Chapter 242 – Boxing Day (2)

242

When it comes to picking the best centre-backs, a few players will be mentioned.
And probably four players.

Alex Tillian of Real Madrid
Man City’s Roman Pavlov
PSG’s Silva
Chelsea’s Gabriel Mbaba

Following this, players like Luciano Salve of Liverpool and Viktor Olsson of Barcelona will be mentioned, but most football fans will think of the four mentioned above first.

Just looking at the fact that the rankings are not clearly divided, they are top-notch players whose superiority and inferiority are difficult to distinguish, but if we were to divide the rankings, Alex Tillian of Real Madrid would receive the most votes.

And behind them are Man City’s Roman Pavlov and PSG’s Silva, and Chelsea’s Gabriel Mbaba is the least rated.

Maybe it’s natural
33-year-old veteran Alex Tillian, as well as Roman Pavlov and Silva are seasoned 28 and 29-year-old players, while Chelsea’s Gabriel Mbaba is now a 25-year-old young player.

Besides Mbaba, Chelsea had an outstanding defense.
As a top-class team in the Premier League, it is a team that is not lacking in both offense and defense, but the current team, Chelsea, shows strength in defense rather than offense.

With the addition of new coach Lorenzo Pellegni, who won the Serie A with solid defensive tactics, it is very clear what kind of synergy the combination of a team with a defense that includes one of the best center backs and a manager who has achieved results with defensive tactics will show. Didn’t you do

Of course, it is natural to think of a counterattack based on a strong defense.
However, Chelsea’s appearance on the pitch was different from what was expected.

“Right side! Block right!”

At the cry of captain Joham Baum, the players hurriedly move their bodies.
However, the ball has already moved through the opposite direction conversion. Chelsea’s side striker Deculi Samba’s cross, which advanced by sweeping the empty left side like a highway, narrowly crossed the goal.

‘What. You said you were going to be defensive, so why are you so aggressive? Nothing is really easy.’

The expectation that he would defend firmly and launch a counterattack was only half right. That’s solid defense.

Chelsea came out very, very aggressively based on a solid defense.

“Minjun! Go up more!”

10 minutes after the match started.
Our team was being swayed helplessly by Chelsea’s offensive.

Initially, I expected Chelsea to be defensive and trained intensively on partial patterns in attack so that they could penetrate the shield, but everything got tangled as I focused on defense from the start.

It’s like the amount of hard work memorized in preparation for the exam, but when you get the test paper, it’s completely wrong.

After being swayed by the completely unexpected tactics of the opponent, the coach quickly gives instructions in a lull that was barely obtained.

At first glance, it seems that he is gesturing to the offside line to blunt the opponent’s offensive.

When a fast player like me crosses the defensive line and aims for the back space, the line naturally lowers.
If you’re a defender, you can’t be bothered.

And if the defensive line is lowered, of course, the distance from the midfield line will become more difficult to build up, which has the effect of hindering the opponent’s attack work.

After reading the coach’s will and crossing Chelsea’s offside line and scratching my nerves, a defender smiles and talks to me.

“Hey friend. Are you confident in your speed?”
“It’s not just speed. Are all confident A face, for example?”
“Hot! Are you funny? Yeah what… Face… Um, what… The face… Well.”

The smile disappears from the guy who was scanning my face with one corner of his mouth raised in an unpleasant way.

“Admit?”
“Um, what….”

Reggae A guy scratching his head and nodding his head obediently.

“By the way, I am as confident in my lower face as I am in my face.”
“Oh~ How confident are you compared to me—”

Oops gap.
The moment he started sprinting in line with Jose Gaya’s pass aiming for the space behind him while he was chattering.

Chow-!
The long legs that came in from behind with a short hair difference hit the ball first.

“This friend can’t do this. Where are you just going to talk, my friend? Huh? Aren’t we done talking yet?”
“…….”

The guy who gets up while shaking the mash-up grass shakes his characteristic reggae head and smiles.

Right.
That’s what Gabriel Mbaba is, one of the world’s best centre-backs for his monstrous athleticism.

* * *

Gabriel Mbaba is known more for his monstrous athleticism than for his defensive prowess.
A true monster with a gigantic center back, agile and quicker than most flanking strikers, and even equipped with air power and physical fighting skills.

That guy’s unbelievable movement…

“Ah, what the fuck!!”
“Hey, Bro. Are you a bit fast? But not for me.”

It was about the same as mine.

When he failed to break through the dribble again this time due to a tackle that threw his body, he got up and sat down with one finger raised and shaking it from side to side while saying ‘no~no~’.

“He’s a real game junkie.”
“What? Jokachi?”
“Shut up.”
“What? Baby?”
“Wow~!!”
“Oh~ I know~ wow!!”
“…….”

It’s clear this kid is doing this on purpose.
He’s as big as a bear and wears hair.

Whoa… Let’s calm down.
Calm down and analyze him.

If you look at it in detail, speed is definitely my advantage, but other parts are equal or I’m behind.
How the hell did he get a body like that, with a body like that, with athletic abilities similar to mine, and with much stronger air supremacy and physical fighting?

That’s why it’s hard to use the faster speed.

If you try to break through the dribble, you quickly start a contest before the speed picks up, so I can’t overcome the contest with him because I’m overwhelmingly pushed in the physical fight.

However, it is difficult to fool people with painting. His reaction speed, agility, and sense of balance are by no means inferior to mine. Not only are they not fooled at all, and even if they are barely fooled, it is difficult to defeat them completely.

But it’s fine until here.
Originally, an offense is a success if it succeeds even if it fails 9 times out of 10 times, and a defense is a failure if it succeeds 9 times out of 10 times and fails 1 time.

His athletic ability is astonishing, but not to the point of being completely impenetrable.
Even if you can’t succeed in breaking through like taking something out of your pocket like against any other player, that’s why the situation is strange.

Originally, the attacking player and the defending player are so tense.
In that respect, my dribbling breakthrough success rate can show quite meaningful results against him, but…

“Ow, bro! It was a bit risky this time! But I have a colleague~”
“Under… Shut up for real.”
“What? Shut up?”

Huh?

“이새끼 이거 다 알아듣고 있었네, 이 씨밸놈이!”
“What the fuck? I know it’s a fucking swear word!”
“…….”

It was real.

Both me and the team were thoroughly swayed by Chelsea and we had to finish the first half 0-2.

“Minjoon. Can’t break through the Chelsea defense?”

At the director’s question, the eyes of the colleagues who were taking a break are all at once.
Well…

“It is difficult to be alone.”

It hurts my pride, but I can’t be bluffing.

“Mbabanji, Mbapenji, that reggae hair can somehow pierce… Since he’s overwhelmed with just one guy, I don’t know if he’ll be able to break through the players he covers. He seems to be able to do it if he keeps trying… “

Naturally, the director shook his head.
Unless we know it’s a game where we overwhelm, there aren’t that many opportunities to attack in a game where we’re being pushed back. At a time when one attack opportunity is precious, the risk must be too great to miss the opportunity with an unreasonable attempt.

“Two people for attack work… No, you need at least one help. Then you can break through.”
“One person.”

The director’s gaze turned to the corner of the locker room.
To the guy who appeared as a surprise starter against Liverpool and returned to the rotation after scoring the opening goal.

“Jonathan! Get ready. In the second half, Minjun is in the center and Jonathan is on the flank.”

In December, in the middle of the season, Newcastle, whose squad was not thick, was suffering from physical pressure.

In particular, young players who are not accustomed to the harsh schedule of competing in European competitions and two cup competitions are having difficulty managing their physical condition, and their performance is intensifying.

There may be a difference due to Chelsea’s squad that is much thicker than Newcastle, but the decisive difference between the physical strength and condition of the players of both teams in this match was whether or not they were rotated.

Unlike us, who have played most of the games as the best member, Chelsea has a thick squad and the starting list has been changed from the beginning of the season.

This is the reason for the sluggish performance in the early stages, unlike a team with strong power, and the reason why coach Lorenzo, who seems to have a good personality, has a discord with the Chelsea team.

Coach Lorenzo has been constantly changing the starting list since the beginning of the season, and he had no choice but to reap sluggish results in the early stages due to inconsistent performance.

I don’t know if this was intentional, but with the endless rotation, the team’s stamina was as good as it was, so this can also be a big factor in why our team is behind Chelsea.

As the activity of the tired players decreased, the attacking team, which should have been responsible for distributing my pressure, became sluggish, and as a result, the defense was focused on me.

Jonathan’s second half input was to relieve this.

“Minjoon. Use Jonathan as bait and focus on scoring as much as possible. We need goals. Show your skills against Mbaba.”