Dad was a Genius - Chapter 91



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My Dad Was a Genius Episode 091

Virgil van Dijk still had doubts about this team.

Is it because they just got promoted to the first division?

The whole team is in a very chaotic mood.

In addition, new players were being recruited every day.

The problem is that most of them are names I’ve never heard of.

Chelsea’s Salah and Kang Dae-ho, who was said to have been very active in Dortmund.

However, Kang Dae-ho was out for a year due to injury, and Salah was remembered as the player who received the most criticism after Torres at Chelsea.

But you bought those two as an attacking force?

Are you in your right mind?

Even the midfielders were either struggling in the team or were promising prospects who had not even made their debut.

“It’s probably too late to go out now.”

Why did you join this team?

First of all, my desire to play in the EPL came first.

However, among the EPL teams that were linked with Van Dijk, there was no team that was actively trying to buy him.

Secondly, there was also the condition that the weekly wage was higher than that of Celtic.

Thirdly, the last one is the tea ceremony.

It was because of this Asian director.

Whether Wolves have gone rogue or have handed over a manager to someone who doesn’t even have a P-class licence.

I heard that he led the team from the second division and eventually led it to promotion.

Moreover, when Van Dijk first refused to sign him, he tried to coax him with all sorts of sweet words.

He spouted out words that were honestly nothing more than empty boasts, like saying he would make himself the best centre-back in the EPL and that he would aim to win the EPL.

The problem is that if you just listen to it, you somehow get the feeling that it will really happen.

Cha Seong-eun’s tongue possessed a power that was truly magical.

I should say that it seems far-fetched, but somehow it seems logical.

“Everyone is here. This place may be unfamiliar to those of you who are new here. However, we will often have to gather in this auditorium to hear tactical explanations, so I hope you will get used to it.”

When the recruitment of all players was completed, Cha Seong-eun suddenly called the players into the auditorium.

According to what my new colleagues here say, Cha Seong-eun always gathers all the players together and explains tactics.

They probably had high expectations, saying it would be a great experience and that they would definitely feel good about coming to this team.

‘What… … I wish the tactical explanation was good.’

Honestly, I wondered if it was worth making such a fuss about.

Having been through several managers, Van Dijk also knows roughly how managers explain tactics.

Most of it is hard to understand and boring, and in the end, you have to experience it firsthand through training to learn it.

Usually, the system flows that way.

So, calling everyone together like this and explaining the tactics was a bit different.

‘What if I fall asleep while listening?’

That worry was short-lived.

“These are the formations and tactics we need to build this season. It starts with defense. With the birth of a great dribbler like Maradona, coaches have developed a pressing defense, and now that is the key to victory.”

The magical way of speaking that had gently lured Van Dyke over the phone with a very smooth and clear voice and pronunciation was starting again here.

“We will have two pressing tactics in the future. One is gegen pressing and the other is zone pressing. Unconditional forward pressing has the advantage of being able to suppress the opponent at a fast tempo, but it is too physically exhausting. In addition, we do not have enough training time.”

That is why Cha Seong-eun adopted zone pressing to prevent the team’s stamina from being quickly depleted and to further enable flexible play.

Gegen pressing, which uses rough and suffocating pressure, and zone pressing, which uses spatial pressure.

These were terms Van Dijk had never heard before.

“Our formation is 4-3-1-2, and if you look closely, you can see that our defensive line is somewhat diamond-shaped. The purpose of this defensive line is to pressure the opponent by taking up space in each player’s area and induce them to pass to the location we want. Also, when attacking… … .”

Van Dyke was suddenly listening to the lecture as if he was entranced.

Then I looked around and saw that everyone from coaches to original Wolves players had brought their own writing tools and were writing things down in their notebooks.

‘Oops.’

There Van Dyke realized why his colleagues had told him to bring his writing utensils.

Whenever I hear things like this, I feel like I should write something down because it’s too good to just let it go by.

It’s not just Van Dijk who is like that, it’s all the new players who joined this time.

How much time has passed like that?

“Well, that’s all for today. I’ll explain the tactics in more detail in a personal interview. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“ah…….”

It’s over already?

Now it’s getting really fun?

‘No. What if I lose all my memories without a notepad?’

Was it because he felt sorry for Van Dijk who was so nervous?

A fellow player sitting next to him tapped him on the shoulder.

“are you okay.”

“Huh?”

“It’s because we can’t write anywhere like that that’s why we’re doing this now.”

“Ah… … . Oh, how did you know?”

“We used to do the same thing as you. Hehe.”

As it turned out, he was an experienced person.

“What do you think? Is it as I said? Our director, you’re not joking, are you?”

The first person Van Dijk spoke to when he arrived at Wolves was fellow centre-back Nolan.

And he was right.

This was the first time I was so shocked by a tactical explanation.

I thought it would be incredibly boring like a college lecture, but the two hours passed by in an instant.

“Why else would the Wolves players wait for this moment? Last time, a player who had transferred to another team even said that it would be better if he could only observe during the tactics session?”

It was full of rich and groundbreaking content along with some flashy tongue dribbling.

It was impressive that he didn’t just stop at explaining tactics, but also constantly motivated the players.

And when he explained in a logical manner why the training I was receiving now was necessary and why I had to do it to step up, I even had a crazy thought that I wanted to go and try the training for the first time.

“What the heck… what does that person do?”

“What kind of person do you do?”

Nolan chuckled and spoke with confidence.

“He is the one who will take our Wolves to the top.”

When I looked at the Wolves players and coaches gathered here, I was surprised and their eyes looked like fanatics. It was a little scary, but today I think I understand a little why they fell for Cha Seong-eun.

“It’s normal… … .”

A place that even a team like Wolves wouldn’t dare look at with their current squad.

But Van Dijk kept feeling this way, even though he knew it was nonsense.

I have a feeling Wolves are going to have a really tough time this season.

* * *

In a tight time frame, I did my best to help Wolves stabilize.

We made sure that the newly recruited players would not be left out and that they could adapt to the pressing defensive tactics that they were experiencing for the first time.

Since pressure tactics basically require a lot of stamina, we focused on stamina training.

And we trained the players to be flexible in their tactical operations, such as when to use gegenpressing and when to use zone pressing.

“The most important thing this season is flexibility.”

You can use a tactic of just pressing forward blindly with gegenpressing, but that will only make you prey to the EPL.

The EPL is home to some of the world’s best teams.

Of course, relatively weak teams are prone to gegenpressing tactics, but strong teams are not.

They will persistently try to target our back space and try to crush us, who are not yet familiar with tactics and whose player stats are not overwhelmingly better than those of other teams.

“In the end, it comes down to gaining experience.”

That’s why there was something called a pre-season.

There, you can experiment with tactics by rolling out players and create the perfect starting squad.

“So, I will not think that I will win this pre-season. Pre-season is just pre-season. Remember, the reason we are doing pre-season is to test Wolves’ tactics and each of your individual abilities.”

I told the players gathered in the locker room to do so.

Today is not a day to be greedy.

It was a day to find out what we could do and what our strengths and weaknesses were.

“Okay. Then let’s all go.”

* * *

The EPL season makes football fans’ hearts flutter.

This is especially true of soccer.

Variables always arise, and there is no such thing as an eternal powerhouse.

Didn’t Manchester United prove it this time?

As Ferguson stepped down, Manchester United had to step down from their throne as well.

So when the season ends, everyone can’t stand the loneliness.

And as the season gets closer, my heart grows more and more excited.

“Okay.”

However, for the managers who had to lead the team and take responsibility, it was a constant source of tension.

As the season date approaches, it feels like a knife is being stabbed in the back of my neck.

This may be because the pressure to get good grades weighs on them.

“I have to figure out how to get good grades this time.”

West Bromwich Albion barely avoided relegation in the 2013-14 season, finishing in 16th place.

West coach Victor Segor’s goals for the season were clear.

Maintaining the middle ranks.

And the board agreed.

This is because they knew that they would not be able to win even if they woke up dead.

Besides, wasn’t this the team that survived relegation last season by just one place, finishing in 17th place?

So I set a realistic goal.

“But… … Our first match opponent is Wolves?”

Phew-.

Victor Segor started laughing.

Wolves are currently rated as the weakest team in the EPL by all football experts.

They even have a bad reputation as a more serious team than the West.

And that’s not all.

An unprecedented situation has occurred in which an Asian coach without even a P-class license was appointed as head coach.

This would make the first ever EPL Asian manager.

There was a lot of talk about this, but according to the regulations, it wasn’t a problem as long as the fine was paid.

Besides, there was no team that tackled a place that was determined to self-destruct.

Because it means one less competitor.

“Well, it’s not like I didn’t spend any money at all, but I just brought along some weird guys.”

Even though Van Dijk proved his worth enough to be named in Celtic’s best eleven, the others all had their flaws.

Is it because I’m a beginner?

I heard that the Asian manager took full control of the team from the second division and brought it up to the first division.

No matter how I looked at it, Wolves’ recruitment was incomprehensible.

I can only guess that they just hastily put together a team.

“Well, wouldn’t that be great for us, Director?”

“Hehehe. They said they’d act as a nutrient, so that’s great for us. There’s nothing more satisfying than winning the first game of the season.”

Victor smiled pleasantly.

West, who has always been the weakest team, faces a team weaker than them for the first time.

Even that day was the first game of the season.

So I was determined to win this game.

Don’t they say that if you win your first game, only good things will happen for the rest of the season?