Chapter 248 – Hong Min-Joon Who Came to Rest (2)

248

The game against Arsenal was Hong Min-joon’s solo stage.
Hong Min-joon, who returned from injury after 15 days, literally devastated Arsenal’s side through stormy dribbling breakthroughs with overwhelming personal skills and the style of the past that fans longed for as if to relieve the resentment of not being able to play.

The intensity that could not be seen in the static playmaking that was praised as another appearance of Hong Min-jun.

Hong Min-joon, who returned to his original style that fans longed for, as if the previous appearance was not suitable, showed off the superstar aspect that really makes people anticipate every time he catches the ball.

“Minjun Hong catches the ball again! Newcastle’s cheeks are focused on Hong Min-Jun! In terms of attack, the final destination for Newcastle players today seems to be at the feet of Hong Min-jun.”
Haha, actually, this was the original look. Didn’t Newcastle’s offensive development this season come entirely from Hong Min-jun and Jose Gaya? Jose Gaya focuses on the build-up from a little lower, so the final starting point for the build-up is Hong Min-jun.”

Last season Newcastle was not like this.
There was an outstanding playmaker named Jose Gaya, but Jose Gaya is a player who is more suitable for a rear playmaker with talent for assembling and coordinating build-ups from the back rather than the type that stabs a decisive kill pass from the front.

Therefore, Newcastle’s attack pattern last season focused on partial pattern play involving multiple players.

However, Newcastle’s attack this season is going on in a more unified form.
Jose Gaya assembles it from the back and somehow makes Hong Min-jun able to receive the ball from a high position. Therefore, the key to Newcastle’s offense this season is to leave the offense to Hong Min-jun’s toes.

In a way, it can be seen as a regression rather than a development from last season, when various players and various paths were used to attack.
Isn’t that what modern soccer based on total football is aiming for, more players participate in the attack and form a variety of attack patterns.

When attacking, somehow raise as many players as possible to create a variety of passing paths.
That is the attack method that modern soccer aims for, and the methodology that the strongest teams of this era aim for.

Compared to this, Hong Min-joon’s attack, which was done only at the tips of his toes, discarding the various attack patterns of last season, is too simple, monotonous, and consistent.

Isn’t it the same as the outdated tactics centered on attacking midfielders that were popular from the 1990s to the early 2000s, going against modern soccer?

However, it cannot be said that only the latest trend is the correct answer.
Involving as many players as possible in offense means investing the same amount of defensive resources in offense.

This means that when you switch from offense to defense, that is, you become as vulnerable to counterattacks, and above all…

“Did you stop—!?”

Hong Min-joon The tactic that is degraded as one-tool is more effective than anything else.

The moment Hong Min-jun, who came down to the bottom to avoid the Arsenal players blocking the pass path with human-induced tactics, catches the ball, a scene unfolds as if the Arsenal players themselves open the path.

The outside of Hong Min-jun’s foot, the ball that flowed through the out front passed between the legs of the Arsenal player who reflexively stretched out his foot.

At the same time, Hong Min-jun, who turned his body like water flowing, jumped out of his seat, and whenever the layers of Arsenal players instinctively stretched out their feet toward the flowing ball, the ball naturally flowed between their legs as if they were a matched trick.

The sight of four Arsenal players stretching their feet in succession and spilling the ball between their legs is truly a sight that is hard to believe.

If this wasn’t a soccer game, it would have been a comical scene that would only come out of a comedy show, but it was like a tragedy that would never happen again to the people involved.

“Mah, a magical dribble came out!! Hong Min-jun, who breaks through the defensive wall in an instant with just a slight touch, just like Arsenal players spill the ball on their own!! Incredible, incredible scene!!”
“My God, this scene makes me doubt my eyes. I’ve been broadcasting soccer for 20 years, but this is the first time I’ve seen a scene like this!”

One goal by breaking through the dribble, which is also praised as Hong Min-jun.

“Newcastle get a free kick for a foul on Minjun Hong. The distance is about 40… No, it’s about 35m. Jose Gaya and Rock Woody are preparing. Jose Gaya running… It’s full!”
“Fierce competition! Goalkeeper Punching!! Out of the ball— Hong Min-Jun, this is Hong Min-Jun!! Catch the second ball, be careful! You lost this, didn’t you!?”

The moment the goalkeeper kicked the ball through punching flowed to Hong Min-joon, who was waiting outside the penalty box, and the moment when it looked like it would be stolen by Arsenal players who were running around from all sides while the ball that floated high was coming down.

“My God!! What did I just see!?”

As if juggling, the kicked ball was kicked and connected, and the overhead kick split the net.

“Hong Min-joon, who scored a wonderful goal that deserves to be selected for Puskats as well as the first goal. The game is 2:0, Newcastle lead.”

While the goalkeeper, who scored the goal, stood still and watched the ball rolling on the floor with eyes wide open, Hong Min-jun, who had fallen down, got up, struck the logo on his chest with a sullen expression, and began to trudge toward the center line.

In response, the Emirates Stadium, which had been submerged in silence, began to clap one by one, and soon all the spectators stood up and started clapping.

“Ah… Applause echoes through the Emirates Stadium. Gooners pay their respects to Minjun Hong. It is such an amazing, unbelievable series of goals.”

After the wonder goal in the 10th minute of the second half, Bottman replaced Hong Min-joon as if he thought he had already won the game.

The commentary muttered to Hong Min-joon, who was being replaced with the applause of Arsenal fans who were like enemies, and the picture taken at that moment decorated the front page of the newspaper the next day.

『Finally, a conqueror from Korea conquers England following Germany』

* * *

His comeback against Arsenal was successful.
So successful that it’s embarrassing.

『Hong Min-jun, who hid his power? It turns out that the play style that changed this season was to hide power』
『”I’m different after resting!”, Hong Min-joon’s secret to his success!』
『Doping, not doping, Kimchi is the secret to incredible growth?』
『Korean food culture, popular among players! What is the effect?』

… What kind of nonsense bullshit is this!!
I just said that the changed play style was to reduce the consumption of stamina, and that I was strong in ‘Full Power Mode’ with full stamina while resting. It’s only!!

“Real journalists are so shy! Ugh, that’s why you hear the giggles. What is the title of this testimony?”
“…….”
“Why, what?”

I grumbled at the two women staring at me in awe,

“Is it time to take your medicine?”
“Approximately? What drug? You know I get tested often for doping, right? You can’t give me any herbal medicine.”

Oddly enough, I was worried about my body.
After all, all I think about is my girls.

In the EFL quarter-finals, Newcastle won with two goals from Hong Min-jun, who returned from injury.
It was the worst result for Arsenal, who committed most of the starting pitchers and pledged victory.

There was even a sight of home fans giving a standing ovation to a player from the opposing team at the home stadium, so there was no way Arsenal players who saw such a sight in the midst of a gruesome volley could not be fine.

In the game in which most of the main players were put in, they suffered disastrous defeats, let alone victories, and the performance was not as good as the performance, and the main players had a red light on their stamina like the main players, but Arsenal, who suffered a serious blow to their mentality, suffered a narrow league competition. Even he was hit with a nail.

They lost all of the remaining league games in the first half and all of the matches against teams in the middle and lower ranks that needed to earn points, although there were only a few left, and were completely eliminated from the competition for the 4th place.

On the other hand, Newcastle finished the first half by winning round 19 of the league against Leeds and round 20 of the league against Norwich City.

The overworked key players showed their physical strength and the overall performance was not good, but in return, Hong Min-joon’s great performance stood out and led the team to victory.

After his return, Hong Min-joon, who led the team to victory with a one-man carry that almost feeds victories on behalf of the key players who were in poor form, was praised, but not without criticism.

“Newcastle is a one-man team with Hong Min-joon. The dependence on him is too severe, to the point of excessiveness. On the contrary, Newcastle looked stronger last season.”
“I don’t agree with the statement that Newcastle were stronger last season, but I agree with the claim that Hong Min-joon is highly dependent. The current Newcastle is a team run by Hong Min-jun. It’s fortunate that he’s a player who’s known for his steady performance and no ups and downs, but… Isn’t it a way to know when a player’s form will drop? Newcastle’s top priority will be managing Hong Min-joon.”

It is the excessive dependence on Hong Min-joon.

However, this criticism was soon buried.

『Special! Hong Min-joon, are you transferring after half a year?”

It was because of the transfer rumors that started again.