Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 215



Only Krnovel

Episode 215 Mental Growth

EFL Cup Round of 32.

As expected from a beer cup that is not very important to a big club, there were many upsets starting from the round of 32.

First of all, Manchester City, who are practically considered the kings of the league along with Munich, lost 1:0 to Crystal Palace.

Looking at the lineup, it was understandable. Only one of the starting members played in the game, and when the score was 1-0, other first-team members were brought in, but it was not enough to turn the game around.

Wolverhampton were also beaten 3-2 by a second-tier club, while Aston Villa were defeated by a third-tier club.

There were many shocking upsets, but more often than not, things went as planned.

Liverpool did it, Arsenal did it, Chelsea did it and Everton did it.

The only big club left is Manchester United. They are unlucky to face a team from the same division, but if you look at the lineup—

“hmm?”

I tilted my head when I saw Newcastle’s lineup. They came out a bit stronger than I expected. While Manchester United’s lineup consisted of subs, sub-players, and a few regulars, Newcastle’s lineup was a well-balanced 1.5 team lineup.

Half of the starting players, half of the non-starters.

I frowned at the thought that it might be harder than I thought.

‘By the way, mobilizing people like me to drink beer mugs. Giovanni too… .’

This is really too much.

As a professional player, you have to give your best in every game. It was just a beer mug, but it was a blow to my pride to have my clean sheet broken in a beer mug.

I guess I have to work hard.

* * *

Among those who played in the EFL Cup, the regulars who were named in the starting lineup were Maguire, Garnazzo, and me.

In fact, Maguire was ambiguous. Lisandro Martinez has been playing more often these days, and in terms of skill, he is more stable than Maguire.

Other familiar faces include Jonny Evans (shit), McTominay, and Dalot.

Dalot was a substitute, pushed out by Wan-Bissaka in the competition for the starting position, and McTominay was also a substitute, pushed out by Mainu.

Johnny Evans… … this guy was really going to retire soon.

‘Man U is really scary. They still treat my grandfather well.’

What about Johnny Evans?

He was a tank-like defender who could roll but couldn’t even climb a hill.

A tank-like defender who will squirm and die if you try to climb a hill.

“It’s going to be tough today.”

Unlike me, who was nervous about the upcoming match, Kim Jun-young was nervous in a different way.

“This is really my debut, hyung. I really have to do well….”

“Just do as you usually do. Don’t do anything weird to show off.”

“Should we do what we did in the K-League?”

“… No, don’t go that far.”

We have to do better than that. After all, this is the EPL.

Kim Jun-young also laughed, thinking it was a joke.

And just before the game, Giovanni said a few words to the players in the locker room.

There are some players who don’t usually play much and some who play often, but there are no unimportant matches for Manchester, so the idea was to win this match as well.

We all left the locker room in high spirits, but somehow I felt envious of the starting players sitting on the bench chatting away… .

* * *

The game has begun.

And Manchester United were pushed back without a fight.

‘Oh, heavens. Why are you giving me such a trial?’

Newcastle are playing as a 1.5 team, but I can say for sure that with their current strength, they will beat any team in the Bundesliga.

“Johnny! Johnny!”

Above all, Johnny’s defensive timing was a work of art. Usually, when he’s not in good condition, he’s half a step or a step behind his opponent, but this guy is obviously two or three steps behind.

So who takes responsibility and the consequences?

“town!”

Of course it is me.

Manchester United’s defense was so broken that it felt like they might have actually conceded a goal if Maguire hadn’t been there.

I was busy running here and there to stitch him up.

Even though goalkeeper is a position that requires less physical strain, this is really… .

“Oh shit! Hey! What the hell are you doing!?”

I was lying down holding the ball when the opposing player kicked the ball. I got up immediately and grabbed the guy by the collar while swearing at him in Korean.

“Speak English, idiot.”

This kid?

Before he can properly grab the guy, Johnny Evans steps in and shoves him away.

“Get out of here, Kim. You too, calm down. He’s provoking you on purpose. Is this the first or second time he’s done that in football?”

“… … .”

I stared at Johnny.

I don’t know the details of this person’s life, but the vast majority of soccer players start playing soccer at a very young age and see all sorts of things.

Dirty, bad, ugly, and other such things.

“Phew.”

I nodded, suppressing my rising emotions. If there was one thing I was lacking, it would be experience.

While others climbed the stairs one at a time, I climbed them four or five times as if using some kind of magic trick.

Although I have made remarkable progress, I have not achieved the mental growth that others have accumulated as they climb the ladder one step at a time.

For example, patience.

Or how to deal with emotions when someone is openly provoking or controlling you.

In the first place, Yoo Jin-ho didn’t tell me that.

That person just told me to block the goal well. And I didn’t spend enough time with Yoo Jin-ho to hear any more advice than that.

I was the one who signed a professional contract just six months after starting playing soccer… … .

‘When I think about it like that, I really am crazy.’

I calmed my mind and sent the ball somewhere else. And I was once again thankful that I was a goalkeeper.

‘If I was a field player, I would have fought every time something like this happened, so I would have collected cheese like it was nothing and been kicked out. The opponent would have known that too, so they would have been persistent in attacking only me.’

Beer mug. Round of 32. A tournament that doesn’t really matter to Manchester United whether they go down or advance. When I was named in the starting lineup, I was muttering to myself, “Why should I play?” But what I just experienced made me feel like I’d reached a level of mental growth.

There is no such thing as a meaningless game. Although I may have reached the world’s best level in terms of skill, my mental level is at the level of a youth, to put it bluntly.

I still had a lot of room to grow… .

‘I realized that I had become very arrogant.’

Only then does the surrounding scenery become visible again.

Tens of thousands of spectators gathered to watch the game. And players running around like crazy to show off their skills.

I don’t know why, but there was a moment when I felt a little ashamed of myself.

‘… Let’s do our best. There are no unimportant games.’

If you think lightly, it becomes light, and if you think heavily, it becomes heavy.

I decided to do my best regardless of the importance of the competition. That’s what the club and the fans expect from me. If I get paid over 1 billion won a week, I have to do that.

* * *

“Gasp, gasp.”

Kim Jun-young took a deep breath, shaking off the sweat. Throughout the first half, we were unable to mount a proper offensive attack and had to continue to defend.

The possession ratio was around 7:3, and the number of attacking opportunities created was so high that it was hard to put into words.

In the midst of all this, Kim Jun-young was extremely upset that he couldn’t show anything of his own.

As the flow is the flow, I am more focused on defense than offense and am helping out here and there, but I feel a sense of inferiority that I am a so-called attacker who cannot even dribble, let alone shoot.

‘Is this the level of the world’s best league?’

I heard that Newcastle United sent out a lot of their starting line-up for this match.

And Kim Jun-young could feel it. There was no player on the field worse than him… .

And among them, if there is a player who shines as a great scholar and a military leader, it is definitely him.

“Wow. Minwoo hyung, really… .”

A brother who quietly works hard at his job.

But my brother is so good at what he does.

A brother who is so good at blocking that his teammates get sick of him.

As Kim Jun-young watched in admiration at another successful save, a colleague nearby poked him in the eye. He shook his shoulder, thinking it was a sign to come to his senses, but it wasn’t.

“What do you think? Is it cool? Are you having trouble adjusting? Sometimes I wonder if that guy is really an alien.”

It was McTominay. McTominay grinned and ran to mark another Newcastle player.

And Kim Jun-young also suddenly came to his senses and took a position near the half line. No matter how weak the offense is, the forwards must always be prepared to attack the opponent… .

And Kim Min-woo’s pass. It flew right to Jun-young’s position. Immediately, one of Newcastle’s defenders approached and prepared to compete.

Kim Jun-young also prepared to jump, and jumped with all his might at the moment the ball landed. Although he had lost all three of his three aerial ball battles, he jumped with the determination that he would never lose this time.

And this time, we won.

1 win, 3 losses in 4 matches. 25% win rate.

Even if he loses 99 times, if he wins just once at the end, he is a winner.

The ball flowed towards McTominay’s feet thanks to Kim Jun-young’s victory, and Jun-young ran forward without looking back.

I just believed. It was the first time we played together in an actual match, but McTominay has been at Manchester United for a long time.

Since he was a player who had played for a long time in the EPL and a big club like Manchester United, I thought that if I just roughly turned around and ran, the player would know my intention and pass right away.

I ran for quite some time past the half line, but for some reason the ball didn’t come. Usually, it should come at this timing… .

When I looked back, I saw them behind me, passing the ball among themselves.

‘These fucking bastards.’

Are you saying that EPL players can’t see the angle that K-League players see?

I’m so angry, but what can I do? I have to endure it. If I wait calmly, the opportunity will come.

* * *

After waiting patiently and calmly, the opportunity finally came.

It was just before the first half ended.

Newcastle dominated the game throughout, and Manchester United, which consisted mostly of non-regular players and subs, were still hit hard in the first half.

Finally, Manchester United’s attack has begun.

Newcastle got tired for a moment as they kept hitting and not getting the ball in, and the counterattack started during that gap.

It started with Kim Min-woo.

It’s still amazing how a goalkeeper can be the starting point of an attack, but I guess it’s because Kim Min-woo is on another level.

Anyway, Kim Min-woo draws the Newcastle attackers into the box and passes the ball slightly to McTominay who has space left.

McTominay, who received the ball like that, passed it back to Garnazzo with a ground ball, and Garnazzo, who received the ball from the side, appeared to dribble slightly and then passed it to Kim Jun-young.

It was a lobbed through pass from the half-line.

‘What the heck is this!?’

A crazy pass that reminds us of Gerrard and Ki Sung-yong in their prime. It was a pass that even went all the way to the edge of the penalty box, so Kim Jun-young ran like crazy after seeing the ball.

But this promising attack was cut short as the Newcastle defenders were a few steps ahead.

If it weren’t for the opponent’s mistake, this opportunity would have just disappeared.

The problem is that the other person made a mistake.

If you’re going to receive it with a header, you should receive it with a header, and if you’re going to kick it away with your feet, you should do so, but this defender did it half-heartedly. He had what is called a brain freeze.

Huh? How do I kick this? With my head? With my feet? Oh, wait.

The ball had already landed at that moment, and the Newcastle player amazingly received it with his shoulder.

Because he received the ball too clumsily, the ball he received with his shoulder fell to Kim Jun-young, who was right in front of the defender, and Kim Jun-young thought that this was an opportunity that would never come again.

‘I have to hit it!’

The ball falls off the shoulder. If the ball lands on the ground and you hit it, it’s too late. Then that defender will surely kick it away with his foot or block it with a bodyguard to change the angle of the shot.

in other words.

‘You have to hit it right away!’

Before the ball hits the ground.

Kim Jun-young thought, decided, and took action in that short moment.

He put all his strength into his legs, the ball hit his instep, and a volley shot popped out.

Kim Jun-young thought as he watched the ball pop out.

‘I got hit, damn it.’

It was a total dud.

And the goalkeeper dives with both hands outstretched. The ball goes past the goalkeeper and the net shakes.

slam-!

The sound of waves hitting the sandy beach.

“uh?”

It was a goal. It went past the goalkeeper, into the goal, and hit the net.

‘Is this okay?’

No, it definitely missed? This is definitely not a goal? According to my feeling, the ball should have been a breakaway shot… .

Kim Jun-young stood there dumbfounded and covered his mouth with his hand. He was so dumbfounded. As if that wasn’t enough, he looked around and scratched his head.

The players came running to congratulate him later, but the broadcast cameras had already broadcast Kim Jun-young’s absurd debut goal celebration… .