Chapter 235 – The Iron King (4)
235
Players commonly called pass masters can be divided into two types.
As a player who is good at passing itself and as a player who creates a passing environment.
The former, without explanation, is just a player who is fucking good at passing.
These are the players who show off all kinds of strange skills, such as showing incredible trajectories even when they see what they are doing to the ball, or dropping their speed in the middle.
In fact, a player of this level is bound to excel in various ways, not just passing.
There is no such thing as a soccer guru, such as quick and accurate judgment and calmness to instantly secure a pass path, and creativity to seize opportunities that others do not see.
He often shows play that is close to skill beyond technique, and although all talents are possible, he is a type of player who can only be naturally born rather than trained, and unfortunately, he is a type that is far from me.
I’m still not very good at passing skills.
Short pass or long pass, which are directly related abilities, were still only 65, and although less relevant than this, vision, prediction, judgment, and composure, which can never be ignored, are also staying at the 60-70 level.
This is less than the EPL average.
When you actually train, you can feel the difference compared to the kids in the Newcastle team who pass a little.
In particular, the gap with Jose Gaya, who was Newcastle’s best and biggest prospect and playmaker before me, feels like a wall.
Nevertheless, the reason why I am superior in attack productivity to Jose Gaya in the game is the second reason, not because I am good at passing, but because I can create an environment to pass.
“After Minjun!”
Captain Baum Yoham exclaims urgently right after he sends a pass at my feet.
‘I know.’
I feel it even when I don’t look back.
It is a kind of instinct or a sense that can be called a sixth sense. It is a talent that must be innate.
It was there before I got the status window, and as I raised the stats, I turned around while trapping the ball, and a Sevilla player brushed my side in an instant.
The sense of helplessness and frustration felt in the eyes of the moment, and a sense of struggle.
I twist my body rapidly and try to catch up, but that short amount of time is enough for me.
‘Right side… I’m stuck. What about the left? My passing skills are ambiguous.’
Dribble the ball lightly, look ahead, and then naturally turn your body half a turn with the ball. A tackle that sweeps through an empty space as if it had waited.
‘I can’t even face it. If I do something wrong, I’ll just hand the ball to the goalkeeper.’
If I had good passing skills, I would have created opportunities by adjusting the speed or trajectory at will, but it is impossible with my skills. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.
Being in charge of playmaking despite lacking passing skills, and actually producing high productivity results—
“Go in!!”
My teammates, who had been moving around to create a pass path for my shout, began infiltrating the opposing camp all at once.
Having no teammates to receive the ball means that the pressure is concentrated and the risk of stealing the ball increases. At the same time, it also means that if you can release the pressure, you can create a better opportunity.
The guy who fell down after the tackle crawls into the ground, but as expected, he easily gets away, and when he strips off the Sevilla player who rushes further, he is freed from the pressure in an instant.
‘Chance!’
And subsequent passes.
Stop the ball, step carefully, and give it a light kick.
A decisive chance made as if it were natural.
Your passing ability is not up to EPL average?
Just because it’s below average doesn’t mean it can’t be used.
Even in the EPL, there are plenty of players who are more developed than me and who are more passers than me.
Being below average just means in the EPL, one of the best leagues in the world, it doesn’t mean lacking at the pro level.
In other words, as long as there is no obstruction in the opponent’s dangerous area, it means that it is possible to pass like the highlight scene that other excellent passers showed.
This is the reason why I create as many decisive chances as a pass master despite my lack of passing skills.
It was the ability to create a passing environment.
* * *
“I beat you again!! Hong Min-joon It seems like you are dealing with an amateur, no, a child!!”
“Crazy! Look at that slack! Opponent camp, and that kind of relaxation in the final third area!! What the hell happened to this player’s ability to depressurize!!”
“Alas, Sevilla’s pressure doesn’t work at all. Joao Felix, you’re down again. Powerless. It’s so helpless. Even a player who was evaluated as a high-level defensive midfielder in Serie A is no match for Hong Min-jun.”
“An exquisite pass that creates another decisive opportunity! Goal, Goal! Newcastle finally score a goal! Sakum Shakki, who started for the first time in a while, scored Hong Min-jun’s through pass.”
“Sevilla’s good attack follows. Create shooting opportunities… Oh, I lost it! Newcastle going straight to the counterattack! A sharp counterattack, the main character is, of course, Hong Min-jun! Fast, fast! 20m, 30m in an instant at tremendous speed, keep hitting!! Defeat the 3rd person and score as it is!! Newcastle shaking Sevilla’s net once again!”
“We have to show our potential even for the second leg, Sevilla players. Even for the supporters who followed the distant Newcastle expedition, we have to run with this grit. There is still a 2-goal gap in the game, plenty of time— Ah, Hong Min-joon loses again, no, directly breaks through! One shot, shoo, no fold, shoo, pass! Ah… Newcastle’s third goal. Sevilla players end up bowing their heads.”
“The match ends with Newcastle winning 4-0. Hong Min-jun made a big success today with 1 goal and 2 assists, making Sevilla miserable again.”
The match between Newcastle and Sevilla in the second leg of Group C, which is considered to be the watershed between the first place in Group C of the Champions League group stage, received a lot of attention.
Contrary to the pre-game analysis that was expected to boil, the content of the match was too one-sided, and the fact that it originated from one player, and ironically, that player was a player who eliminated Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals last season in a one-man show was complex. It was a working result.
『The successful transformation of Hong Min-joon, the ‘Eight Colored Bird’!』
「The Champions League group stage 2nd leg of Group C held at Newcastle home Saint James Park on the 27th.
The match between Newcastle and Sevilla drew a lot of attention from the start.
.
.
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—Meet Hong Min-jun, who performed overwhelmingly against Sevilla in the Europa League semifinals last season, and dreamed of revenge—
.
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Hong Min-jun, who has been praised as a ‘perfect’ dribbler, seems to have opened his eyes to passing this season.
In the last Sevilla match, Hong Min-jun played 84 minutes and showed a perfect performance as a playmaker.
• 110/114 pass completions (most)
• Touch 145 (most)
• 15/16 successful long passes (most)
• Tackle 1/2
• Interception 2
• Ball contention 3/4
Recording the most ball touches, passes, long passes, and success rates among both teams—”
This growth trend made soccer officials look back at Hong Min-joon.
“Look at Hong this season! He’s a crazy boy If he wasn’t the most doping tested player in the league, I would have called him a dope without a shadow of a doubt.”
“Last year’s Minjun Hong is a completely different player. It’s so different. He’s improved in almost every way. At the beginning of the season, he surprised me with his improved physical ability, but now he has developed his weak point, his playmaking ability!”
“Hey hey, Hong once played as a midfielder at Frankfurt. He did well even then. What’s even more surprising is that a player who had a top speed of 34 km/h last season has now reached 36 km/h this season. Does this make sense?”
“The time has come to admit I was wrong. I thought it would take Hong some time to adapt to the tougher and more competitive English stage than Germany. That’s right. Hong’s body is so slim. Besides, he has a tendency to avoid competition too much! However, Hong seems to have succeeded in bulking up to some extent this season without losing speed, agility and balance. What kind of magic did he use?”
No one who watched football doubted Hong’s talent, but many had doubts about his first season at Newcastle.
There are so many reasons why young players can fall into sluggishness, such as insufficient professional career, too fast growth, excessive star quality, consecutive transfers, and adaptation to unfamiliar leagues.
However, Hong Min-jun showed a terrifying performance from the beginning of the season and even successfully changed his playing style.
And, as if laughing at the prediction that he would become sluggish due to his lack of physical strength due to the EPL’s harsh schedule, he continued to play a big role after the match against Sevilla.
Active as the Korean national team during the A-match period in the first week of October, followed by EPL Round 8 against Everton on the 14th, Champions League Group Stage 3 match against Viktoria Plzen on the 18th, EPL Round 9 on the 20th, EFL Cup Round of 16 on the 24th, EPL 10th on the 28th Round, 31st October’s last game Champions Group Stage 4 Once again, he played as a starter until the match against Sevilla, and broke through the physical fitness issue head-on.
『Now, even the King of Steel! Hong Min-joon has it all!』
—Kya~ Wow, skills, stamina, and women really have it all (recommendation 5013 / recommendation 649)
ㄴBut I, Pil-gyu Ko, the 38th generation descendant of the Jeju Go Clan, did not have it (Recommended 1432 / Bit 921)
ㄴWhat is the name of the real name of Bichu? (Recommended 1024 / 86)