Chapter 17 – Tactical Moves (3)
17
Training with senior Yoon Hyuk flowed similarly to a private lesson in which we learned each other’s strengths.
Like winter, the sun goes down and it gets dark quickly, so you can’t see the ball well to exchange the ball from a distance, and physical training is even less so.
So, it became a time to pass on know-how to each other.
“To be honest, I don’t have any other method. The way I break through is to use instantaneous acceleration and break the opponent’s balance… There is nothing to explain about breaking through using speed, and breaking the balance is just giving a feint and then throwing the opponent’s weight off. If the center collapses, all it does is hit the other side.”
In order to demonstrate, I put senior Yoon Hyuk in front of me and show off her skills.
In general, in a one-on-one confrontation between an attacker and a defender like now, the standard decision for a defender to make is time delay.
It is a common defense method to wait for a backup while keeping a reasonable distance rather than actively rushing in and stealing the ball.
As the saying goes, if you fail 10 times in offense and succeed 1 time, you are praised, but if you succeed 10 times in defense, if you fail 1 time, you will be criticized.
Some defenders are exceptionally adventurous, but senior Yoon Hyuk prefers standard play rather than adventure.
However, as it is now a training situation, it seemed that they were trying to actively steal the ball rather than check it.
‘Now!’
In the short moment when the senior rushes in, he checks that his body is getting stronger and the balance is shifting, and he runs away in an instant.
“Wow. How do you hit and come out just the moment you want to move?”
“Shall we try one more time?”
The one-on-one confrontation that followed several times ended with my victory in a row.
The senior who allowed the breakthrough consecutively shook his head.
“Even knowing this, I have no choice but to suffer. Upper body movement is an art. It’s definitely going to the right, but it’s going to the left in an instant, and I can’t stop it.”
And after thinking for a while,
“I think you have a good reaction. I can understand it after going through breakthroughs. They moved after confirming my reaction rather than predicting it.”
“Uh… Is that so?”
Listening to what senior Yoon Hyuk said, it seems like that.
【Skills】 【Spirit】 【Body】
Skill 067 ｜Field 046｜Main 062
Dribble 060 ｜Anticipation 044 ｜Acceleration 067
Trapping 057 ｜Determination 042｜Balance 056
Short Pass 048｜Concentration｜ 056｜Agility｜ 059
Long Pass 041｜Off the Ball｜ 047｜Reaction Speed 079
Shooting 045 ｜Space Mark ｜ 038｜Power 054
Free Kick 042｜Peace 052｜Jump 046
Header 038 ｜Leadership 040 ｜ Endurance 053
Tackle 032 ｜Teamwork 039｜Resilience 065
【Hidden】
Genius 046 ｜ Charm 095 ｜ Intelligence 028
【Height 175cm｜63kg】
[Retained Points] 4P
Looking at the status window, I’m sure… The highest stat was surprisingly not related to confident technique, but reaction speed.
‘Was my reaction speed this good? Why did I know this now?’
I saw it once a day, but now I realize.
I’ll have to take a serious look at it later.
“I think you are right. I move after knowing how the opponent reacts and where the center of gravity is moving.”
“That’s something I can’t follow.”
The old man smiled bitterly.
“That’s your natural talent.”
What… ? It’s a training that started to comfort you, but isn’t it rather frustrating?
Fortunately, however, the senior burned a spirit of improvement instead of frustration.
“My reaction speed isn’t great, so I can’t imitate your method. But seeing you do it, I think I know a little bit. I wouldn’t be able to imitate it, but is it enough to block an opponent who flaunts his feet in front of me?”
“Me too?”
“Not you, dude. Since you were in high school, your technique has been more than a pro.”
“Ah~ To be honest, even when I was in middle school, I was told that my technique was at a professional level. Hi-Hi.”
“You did very well.”
I laughed exaggeratedly to lighten the mood, so my seniors also smiled and accepted it.
After taking a breather, it’s the senior’s turn.
The old man scratched his forehead with an embarrassed expression.
“I don’t have anything to tell you. What is there…”
“Understand tactics!”
“I have to understand the tactics, but I just run according to the coach’s instructions.”
“Or football intelligence!”
“Soccer intelligence… Soccer intelligence…”
He repeated his small talk to himself,
“Tactical moves are explained by the coach every time, so rather than me repeating them… Would you rather explain the way I play? I think that will help more.”
She laughed.
“I’m fine.”
It’s Yoon Hyuk-sunbaenim’s way of playing.
I didn’t have high expectations in the first place, and I was curious about the way other players played.
Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of how other players play.
I thought everyone would be the same, but… My style and my senior are very different, so there must be a difference in the way we play.
It wouldn’t be bad to listen to it once, that’s just what I thought.
“Basically, I tend to think a lot. I assume and prepare for the expected situation in advance.”
A player who plays with his head.
But is that possible?
“Senior. As you play, the situation changes every game, every moment. How do you predict all of that?”
“That’s impossible. Predicting every situation would be impossible without artificial intelligence. I can’t do that either.”
“Huh? You said you just predicted.”
“It’s about narrowing down the situation as much as possible and predicting it.”
After saying that, the senior blinked a few times and let out an exclamation.
“Ah. I see. What do you need?”
“…… ?”
“So look. We’re on the attack. Then where’s your seat?”
“Left flank. Near the half-line?”
“That’s right. Normally, your team’s tactical position would be that one. So what are you thinking then?”
“Well… Are you just going to get the ball?”
My team’s ball delivery was almost entirely up to me.
Of course, when attacking, my teammates drive the ball to me, and my role is to carry the ball as deep as possible into the opponent’s camp.
“That’s right. Can you think about it a little more?”
“How? Like timing to press the opponent or defensive positions?”
“No. Right now we own the ball. We just have to think about attacking.”
“Then defense.”
“It’s a defender or a player who will be tasked with preparing for a counterattack… “
The senior who was talking thought for a while, and then he nodded his head as if he understood.
“You tend to have too many useless thoughts.”
“…Eh?”
“We own the ball, we have the offense, so why bother with the defensive situation? I said? Close the situation as much as possible. It’s our offensive situation. Then you just have to predict the offensive situation.”
After saying that, the senior crouched down and drew a simple tactical symbol on the dirt floor with his finger.
“Now look. This is our attack situation. Then, if I were you, I would first check my location and the location of the marksman.”
A sign in the shape of a stadium and players drawn on the ground.
The senior pointed to it and continued.
“As I said before, I can’t do it if I assume all situations. So I’m simplifying it as much as possible. In the current situation, I have to judge first, quickly, and accurately. What is that?”
“…How do I get the ball?”
“That’s right. How to receive the ball. And how to continue. This is the first.”
The opposing player drawn on the dirt floor will stick closely behind the sign that stands for me.
“The other side is marking so closely. Then I’m wondering if I should go down and get the ball or call for a stab into the space.”
“Oh. That’s right. I just thought I’d get the pass no matter how it came.”
“You can’t do that. No matter how fast your reaction speed is, in the end you have a limit as a human being. It can’t always be like that, but you have to figure out the player’s tendency and predict what kind of pass will come and prepare in advance or make an active call.”
“Aha.”
Something is tickling in my brain.
Listening to the senior’s words, things the directors explained in elementary, middle, and high school come to mind at random and get tangled up.
“And before you receive the ball, you have to think about how to continue. If you receive the ball, how do you trap it so that you can move on to the next move comfortably? You can either trap the ball in the direction it’s coming from and keep going. Or, as I showed you last time, you can trap it with your heel and pass it over.”
Shaking off his soiled hands, the senior finished his speech.
“I’m not saying to think in every situation. Sometimes it’s better to act with a flash of inspiration, instinct, or intuition rather than complex thoughts. In particular, genius players are better off relying on their individual genius in urgent situations. A lot. But the point is, you can’t rely on that kind of flash every moment. Think. Play while thinking. Just reduce the number of thoughts.”
Listening to the senior’s words, a feeling of frustration came to my tickling head as if something would come to mind, but I couldn’t.
I frowned and thought about it, but without realizing it, I instinctively used the point.
On top of ‘judgment’.
After losing my judgment, I instantly understood the words of my senior, and in an instant, my stats rose even more.
【Skills】 【Spirit】 【Body】
Skills 067 ｜ Vision 046 ｜ Focus 062
Dribble 060 ｜Anticipation 044 ｜Acceleration 067
Trapping 057 ｜Judgment 049(▲7)｜Balance 056
Short Pass 048 ｜Concentration 056 ｜Agility 059
Long pass 041 ｜ Off the ball ｜ 047 ｜ Reaction speed 079
Shooting 045 ｜Space Mark 038 ｜ Power 054
Free Kick 042 ｜Peace 052 ｜Jump 046
Header 038 ｜Leadership 040 ｜Endurance 053
Tackles 032 ｜Teamwork 039 ｜Resilience 065
【Hidden】
Genius 046 ｜ Charm 095 ｜ Intelligence 028
【Height 175cm｜63kg】
【Possessed Points】 0P
‘Uh? The number of points I had was 4, but it went up by 7?’
Bewildered for the first time.
‘The stats… It’s not just going up with points.’
It was a joy
The joy that my efforts are not in vain, that I can improve my stats even with hard work.
I am laughing with joy and sense of achievement, but the senior avoids his gaze with an embarrassed expression.
“Hmmmm. I didn’t tell you anything great, but it’s a bit embarrassing that you like it that much. It’s nothing special.”
For some reason, senior Yoon-hyeok was brushing his nose shyly.