Chapter 108 – End of Season (3)

108

Director Franz Walder has no tactical features.
Anyone who has watched football knows the tactical colors that come to mind when talking about managers like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp or Jose Mourinho. For deeper virtues, you might think of lesser-known but tactical directors like Marcelo Bielsa and Ralph Rangnick.

Unsurprisingly, tactically colorless coach Franz Walder is far from this type.
In the first place, these managers are very few among many managers in the football world.

This type is a high-risk, high-return manager who becomes a pioneer who leads the tactical paradigm in the soccer world if successful, and a geek who devises tactics that do not need to fail. Supervisors who succeed only when genius talent and luck accompany them.

If so, does it belong to the type of manager who organizes tactics according to the more numerous and more popular types of players?
For example Carlo Ancelotti or Zinedine Zidane.

Neither.
Even though he has a name value, coach Franz Balder is not a coach who completes the sum by considering the style of each player. Exactly, it doesn’t seem to be able to do that.

It is difficult to match players to his own tactics, but it is also not easy to identify each of the 11 players and show them the right tactics. Because that’s possible, it’s Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

Even so, he is not a manager armed with great tactical flexibility like Nigelsmann or Tuchel.
Director Franz Balder… It’s just a virtue

If I had to ask, it would be the Carlo Ancelotti type.
Of course, if you say that it is similar to that ‘Carlo Ancelotti’, you will say where to rub a third-rate trash director with a great director, but if you have to put it that way, it’s that type.

In terms of the fact that he is a virtuoso with a good knowledge of team management, he presents tactics in a big frame, but leaves the details to the players who play the game.

Instead, the director had a greater talent,

“I can’t. Let’s raise the line and move more horizontally in the midfield.”
“Hamburg is more passive than expected, so I think it will be okay. Since you seem to care too much about Hong, Hong, let’s switch to the other side this time.”

An eye for players.
The reason why Franz Walder, who spent most of his long leadership career as a coach, took on the managerial position for the first time here in Frankfurt, and even being appointed as a ‘manager’ who can be involved in overall club management, rather than as a head coach, was his outstanding discernment. .

He compensated for his lack of tactical ability with a coach with excellent tactical knowledge, and recruited smart players with high football intelligence to form a team. Thanks to this, even in the current situation, the players were able to make partial tactical corrections in real time.

“Did you understand Hong?”
“Ja.”

For the past three months, he has been studying German diligently, but free talking is still impossible.
However, I was familiar with football terminology such as raising the line, horizontal movement of a midfielder, and transition, so I was able to grasp the rough situation.

20 minutes in the first half.
The game resumed after a short exchange of opinions among the senior players, starting with the captain, while the goal line was out.

‘Oh, that’s frustrating.’

Looking at Hamburg’s camp, which still lowers the line deeply and shows defensive management, I feel frustrated as if I ate a sweet potato.
No, does it make sense for a 1st division team to stop a bus against a 2nd division team!?

Neither the coach nor our players expected Hamburg to come out like this.
Our team’s concept for this game was to first defend and then counterattack.

It was a reasonable tactic for a second division team facing a first division team to choose.
So, instead of the aggressive Chicharo, the defensive Rivaldo was put in, and the line was lower than usual, paying attention to the defense, but when the game started, Hamburg was more defensive.

Right after the game started, everyone was taken aback by the appearance of Hamburg.
With each other crouching down, the game was sluggish until the 20th minute in the first half.

The share is 6:4, and we are a little ahead, but it was meaningless because it was for the so-called’separate share’, meaninglessly spinning the ball from the rear.

This time, the ball that was slowly moving from the back is heading this way.
The pressure line is low, so there is no difficulty in receiving a pass, but on the contrary, since the opponent is crouching, there is no choice but to catch the ball in a position relatively close to the friendly camp.

Instead of catching the ball comfortably, moving away from the danger zone… I don’t know if it’s good or bad.

Tuk, tuk, lightly pushing the ball as they approached, the tense Hamburg players lowered their stance.
Not long ago, I couldn’t overcome the frustration and tried to dribble forcibly, but I managed to get past two people. I beat 2 people, but 2 more people rushed at me, so I was taken away.

Even if it ended in failure, it must have been nerve-wracking since two people broke through in an instant in a small space.
A short confrontation ensued with the opponent in front.

If he tried to take the ball carelessly, he would have broken through, but he couldn’t get in easily because he didn’t stretch his feet rashly. If you beat this player, there will be more opponents waiting for you.

Then you have no choice but to try to convert as promised in advance.

As I lowered my posture and tilted my upper body as if I was going to break through, the players who were watching this side closed the gap one step at a time.
At that moment, our team players lifted up from the other side as if they had been waiting.

A good opportunity will open up if I can pass it to right wing Nicola Svyetz, who digs into the half space properly, but unfortunately my passing skills are not that precise.

In this case,
Tung!
After kicking the ball to the side once and getting into position, he connected the ball wide toward the right fullback Chichi.

The right side of Hamburg, where the camp was generally leaning to the left because of being overly vigilant against me, was empty.
The ball, which was accurately directed toward Chi-Chi, digging into the right side of the uninhabited scope along the touchline—

“Go!!”

I was blocked by senior Yoon Hyuk who appeared in an instant.
The moment Chichi stopped to receive the ball, Senior Yoon Hyuk shouted as he cut the ball in front of him like a shotgun.

‘Did you read it?’

And as soon as I sent the conversion pass, the Hamburg players who had been crouching as if they had been waiting were rushing towards our camp.

“Chichi! Don’t let me pass!!”

Chi-Chi quickly enters the pressure before my shouts can reach him.
However, Senior Yoon Hyuk lightly avoided the pressure and rather went wild! Sent a long pass.

The ball floated into the air and headed for the friendly camp, drawing a large parabola, but the friendly camp was already flooded with Hamburg players.

The friendly centerback duo quickly marked the opponent’s tall striker Uwe Zeller, but senior Yoon Hyuk was not aiming for the center.
The right side of Chichi left empty. And the opposing right striker Horst Hrubesch, who was running fiercely toward it, took over the ball exactly and raised a cross toward the center.

In those few seconds when Horst received the ball and raised a cross, Uwe Zeller, who strode into the penalty box in a short period of time, jumped high as if he had been waiting for the ball, and the ball was shot straight in that direction.

The moment the Hamburg bombers attempted to head, the captain Alexander Meyer, who was belatedly chasing them, made a running jump.
The moment when the giant balls overlap in the air and the ball, whose head it is unknown, lands outside the penalty box and wants to overcome the crisis.

Senior Yoon Hyuk, who had run to the final third of his team before he knew it, kicked the second ball as it was floating in the air.
Bang!

The ball, fired furiously with the strong sound of a drum exploding, passed the frozen goalkeeper and shook the net.

“… Goal! It’s Hamburg’s opening goal.”

At the gloomy declaration of the announcer, who was obviously a fan of Frankfurt, away fans huddled together in one corner of the stadium, as if frozen, roared with cheers.

It was a loud shout that would have been colorless to boo at the first division team’s defensive crouching.

“What the fuck.”

* * *

“Goal!! The opening goal has been scored!!”
“Ah~ It was a wonderful mid-range shot that made my heart feel refreshed. Back number 17 scored the opening goal! This is Yunhyeok!!”
“Yeah~ A very nice shot came out, right? Looking at the replay screen… Yes, it was a half volley. You hit it very accurately, Yun Hyuk.”

The title of the semi-final match between the Korean leaguers attracted a lot of viewers, but the casters and commentators, who were wasting their time with unnecessary personal changes, roared with boring and uninteresting performances like steamed buns without red beans.

The magic that makes a boring game fun, the first goal has been scored.
That’s also a Korean player, with a great half-volley mid-range shot!

The local broadcasters were also conscious of it, so they showed Yoon-hyuk doing the ceremony and Hong Min-jun, who was sighing as if crossing paths.

“It looks like a scene from a movie.”

Like Caster said, it might have been reflected because it was just a picture.

“Hong Min-jun’s pass was good… Yoon Hyuk’s movement was very good. He made an interception as if he had expected it, and a long pass immediately after the pressure to escape. And straight into the opponent’s half to lead the second ball into the goal.”
“Hey~ Yunhyeok is amazing. There is no superfluity in the series of movements. It was a wonderful opening goal that shows why Hamburg’s ace and midfield commander are heard.”
“If Hong Min-joon can record the ball… Uh huh Hong Min-joon Does this come in? Are you coming in!?”

Match resumed.
While the atmosphere was chaotic with the opening goal, the pass was accurately connected to Hong Min-jun, who was digging into the loosened Hamburg camp.

“Too many opponents— Phantom! Strip two people in an instant with a la croqueta, shoot, no hesitation, choux, pass!”

At the end of continuous painting, which is difficult for the caster to follow in words,

“Shooting!!!”

Hong Min-jun’s shot from outside the penalty box flew toward the goal.