Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 251



Only Krnovel

Episode 251: A really good player

And the moment of rematch arrived.

This season, the league leaders are showing tremendous force, coming one step closer to the glory of Manchester United that dominated the league in the past.

Kim Min-woo certainly played a big role in Manchester United regaining their past glory, although the style is completely different from that era.

Arteta knew very well that Manchester United would be nothing without Kim Min-woo. It is a fact that everyone in the world knows.

The problem is that everyone knows Man U’s strengths and weaknesses, but knowing that doesn’t make a difference.

It was similar to humans being unable to do anything when a large asteroid hurtles toward Earth from deep space.

What good is knowing? You can’t destroy it.

Knowing doesn’t make any difference.

Up until now, many people have tried to change the asteroid’s orbit in some way, but despite all of this, the asteroid has remained intact without changing its orbit even once.

‘People in the world criticise Klopp, but in fact he has dealt with it wisely.’

Since the asteroid’s orbit cannot be changed, a giant spaceship is launched to evacuate the survivors.

Those who criticize this are ultimately the ones who can’t get on the spaceship.

…which meant that almost all of them watched the game.

Klopp was wise, but Arteta, who now faces United, has another option in mind.

I didn’t have it in mind, I had already made up my mind to choose it.

“I know that most teams playing against Manchester have been playing defensively recently. With Kim, they won’t score, but they can’t just accept defeat, so they want to secure at least one point. Arsenal won’t be following that pattern.”

Arteta took aim at several managers at the press conference. He didn’t name them, but there must be a few people who are feeling a little guilty.

“We will try to score. No one, no team has scored against Kim yet, but Arsenal will be aggressive.”

Attack tactics announced.

Then, one reporter asks a question as if he finds it interesting.

“If you lose this time, are you going to dance Gangnam Style in your underwear?”

“No. Never. I will never make that promise again in my life.”

Arteta answered with a serious expression.

There is no one in this world who would make such a crazy promise to Kim.

* * *

After the game against Liverpool, all the teams that played against us came out defensively.

Even in the first half, he would come up whenever he had a chance to score and make my heart race, so it seems like Klopp is definitely a very influential person.

‘But Man U won them all.’

If it were Hannover’s time, there would probably have been more draws than wins here. Maybe they wouldn’t have won at all.

However, Manchester United were not at the same level as Hannover, and teams that recklessly lowered their lines against Manchester United had to pay a price.

Giovanni followed Liverpool’s lead and punished all teams that started defensively, teaching them a lesson.

If we just play defensively against Manchester United, the game will never go the way they want.

‘Actually, I almost died from frustration because of the decision-making issues here and there.’

United’s form has been inconsistent from round to round. One day it was Fergie’s United, another day it was the Man U we know.

Just because one player changed, the style that was like a stick of candy wouldn’t change completely, but Giovanni seemed to have made his own judgment about who would be better and who wouldn’t.

‘Junyoung is back in the starting lineup after the Southampton match.’

Although coach Giovanni didn’t say anything specifically, the last three games have been a bit of a revolving door.

Each team had three attackers as starters, and the content of each of those three games changed dramatically depending on who played.

‘It’s really interesting. We only had one player change, but the playing style was different in all three games.’

And in today’s match against Arsenal, a top-ranked team that plays attacking football, Kim Jun-young was the starting lineup.

To anyone who looked at it, it seemed like Kim Jun-young had ultimately won the competition and been chosen. Just like me in the past.

I called Junyoung Kim, whom I like, aside and advised him that he should do better in times like these.

“You’re at the starting line now. This is important. If you disappoint here, you’ll end up on the bench again. Do you want to endure for half a year and sit on the bench again?”

“… Ah, no.”

“So don’t act like you’ve won everything. They’ll work really hard even if it hurts their pride, so show the coach. Consistency is important. My brother always says, don’t try to do well, and do as you usually do.”

It’s been a long time since I had a serious conversation with Kim Jun-young. It wasn’t a two-way conversation. It was a one-sided conversation. I forced myself to share my experiences from my early days in Hanover.

But since he is also Korean and I have been watching him for a long time, I really hope that he will become a regular player now.

Fortunately, Kim Jun-young nodded with a serious expression, as if he understood my feelings well.

“Yes, brother. I’ll do my best as usual.”

“Yeah. If you do it like you usually do, you’ll do well.”

And time passes and it is game day.

Before entering the game, Kim Shin-a sent me a message.

[Kim Shin-ah: Haha]

[Kim Shin-ah: When I asked Arteta if he would make a promise this time, he said with a serious face that he would absolutely not, which was really funnyㅋㅋㅋ]

[Kim Min-woo: Aren’t you sleeping?]

[Kim Shin-ah: I have to watch it every day when Kim Min-woo plays]

[Kim Shin-ah: It’s been like that since Hanover, so now it’s become a routine]

[Kim Min-woo: Will it be different when you enter college?]

[Kim Shin-ah: I think it will be similar since I plan on living a casual life anyway]

[Kim Min-woo: Haha, I’m trying to trick you]

Is Kim Shin-ah awesome?

What nonsense are you talking about?

If you look at Kim Shin-ah during her time at Suyang High School, she always had a friend nearby. She would go to school with a friend, and she would go home with a friend.

Maybe his personality changed while we were not seeing each other, but I don’t know.

The Kim Shin-ah I’ve seen has always been an extroverted person.

[Kim Shin-ah: I don’t think I’ll let it go hehe]

[Kim Shin-ah: Born to be popular]

[Kim Min-woo: When I see you, a short story by Park Wan-seo comes to mind]

[Kim Shin-ah: ???]

Not a rocker, but a novelist.

The novelist left behind a sentence that will remain for a long time: ‘The rich even steal the poor.’

It felt exactly like that when I saw a popular guy who was obviously popular calling himself an outcast.

‘That’s exactly me.’

Many people praised my skills, but in reality, I was isolated in proportion to my skills.

Some of my teammates at Manchester United compared me to some kind of noble scholar in the press, but that was a kind of compliment and embellishment.

Actually, he’s a loner with no friends. But now he’s the best goalkeeper in the world…

‘It’s even stranger to have friends in Europe where you have no connections.’

Actually, even if I were in Korea… … um.

What the fuck.

I’m telling you, this guy’s nature can’t be fixed.

I suddenly became curious and asked Kim Jun-young.

“Hey. Junyoung.”

“Yes, brother?”

“Have you met or become close with anyone here?”

“… Yes? Before the game?”

“I was just asking.”

“No, brother. It’s a forced homecoming. Training and studying English. It’s all over again.”

phew.

Well then, that’s right.

It wasn’t just me.

I sighed in relief and asked him again when he was in the K-League.

“When you were in Korea?”

“… … Oh, you spent a lot of time with your team seniors back then, right? We played games together, went to good restaurants together… .”

Shit. I asked for nothing.

“Hey. Your shoelaces are untied.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Because of my personality, it’s impossible for me to be the first to act friendly. I’ve been like that my whole life.

While I was thinking seriously about ‘colleagues’ and ‘friends’, Kim Shin-ah sent me a KakaoTalk message asking if I had found out about Park Wan-seo’s Stolen Poverty.

[Kim Shin-ah: Hahaha]

[Kim Shin-ah: Oh, sorry]

[Kim Shin-a: The real A-sa was in Manchester… sob sob…]

[Kim Min-woo: Falling behind]

[Kim Shin-ah: Haha …

[Kim Shin-ah: Scratch?]

It was a new word these days. It was ‘scratched’, which means ‘scratched’ after making a sound that made you angry.

[Kim Min-woo: Very scratchy]

[Kim Shin-ah: Hahaha okay]

I thought the KakaoTalk conversation was over, but Kim Shin-ah added a few words as if she felt sorry.

[Kim Shin-ah: Even the world’s best Son Hong-min is a homebody in England]

[Kim Shin-ah: Life in a foreign country is hard, so cheer up]

[Kim Shin-ah: Or maybe hang out with my junior from Suyang High School]

[Kim Shin-ah: That person probably doesn’t have any friends]

[Kim Min-woo: Play with friends who don’t have friends?]

[Kim Shin-ah: Hahahahaha]

[Kim Shin-ah: Scratch?]

* * *

Unlike the last game, this time we faced Arsenal at home. I remember that we barely managed a 1:0 win that time, but I was hoping to have an easier day today.

Even putting aside their performance, Manchester United have recently been on a 14-game unbeaten streak.

‘I didn’t know, but it’s been a really long time since we lost.’

14 games in a row without a loss.

I thought about it for a moment while standing at the goal post waiting for the game to start, and it was a whopping 12 wins and 2 draws.

“““Glory Glory Man United!”””

So that’s why Man U fans are in such a good mood. The cheers of Man U fans are so engraved in my ears that I can’t even think of anything else.

And amidst that cheer, the referee’s whistle blew sharply. The game had begun.

It started with Manchester United’s first goal, and as usual, I watched the game from behind.

Recently, Manchester United have shown a pattern of play that has been repeated over the past few games, and my interest was whether that pattern would be repeated again today.

‘hmm.’

After watching for a while, I feel like today is different.

As Arteta had promised, Arsenal pressed high and aggressively, unlike Liverpool or other teams who had looked at Liverpool and copied their style of play.

My colleagues also looked slightly flustered as the opposing team put pressure on me like this for the first time in a long time.

To my eyes, that’s what it looked like. Frantic, hurriedly passing the ball to the side or back… .

‘I’ve completely lost my sense of defense in the last few games.’

If the opponent applies aggressive pressure, we can either counterattack or take a breather by passing the ball to the opponent to drain their stamina.

However, Manchester United were in an awkward position.

It’s almost like I’m stuck between the two.

Even coach Giovanni realized that something was wrong and started to yell and coordinate the players’ movements from the start of the game, but the Manchester United players’ creaky movements did not go together.

And… …all of those things came together to create one event.

It was a lob pass that cut through the Manchester United players in an instant.

One pass in the air can blow open Man U’s defense.

If it were me in the past, I would have waited in front of the goal for the opponent to shoot… … .

‘Tsk!’

Now that I can see the final pass trajectory, that reckless action is no longer an option for me.

I ran forward, clearing the goal as the pass flew in.

Bukayo Saka runs at full speed to receive the ball, but if you roughly estimate the distance, I reach the ball faster.

‘Where!’

Even if all my other colleagues are out of their minds and are acting crazy, I’m still sane!

And just before kicking the ball away, Saka thought about it.

I was slightly faster, but when it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to catch the ball, I tried to block it with my body to create a variable when I hit the ball.

‘This kid?’

Originally, I was going to try to defuse the situation by rushing forward, but I changed my plan.

I changed the path of the ball by kicking it with my left foot.

Saka tried to block the shot by spreading his whole body like a locust, but he was flustered when I suddenly kicked the ball and changed its path.

And I beat Saka.

It was a dribbling that he didn’t show off very often, but it was the first time in a long while that he showed off his dribbling.

We left the dumb Saka behind and did as originally planned. Send it deep to the front.

The final trajectory of my ball was the captain.

Bruno Fernandes.

Arsenal, whose line had been pushed forward for an attack, were at a loss as to how to respond in the short period of time when the attack was switched back to Manchester United.

However, the opposing defender near the captain instinctively caught the ball and stuck to it, and the captain also jumped to win the ball, perhaps thinking that he had to win the aerial ball battle first.

The ball hit Bruno’s head and bounced forward.

It was Kim Jun-young who caught the bounced ball.

Bruno Fernandes was also in Arsenal’s defensive third and won the aerial duel, sending the ball careening past the Arsenal defenders.

And it was delivered in front of Kim Jun-young’s feet.

‘The location selection is just mind-boggling… .’

This scene was reminiscent of that Bournemouth match.

In a critical situation where a goal is about to be conceded, he quickly kicks the ball away and creates another scoring opportunity.

Back then it was Hoilun, but today it’s Kim Junyoung.

I looked at Kim Jun-young with a nervous heart. Can he do it? No way? He can do it, right?

Kim Jun-young, in the exact opposite position to Saka, was in a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper, with all the defenders behind him.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya immediately jumps out of the goal and runs to stop Kim Jun-young.

It was a good decision. If you don’t come out there, you’ll just get eaten. I didn’t come out because I could see the trajectory, but that’s the original rule.

‘Please calm down, Junyoung.’

And Kim Jun-young.

He used his left foot, not his dominant foot.

A ground ball shot aimed at the far post.

Goalkeeper David Raya tried to block it, but Kim Jun-young’s shot went past the keeper and into the side netting.

It went in.

“Yes.”

An early goal.

I clenched my fist and cheered, and the 70,000 fans gathered at the stadium cheered and cheered, “Woooooooo!”

In an instant, the stadium shook. I thought there was an earthquake.

As I was returning to the goal, Bukayo Saka, who was there in the meantime, looked at me with a blank expression.

He had a fish-shaped expression on his face, as if he was very embarrassed.

When I saw that expression, I became curious about Arteta for a moment and looked towards where Manager Arteta was.

‘Foot.’

Arteta’s situation was similar.

He scratched the back of his neck in disbelief and then took a sip of water.

‘Still, it’s fun to meet an aggressive team after a long time.’

Because I enjoy thrills.

It’s nice to win a game comfortably, but I still prefer a hotly contested game.