Chapter 157 – BBC Match of the Day (2)

157

MOTD is a football highlights and analysis program that airs on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the EPL season.

As a broadcaster on the British BBC, of ​​course, I covered the English Premier League, but I usually analyzed or talked about big matches, high-profile matches, and outstanding players.

However, this time, they brought up a different topic, namely, ‘Five players you want to see in the EPL selected by football journalists!’.

It was rare for programs dealing with the EPL to pay attention to players from other leagues.
Of course, it’s not that there’s no relationship at all, since there’s a clue that ‘I want to see you in the EPL’ anyway, but the reason why MOTD did such an interesting project was because of the uneasiness that was prevalent throughout the league.

The EPL, which has fans all over the world as well as its hometown of England, is worthy of its reputation as the most commercialized league in the world.

Particularly terrifying is Spain’s La Liga, which has been chasing to the chin with the two major mountain ranges, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

A sense of crisis was sweeping the EPL that the title of the most commercially successful league might be lost due to how strong the momentum was.

Beyond a simple decline in popularity, a drop in commerciality will soon lead to a reduction in league size and financial inferiority, which will lead to a decline in quality.

This was the reason MOTD broadcast on players not playing in the EPL.
Perhaps that is why, among the players ranked 2nd through 5th, there is only one player of European nationality. It is also an Eastern European nationality player from an immigrant with a complicated family. Although he chose European nationality, he was a player with connections in various regions from North Africa to the Middle East, going back to his family.

The rest were selected from Africa, South America, and North America, one each, revealing MOTD’s intention to draw the world’s attention and attention to the EPL.

And the long-awaited No. 1 is Hong Min-joon, the most popular Asian player, as he cannot give up on the Asian market, which is the market that the European football world is paying most attention to and which accounts for the largest share in the commercial success of the EPL.

Hong Min-jun, who is from Korea, a relatively small market in Asia, but is gaining sensational popularity not only in China and Japan, which are the biggest players, but also in Southeast Asia, which has emerged as a market that cannot be ignored due to its huge population and frenzied football popularity. Was a player

Moreover, his popularity in Europe was also great.
The series of events that took place in Germany at the beginning of the season were to the extent that no one knew.

A player who can attract young women who have the least interest in soccer in Europe as well as in the Asian market! It is already an open secret how much commercial profit Frankfurt gets from Hong Min-joon.

More than anything, what scares me the most is the young age of only 21 years old and the potential to grow steadily and explosively.

Hong Min-joon was a treasure coveted by all clubs, possessing all of his skills, potential, and star qualities.

“As a joke earlier, I said that if I recruited this player, I could make up for the transfer fee only with related products, but this is not important. This player’s popularity and star quality are of course great, but what’s really, really wonderful is his skill! And his potential!!”

Harold, who appeared as a panelist, waved his hand fervently with a motion as big as his gigantic body.

“Calm down Harold. Are you saying that this guy’s ceiling is amazing?”
“Sure! Sure! Gary, look at this!”

In line with Harold’s gesture, a video of the match plays on a large TV screen placed between the host, Gary Lineker, and Harold.

“This is the 23rd round of the Bundesliga, where Hong Min-joon played as a central midfielder for the first time. Look, he never loses the ball even under strong pressure from Leipzig.
“Wow. He’s very good at dealing with pressure. Plus he has a good sense of balance to keep the ball while staggering in contests… He’s so nimble.”

Gary Lineker, who was watching the video of him playing as a central midfielder, nodded his head.

“I definitely feel that his individual skills are terrifying. But am I mistaken? To me, this player’s play is quite unique. He seems to be a central midfielder with a more attacking role… His playmaking is based on his individual ability to carry the ball.”
“That’s right. It’s a style that advances the ball with overwhelming personal ability rather than tactical moves or clever passing play. Isn’t it unique? It’s like Hazard or Jack Grealish!”
“They are truly on the ball’s special list.”

Harold gave a big nod to Gary Lineker’s summary.
No matter who sees it, Hong Min-jun was a player with strength on the ball rather than off-the-ball.

“You know what’s even more amazing? This player’s off-the-ball ability has grown noticeably over the years! This player has played as a wide striker throughout his career and has been a one-tool dribbler with very, very little tactical movement. Of course, that alone is a terrifying dribble. He was a blur, but look at him now. He’s adapted wonderfully as a central midfielder! Got it, Gary? He’s only in his 2nd year as a pro!! Oh shit! My God!!”
“Okay, calm down, Harold. I’m pretty sure you’re a fan of this guy.”
“A fan? Not just a fan, but a big fan!!”

Seeing Harold raise his voice, Gary Lineker shook his head as if he couldn’t stop it.

“Here! This scene!! Take a look at the break through in the first half of the extra time against Leipzig! Wow! Isn’t it amazing?”
“You made a dribble breakthrough from the half-line to the front of the penalty box. That’s great.”
“This is not a scene that only appeared in this game. This player is originally a wide striker! He is a natural dribbler who creates scenes like this once or twice in every game!!”

Although he fell down after being tackled at the last minute, his dribble breakthrough against Leipzig was a splendid play that definitely caught the attention of the viewer.

Gary Lineker, who was watching the brilliant dribbling breakthrough scene like a highlight compilation, suddenly muttered.

“It’s like a mix between Messi and Neymar.”
“Oh… That’s right. His rhythmic dribbling and variety of skills are like Neymar’s, his almost instinctive timing moves, his one-beat quick turns and succinct touches are like Messi. Look, Gary. This player’s averages per game. That’s 7.6 dribble attempts!”
“Wow! 7.6? That’s a lot? He really tries to dribble throughout the game!”

Reference materials appear on the TV screen.
A comparison table of Hong Min-jun’s average number of dribble attempts per game and the average number of dribble attempts per game of players famous for their high number of dribble attempts in the four major leagues.

“It is an overwhelming dribble attempt among the four major leagues. Min-jun Hong, who is ranked first, averages 7.6 per game. Second is 6.8, third is 6.1. It’s the cause of the turnover… Harold, I can guess from your smiling face.”
“Ugh, I got caught. There may be a lot of dribble attempts, but isn’t the success rate really important? Du-gu-du-gu, don’t be surprised. This player’s dribble success rate is… A whopping 79%!! Even with so many dribble attempts per game, he has a whopping 79% success rate.” Show me!”
“Wow… This is amazing. Calm down Harold. You know this guy is a genius dribbler.”

When Gary Lineker praised him as a genius dribbler, Harold clapped for joy.

“Let’s look at the next data? There’s data that shows that fouls are the only way to stop this genius dribbler.”

A new graph appeared on the TV screen.
Data showing the number of fouls per touch and the total number of fouls.

Hong Min-joon, who was placed at the top, was fouled once out of 11 touches, and was overwhelmingly No. 1 in this field with a total of 86 fouls this season.

“During the 21/22 season, Man City’s Jack Grealish, who was famous for his many fouls, was fouled once out of every 14 touches. He was fouled 86 times, beating Hazard’s total of 638 fouls during his 7 years at Chelsea! I do.”
“Huh… That’s amazing. No matter how good a dribbler you are, this is too much.”
“As you can see from the video, Hong Min-jun often uses dribbling that steals timing. It’s a perfect style to get fouled. Besides, the team situation is the same. There are only two players who can lead the attack in Frankfurt: Hong and Chicharo. But Chicha is better because he is in the 3rd line, how many fouls must Hong Min-jun get because he tries to break through from time to time in the dangerous area. I have to focus.”
“So the play style itself is aggressive on the ball, and the team situation also depends on Hong Min-joon’s toes.”

Gary Lineker shook his head at the huge number of fouls.
As a legendary goalscorer and a long-time player, he can’t help but get injured when he gets fouled out so often. Isn’t he really a good record for getting a bone disease?

“Surprisingly early, Gary. Just remember that this pretty looking Korean is actually an incredibly tough macho. Surprisingly, Hong Min-joon has no injury history. He is very clean. No long-term injuries, very few minor ones! Do you think it makes sense?”
“Heh heh. It’s an oriental mystery. Is it an oriental martial art? But I see a lot of Hollywood action?”
“Uhaha, that’s another charm of this guy. He got 3 yellow cards for his Hollywood action and this is also the number one in this category.”
Haha. You have a face like a movie star, but you don’t seem to be good at acting.”
“Oh, it’s the opposite. I only got 3 because I’m good at acting.”

The two burst into giggles.