Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 253



Only Krnovel

Episode 253: Changed Phase

A score of 7-0 in one game was not something that could be achieved easily.

It was an enormous number that did not appear even when playing against a team that was clearly in the relegation zone, and the impact was even greater when this number appeared against a championship-bound or top-tier team.

“Giovanni is definitely the best manager! Wow! It reminds me of when I was a player! We beat Arsenal 8-2 back then!”

After the match, the Manchester United legend at the analysis desk shouts with joy.

As Giovanni said, it was a score that declared to the world that the old Manchester United had returned.

This is a score against a team that is not about to be relegated next season, and that London powerhouse, Arsenal.

Manchester United were in a festive mood after this huge score.

Then what about Arsenal, who suffered a humiliating defeat at Manchester United’s home ground?

“… I died standing up, but I dare say it was an honorable defeat.”

Of course, it was a tense atmosphere.

In fact, defeat against Manchester United was expected, but if we lose more heavily than expected, the atmosphere is bound to become tense.

And it is only natural that we should find out why this defeat happened, who should be held responsible, and who should be blamed for the fans’ anger.

And usually in football, all this responsibility falls on the manager.

Arteta expressed his regrets about today’s game with a dark face. He also showed his greatness by saying that he was proud of the players and that all the faults were his.

What about the reporters who saw it?

I decided to go along with Arteta’s intentions.

“I wonder why they went so aggressive against a rising Manchester United. Arsenal were too aggressive. They seemed to be caught up in emotions and there are also opinions that the manager’s personal grudge ruined the game. What do you think about this?”

Arteta looked at the reporter who asked the question.

“The game just ended, so I guess that evaluation came out right away.”

Even without looking, this is obviously the reporter’s brainwashing. However, the manager who lost 7-0 is a sinner. Arteta responded without engaging in a war of nerves with the reporter.

What followed after the calm answer was another question.

“Are you conscious of Kim’s shutout? Since you didn’t think you could win the game, didn’t you force yourself to raise the line to at least break Kim’s shutout?”

“That’s speculation. This is not a hearing. If you keep asking emotional questions like this, I won’t be interviewed anymore.”

Arteta is furious.

… In fact, the reporter was right.

It was eerily accurate.

It seems like we won’t win the game, so it’s right to aim to score at least one goal.

But Kim Min-woo didn’t even allow that and defended himself brilliantly.

‘I wish the score was 7 to 1…’

Then, all the issues would have shifted to Kim’s first mistake. It’s too bad. It’s too bad.

* * *

Manchester United’s dominance continued thereafter.

In fact, many teams facing Manchester United were at a crossroads.

In some ways, you could say that Liverpool and Arsenal have set milestones with styles that are completely opposite to each other.

As a result, Liverpool tucked their tails in and took a draw, while Arsenal went all out and suffered a crushing defeat without even breaking even.

It was clear how the other teams who watched that scene would deal with Manchester United.

Even if the odds are a little low, it’s best to prioritize defense.

Of course, there were teams that faced Manchester United by their own standards without being swayed by external factors… … but those teams were swept away without a trace.

FA Cup Round of 16.

Manchester United vs West Ham.

West Ham, who were not aggressive but were not defensive either, slowly lost the game one point at a time until they were eventually defeated 3-0.

EFL Cup semi-finals and final.

The semi-final opponent is Everton. Score 3:2.

Of course, it’s a match I don’t participate in.

Perhaps because Manchester United conceded two goals for the first time in a long time, there was a lot of buzz despite it being a beer mug.

Next is the final.

Originally, it was a competition where only non-regular players had to be sent out, but since it was the finals and there were so many fans, Giovanni held back tears and sent out a large number of regular players.

The opponent is Chelsea.

Chelsea must have felt similar pressure as they started many of their regular players, and we played an unexpectedly close game, but we won 1-0 in extra time with Rashford scoring the winning goal.

“Wow! We won!”

It was just a beer mug, but it was our first trophy at Manchester United. Starting with captain Bruno Fernandes, we waved the trophy around with enthusiasm.

Perhaps because it was their first time touching the championship trophy in a long time, Manchester United fans all welcomed it with open arms, even though it was a beer mug.

‘It’s salty, it’s salty… .’

Open your mouth and take the league championship trophy!

The FA Cup and Europa League winners’ trophies will also be included.

If I don’t get injured or something like that, other trophies will definitely follow.

… and I had high hopes for it, but despite winning the EFL Cup, Football Manager had no effect.

Does this mean I’ve grown too much to give gifts like I used to? Lately, even when I play league games, my stats don’t seem to go up at all… .

[Sophie: Wow! Hanover came back to life!]

[Sophie: Did you see the game?]

[Kim Min-woo: Oh, I’m a little busy…]

[Sophie: You didn’t see this great game! So what happened? Oh, I can’t. Can I call you?]

Sophie personally called and explained in detail how Hannover won the Europa League round of 24 play-off.

When we were down 1-0 and it seemed like we were going to be eliminated, we scored a goal in the second half and then another goal in overtime to turn the game around to 1-2.

After that, Sophie talked passionately about Hanover, but then suddenly became sullen and said:

-I don’t want to meet Manchester United… … What should I do?

“Hey. Are we really going to meet? There are so many teams.”

Normally, we would meet like this, but unfortunately, the meeting with Hanover was postponed to the next time.

Manchester United face Marseille in the Europa League round of 16, while Hannover face Rangers.

It was an opponent where both teams could be considered lucky.

* * *

The World Cup season is just around the corner.

World Cup! Festival of the world! Flower of soccer! The culmination of four years of preparation by all countries!

South Korea has entered a period of strengthening itself as a team after going through many twists and turns during the four-year preparation period.

In particular, the evaluation match last January was decisive.

Beating Canada, beating Denmark, and unfortunately drawing with Ghana.

Overall, the performance was very satisfactory. The Ghana match was out of the question. It was a match where the national team’s actual ace, the crazy goalkeeper, whose performance would be reduced by 90% without him, was not used.

Perhaps because of the good performance in the evaluation match in January, expectations for the Korean national team were very high both domestically and internationally.

Eugene Ho hoped that this upward trend would continue, or at least solidify.

“It seems like there aren’t any useful ones….”

Currently, Eugene Yoo is watching K-League matches under the orders of manager Leon Harpers.

At first, the relationship between the two could not be said to be good even in empty words, but as the national team’s performance piled up ‘wins’, their relationship gradually improved.

Above all, Leon had a strong will to utilize Eugene Ho in some way.

Yoo Jin-ho watched the K League 2nd division and recalled why he was sitting here watching the players.

It was a random suggestion.

“Coach Yoo Jin-ho. I heard that you were the first coach to discover and develop Kim Min-woo. Is that correct?”

Leon’s words were translated by a dedicated interpreter. At that time, Eugene nodded with a dull expression.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“I also heard that you personally coached Kim Jun-young and Han Seung-woo, who is active in the K-League. Among them, I heard that you personally trained Kim Jun-young and Kim Min-woo. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Yoo Jin-ho knew very well that the rascal director hadn’t called him here just to praise him.

The world was too cold a place for grown adults to have such conversations.

There must be some hidden agenda.

“In particular, Kim Min-woo said that he would not have thought of playing soccer if it weren’t for you. At that time, Kim Jun-young wasn’t as good a player as he is now. Why did you try to raise those kids? Is there a reason?”

“… I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but at the time, I gave him a chance to play because he was good enough. At that time, all Minwoo could do was block, but isn’t 90% of goalkeepers’ jobs to block?”

Leon, who received the interpreter’s message, nodded with a kind smile. Yoo Jin-ho added, looking puzzled.

“What about Kim Jun-young… … That kid, I guess I could say there was something different about him? His movements were just good. If I gave him consistent playing opportunities, he showed potential for growth, so I gave him those opportunities. But honestly, I didn’t think he was good enough to go to Manchester United… Yes. But why are you asking?”

Leon nodded and mumbled something in Dutch again. The interpreter waited until Leon finished speaking before speaking in Korean.

“Coach Yoo Jin-ho. In my opinion, you have a very special talent. It’s the talent to recognize the true value of a player. It may not be the case because there are few cases, but you personally discovered, raised, and recognized players like Kim Min-woo and Kim Jun-young, something that no one else could have done.”

“… … That’s not wrong, though.”

Why do I feel uneasy when you say that to me?

As far as Eugene knew, Leon was not the type of person to call someone out and compliment them unless there was a special reason.

And Yoo Jin-ho’s intuition was right.

“So I want to give you a special mission.”

“…Special mission?”

“I want you to go around the league yourself, evaluate the players and write reports. I’m not asking you to find players to take to the World Cup. I’m asking you to find reserve players in case someone gets injured and drops out.”

“Huh? What? How much longer is the World Cup left for you to do something like that…?”

Why are you bothering me with your own work?

That was Yoo Jin-ho’s true intention.

However, the Korean way of talking in circles will not work on foreigners.

“Only you can do it, Coach Yu. It would be a crime to let your special talent go to waste.”

“Well, the World Cup is just around the corner, and it’s risky to select a new player—”

Of course, Yoo Jin-ho’s words didn’t make any sense.

In the first place, Yoo Jin-ho’s mission was not to select domestically produced players to take to the World Cup, but to report on a list of candidates who could fill the gaps in case a few players were dropped from the national team due to injuries.

In simple terms, it meant to work hard and not play.

He’s a boss at work who doesn’t understand a word, but what can Yoo Jin-ho do when his boss gives orders?

Since then, Eugene Ho has been working hard in the domestic league under Leon’s orders.

K League 1st Division. 2nd Division. Even 3rd Division… .

I watched the players diligently with a sense of mission, but I didn’t get the same feeling I had when I coached Kim Min-woo or Kim Jun-young.

“It’s not bad. Everyone is not bad… .”

Well, it’s strange if guys like Kim Min-woo and Kim Jun-young just pop out after watching a little bit of the game.

If they were that kind of people, they wouldn’t be in the country in the first place.

However, Eugene Ho set his own standards and recorded the players who were somewhat useful and uploaded them to his report. Every time he did this, Leon would shout, “Excellent!” and ask him to continue doing so.

But today’s game doesn’t seem to be going well.

“Hi… .”

It was a typical boring football game.

While watching the game, Eugene Ho thought about his opponent in the evaluation match in March.

The March evaluation match was originally scheduled to be held in Korea, but the association president changed his mind and the concept was completely changed to an expedition to Europe.

‘If it were the previous chairman, he would have opened it domestically and received sweet seed money…’

If it’s fortunate that the chairman changed, then it’s fortunate. Yoo Jin-ho also survived the storm well.

In fact, right after the change, I was worried that I would end up like a duck egg in the Nakdong River, but fortunately, Yoo Jin-ho was intact.

‘The opponents were Poland and the Netherlands.’

Well, don’t worry too much.

Because as long as our Minwoo is here, we can be sure of a draw.

‘Who knew those snobby Dutch guys would be the first to ask for it?’

In fact, Poland welcomed us when we applied.

We have a higher FIFA ranking, and objectively speaking, that country is a country that has Lewandowski as its one-tool.

Even Lewandowski is now an experienced player who plays every day. This World Cup will probably be his last.

‘Europe also has its own nationalism, more than I thought.’

I didn’t know, but there was a kind of Leon syndrome going on in the Netherlands.

It was a kind of projection.

South Korea, one of the advanced countries, was in a slump in soccer, but with the appointment of its own countryman Leon Harpers, the Dutch are delighted with the story of their revival.

‘It would be like watching our coach Park Hang-seo succeed in Vietnam.’

But now that South Korea is also a developed country… … it might be something for the Netherlands to be proud of as well.

Even though it has been over 20 years since the World Cup ended, Coach Hiddink is still treated as a state guest in Korea.

That’s how much the World Cup was worth. The status of the semifinals was incredible. It’s a record that won’t be forgotten even after 20 years. Kiya… .

‘This time, let’s try to create a legend of not just making it to the semi-finals, but of definitely winning the championship.’

It’s possible if you have a goalkeeper who doesn’t concede goals.

Eugene Yoo still can’t imagine Kim Min-woo conceding a goal.

“Hehehe.”

Even if you say that Korea has the power to dream of winning the World Cup right after being eliminated from the Asian Cup, you would have been laughed at and called a soccer idiot. The future is truly unpredictable.