all competitions.
"I stayed calm. Of course, you see everything, you hear everything. But as I said, I knew I'd score eventually," he said.
"As long as we keep winning, I could even have zero goals, and we'll still be playing in the Champions League next season, so I'll take that. I don't care about that."
Undav was part of Germany's World Cup squad named by then coach Julian Nagelsmann and scored three goals in four matches.
Nagelsmann stepped down and was replaced by Jürgen Klopp, who didn't include Undav in his recent Nations League squad.
Stuttgart are fourth in the Champions League table, tied on six points with leaders Paris Saint-Germain, but losing on goal difference.