Chapter 155 – Mezzala (3)

155

Football is a team sport, not individual.
It is natural that a total of 22 players, 11 per team, are intertwined.
But at the same time, soccer was also a sport where the quality of each player was important.

As tactics developed, space and pressure became the core of tactics, which made modern soccer how, how, and in what way the limited space of the ground was occupied.

Players are no longer bound by fixed positional roles.
The attacker is also required to actively participate in the defense, and the defender is also required to actively participate in the attack. The age of total football, where it is not enough for the striker to only attack and for the defender to defend.

The 11 players move systematically and organically according to ‘tactics’ and fight to occupy the limited space called the ground.

And the tactics of modern soccer, which imitate and absorb each other’s strengths and reduce the gap, eventually reached a situation in which individual players collide in a limited space, which is why the quality of each player is important in soccer, a team sport.

Even if the same space is occupied, the game is divided according to the quality of the players.
And one of the few players with that quality at Frankfurt was Chicharo.

In the meantime, Chicharo has been primarily blocking the enemy’s offensive by opening the attack, controlling the tempo, and being in charge of transporting and distributing the ball from the center, which is the backbone and backbone of the team.

To do this, the ballkeeping ability to keep possession of the ball in the center where the pressure is more intense than any other position, the ability to depressurize to escape from the opponent’s interference, the dribbling ability to advance the ball, the passing ability to distribute, and He had to have excellent athletic ability and proper judgment to properly implement all of this.

How many players can realize complex things on the pitch just by hearing about them?
It may not be a strong team, but at least Chicharo was the only one who could do this in Frankfurt, where the depth was thin.

Chicharo’s talent, who has been through all the national teams of different age groups in Argentina, a soccer powerhouse, and has been named by the adult national team every time, shines even in the Bundesliga, where only the pros among the pros gather.

If Frankfurt hadn’t been the first team to go to Europe, and if Frankfurt hadn’t been relegated to the second division in the season he moved to, Chicharo would have made his debut for the senior Argentine national team long ago.

If a player who has played this important and difficult position only on the side throughout his career becomes proficient in just a few days of training, he must be a player with tremendous football intelligence.

I am the player with that outstanding soccer intelligence.
Thanks to the status window, of course.

【Technology】
[Skill 79] [Dribble 79] [Trapping 79] [Short pass 60 ▶ 65] [Long pass 60 ▶ 65] [Shot 65] [Free kick 42] [Header 41] [Tackle 32 ▶ 40]

【Mental】
[Vision 60 ▶ 65] [Anticipation 50 ▶ 60] [Judgment 65 ▶ 70] [Concentration 60 ▶ 65] [Off-the-ball 60 ▶ 65] [Space Mark 45 ▶ 50] [Composure 60 ▶ 65] [Leadership 43] [Teamwork 55 ▶ 60]

【Body】
[Agility 79] [Acceleration 79] [Balance 79] [Agility 79] [Reaction 79] [Power 61 ▶ 63] [Jump 51] [Endurance 62 ▶ 65] [Recovery 68]

【Hidden】
[Genius 65] [CHARM 95] [INT 60]

【Height 182.7cm｜73kg】

【Possess Points 68 ▶ 0P】

After reaching the limit of his steadily increasing physical ability, the number of points he had been collecting for a while was 68.
He had saved up money to prepare for the World Cup, earned quite a bit of money in Australia where he went to meet Heeyeon noona during the winter break, and also had help from Eva and her friends.

68 points collected like that.
I thought about raising genius to break through the limit of ability, or raising intelligence to increase overall understanding of soccer… What you need right now is the ability to run with Mezzala.

Although he raised his passing ability and ability to withstand the competition and run more, the field he invested most intensively this time was his mental ability.

At first, I was worried that this would be okay, but… Fortunately, it was a good choice.

“I’ll press, block the pass path.”

After the first goal that started from my starting point, Leipzig’s attack intensified.

He put in a decisive key pass that could lead to a shot right away, and that was a 1:1 confrontation with the goalkeeper, but perhaps because he ran too fast, Donald Cook’s shot went straight to the goalkeeper, unfortunately failing to earn an assist.

At least, the second ball that popped out of the goalkeeper’s save went to Nikola Svyetz, who had been starting for a long time, and scored.

“Sergey, side! Side is empty!”
“Press over there!”
“Cover!”

As Leipzig’s attack intensifies after scoring the first goal, his body as well as his mouth become busy.
I didn’t know there was little defensive burden due to team consideration… It’s harder than you think.

Pressing the opponent, blocking the pass path, and covering require a lot of activity, and above all, it is the hardest thing to see no tangible results even if you run like this.

You have to run fast to defend, but how much energy you lose when you see an opponent spinning the ball.
Furthermore,

“Keep the line! Don’t follow too much and hold the space!!”

It is not a joke to constantly roll your head according to the movement of your teammates, the movement of your opponent, and the position of the ball.

Ooh, my head hurts.

‘But why is it fun?’

It’s obviously hard on the body, mind, and head, but it’s strangely fun.
Totally different fun from playing so far.

Until now, I have only focused on ‘my play’.
What is the team’s strategy, what is the opponent… Of course, I used to change the opponent’s response according to the coach’s instructions or the team’s movements, but in the end, what’s important is ‘my play’.

Whether it’s our team or the opponent’s team, I’ve been playing soccer with the mindset that I just need to do well.
This is an immutable law that has not changed since elementary school when soccer first started. The team also adjusts the tactics to make use of my strengths, and my teammates move according to my play.

I’ve been concentrating on playing to my advantage… It’s different now.
How the opponent will move, how the opponent will react to my moves, what the team wants and what the opponent hates… So, I vaguely feel ‘soccer’.

I can’t even say ‘understanding’ yet… The flow of soccer, the direction of the game, and the form of tactics vaguely come to mind.

And the result is this.

“Cutting!!”
“Well done!!”

The moment I moved in line with the flow, I could see the opponent’s pass path in an instant.
The ball caught in the tackle as I unknowingly ran and threw myself.

He raised his body and reflexively scanned the front.
A gap created by opposing players who were aggressively attacking, hastily switched to defense. However, if you hold your posture and kick, it will be too late.

Under a momentary judgmenthehesitated and kicked the ball as it was in a half-standing posture.

“Go!!”

A low, fast long pass falls in front of Mondy running down the right flank.
Opponent’s flank defender catches up, but the winner of the speed competition is Mondi.

Mondy, who had been kicking the ball for a long time, quickly raised a running cross, and the elegantly curved ball sluggishly rushed in as much as it was heavy, hitting the head of Donald Cook, who was making a running jump with all his might… I left for a while and headed in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, it was left fullback Bruno who was overwrapped who caught the flowing ball.
He quickly stopped trying to cross again.

“Slowly! Turn back! The defense camp is equipped, so let’s start again with the rear build-up!”

Unfortunately, the team didn’t match and a good attacking opportunity was blown away, but the reason why Donald Cook and Alberto Mondi’s expressions look bright as they blow each other off is probably because their performance improved after a long time.

Leipzig’s pressure intensifies as if my toes felt threatened.
If you run like this, what are you doing in the second half?

However, the second half is the second half, and the intensity of the pressure is strong right now, so the ball cannot be easily deployed.
In the end, there must be a player who accepts the pass, but no matter how much pressure I de-pressurize, if I surround myself in all directions and block the pass path, there will be no place to pass.

The ball started from Mezzala on the left, Mezzala on the right, Sergei on the right, Fabian Fiedler on the right, and Khalid Boulahrouz on the right.

It is a situation where it is difficult to develop the ball easily under intense pressure.
If you’ve been pressing like this, I’d rather stab a pass into the back space, but… No matter how much I am, I need time to get into my posture to deliver an accurate pass over a long distance.

Looking at the electronic signboard, the extra time is almost over.
It’s not bad to end the first half with a 1:0 lead against Leipzig…

* * *

“Today, Hong Min-jun shows a different side of himself.”
“That’s right. I was very unfamiliar with playing in the center because I was so impressed with his performance on the side.
“With Hong Min-jun active, the team’s performance also came to life, right?”
“That’s right! In fact, in the last matches, where the team lost 3 games in a row, didn’t Hong Min-jun shine? Even during the 3-game losing streak, he continued to score goals and struggled, but the team’s performance was really bad. Today, neither Hong Min-jun nor the team It’s so good.”

The commentators, who were excited about Frankfurt showing good performance after a long time, glanced at them to check the time.

“Now, the extra time of the first half is almost over. The referee checks the time, right? He blows the whistle soon— uh? Hong Min-jun hits the ball and runs away.”
“Are you going to break through this one last time?”
“I’m going, I’m going! Change direction with a simple touch! Hong Min-joon escapes pressure in an instant!!”
“Keep going, keep going! This is going!!”