Chapter 227 – Scandal (3)

227

Newcastle are placed in Group C of the Champions League group stage, along with Spain’s La Liga side Espanyol, Czech Republic’s 1. Ceska Portvalova Riga side’s Viktoria Folsen and Turkiye Super League side’s Trabzonspor.

Even if it’s Spanish team Espanyol, the Czech Republic and Türkiye are far, long-distance away from Newcastle located in the north of England, so it can’t be a pretty burdensome opponent no matter what the opponent’s power.

Although it is not the final round, it is a group stage, but Trabzonspor is the first opponent of Newcastle, who returned to the Champions League after 33 years.

It was an expedition to Turkey.
Is it an away game in the farthest place from the first game?

The Newcastle team arrived in Trabzon around lunchtime on the 11th, the day before the game.
In the case of the famous Champions League match, the only preparation was an hour and a half of recovery training and final inspection in the afternoon. The rest was replaced by power analysis and video analysis.

I’ve heard the notoriety of the EPL’s harsh schedule… After all, EPL is amazing!
I can understand why so many coaches and players expressed dissatisfaction with the schedule, even me, who was only a month old after debuting. Is this correct

Dissatisfaction with the schedule. Anyway, the next day we headed to Şenol Güneş Stadyumu, home of Trabzonspor, where the match was held.

I thought it was a name I had heard a lot, and that person was right.

Trabzonspor legend player and manager.
In addition, during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, he led the Turkish national team, defeated Korea in the 3rd and 4th place matches and placed third, and the same coach who used Ki Sung-yong and Lee Chung-yong, who were teenagers at FC Seoul, as their main players. The coach who once openly stated that he wanted to take charge of the Korean national team.

That’s Chenol Guinèche.
The director’s family team is here. The world is so small.

Trabzonspor.
As a member of the Turkiye Super League, it is a club based in Trabzon, located on the Black Sea coast, just like the nickname Karadeniz Fırtınası, Storm of the Black Sea.

True to the name of the long-distance expedition, it is located at the eastern end of Turkiye, and in fact, it is the periphery of the periphery that boasts the farthest distance among UEFA teams, excluding Russia and eastern Ukraine.

When I was playing for Frankfurt, when I recall the experience of dealing with Galatasaray on the Europa stage, it was definitely not an easy match due to the burden of the away trip and polar supporters.

From the memories I got from analyzing Galatasaray at that time, the Super League was a league played by all three teams that were based in Istanbul. To some extent, in the history of the league, only two teams, Trabzonspor and Bursaspor, have won the title by a team not based in Istanbul.

Bursaspor is only once, and Trabzonspor is a little bit 8 times, but 6 of them are concentrated in the mid-70s to mid-80s, when they were in their heyday.

How did non-Istanbul teams advance to the Champions League in a league dominated by Istanbul teams?
This is not very good.

The gust of wind team that appears from time to time often shows potential that is difficult to grasp with objective analysis data.
Frankfurt, where I used to play, is like that, and teams that appear out of nowhere and disturb the ecosystem are like that from afar.

Even though it is not objectively the right to win, the coach’s ability is terrifying, the motivation of the players is crazy, or the internal connection is beyond imagination, as if they are connected by mental bodies, so they emit incomprehensible potential.

It is a game that should be easy considering objective combat, but sports don’t always work rationally, so why would people be crazy about sports if the results were decided only with cold numbers and cold data?

Isn’t it because there is a story like a fairy tale where a weak team takes over a strong team and a sudden team creates a sensation? What fun would there be in alternative sports if a strong team always wins?

The problem is, if the team we’re going to play against is that kind of team… It’s getting a bit difficult.

* * *

‘What the fuck. Why aren’t bad premonitions always wrong?’

In the first half, our team showed eye-popping performance, so to speak. Possibly the worst performance of the season.

There are still some, and even a very small number of them, but what is the reason Newcastle is carefully considered as a’league championship candidate’?

5 league wins? League 1 at the moment?
Of course, that would have been considered, but the important thing is not the result of just one month.

In a league that can be called a marathon, it’s only five games now. It was only Liverpool that faced the winning team.
Nevertheless, it was because of their outstanding performance that it was said that Newcastle should be considered as a candidate for the championship.

The overwhelming performance shown in the match against the middle and lower teams that were expected to have similar power.
And the excellent performance that was not pushed back against the powerful championship candidate Liverpool.

This was the source of the high evaluation of Newcastle, but today’s performance, no matter how good it is, can never be called a championship team.

Even so, thanks to my struggles, I managed to block it with just one run. It was such a garbage-like performance that it wouldn’t be strange to lose a lot if it wasn’t for my performance.

“Wake! Where is everyone going crazy and playing!! Concentrate, concentrate!!”

The coach passionately explains the tactics for the second half, but… Will this help?

The problem now is not slackness or lack of focus.
Condition management failure.

As you realize, Newcastle is the youngest team in average age in the EPL.
The average of the 1st team and the average of the best 11 are also the lowest.

In addition, after struggling in the second division for a while, they managed to rise to the first division, but, except for last year, they have no experience in club competitions, befitting a team that struggled desperately in the relegation zone.

Only captain Baum Johan has Champions League experience in the squad.
There were only two people, including me, who even had Europa or Conference League experience.

Last season, it was an environment where you could drop out of all cup competitions early and focus only on the league, so there must have been no big difficulties in managing your condition.

No matter how harsh the schedule is, the EPL is not too harsh if only the league is played excluding club competitions and cup competitions. At most, it’s probably one game a week.

Here are some players who made it to the national team through last season’s promotion, so players with experience in the league, national team, and championships are bound to fail in managing their condition.

No matter how talented and talented you are, maintaining your condition under a harsh schedule is another matter.
This is the part that requires experience, regardless of skill. Both for the club and for the players.

If it is a prestigious club where a tight schedule is natural, there must have been management at the team level through accumulated experience.
The system or coaching staff would have advised and managed young players, but Newcastle has no such experience or system.

Even the director and coaching staff have a stone nose.
Even Baum Johan, who claims to have experience, has only tasted the Champions League group stage, so it is ultimately a failure to manage his condition due to lack of experience.

Athletes aren’t running around right now. It’s not even that the mental state is hazy.
It’s just, it’s just that the body, which is heavier than usual, reacts slower than expected.

So… This is not a problem that can be solved by doing one’s best or by working hard.

The director, who lacks experience but does not lack ability, only bites his lips with a sticky face as if he realized this belatedly. What more can I say to the players who are already doing their best? My body doesn’t move on its own.

Quiet locker room.
It was then that someone opened their mouth in the locker room, where only the cheers of the Trabzonspor supporters could be heard, cheering enthusiastically for the team leading the way with the opening goal.

“I will score goals somehow.”

Low but clear and attractive husky voice.

“Concentrate on your play. Concentrate only on your role. Don’t think about anything else, just concentrate on the play you have to do, take on, and play. Then I will score a goal.”

Okay. That’s right.
You shouldn’t be greedy when you’re in a bad mood. You have to focus on what you can do, what you have to do, and what you at least have to do.

“It’s the debut. It’s the first match in the Champions League. Do you want our debut match to end like this? Not me. I don’t want to lose my debut match. So trust me Even if you don’t believe in yourself, believe in me and run. I will lead you to victory no matter what.”

My face is itchy.
From the head coach to the coaches and all the players, they were only looking at my face.

… The poor physical condition of the players will not be affected by my scandal, but can I say this?
The stinging gaze seemed to criticize me, so I belatedly shut my mouth,

“Minjoon… You must be the hardest… Sorry we couldn’t help. Still me… I really want to win this game.”
“Right. Like Minjun said, let’s focus on what we can do. And… I’m sorry, but Minjun, I’ll leave the rest to you. Please.”
“Come to think of it, it was Minjun who did the best in the first half. The national team must have gone farther than us… You’re amazing, Minjun.”
“Okay! Trust in Minjun and let’s do our best again! Minjun could score 3 or 4 goals. Is not it?”

Well… No matter how difficult it may be to score 3 or 4 goals…

“Then. Believe me. If you believe in me, you can win.”

However, my mouth full of bravado spewed out the words on its own, and soon everyone said ‘Ohh…’ To my declaration full of power. !’ I vomited admiration.

“Let’s go! Does it make sense for us, who won Liverpool, to lose so helplessly!?”
“Minjun! I trust you! Let’s win!!”

… Oh I don’t know

“Well. This is the debut match for all of us. I will definitely lead you to victory.”

Is it only me who is ashamed?
Among the eager players, the captain who was sitting next to him finally muttered cautiously.

“… I’m not the first I ran the champs.”

And the second half.
We succeeded in a come-from-behind victory with a ghostly reversal.

The atmosphere on the plane back home couldn’t have been this good.
And when you arrive in England.

“Oh right.”

I realized it while looking at the still British situation.
My scandal hasn’t been resolved yet.