Chapter 256 – Advice (2)

256

The beginning of the match went as expected.

As befits a Premier League winning team, Chelsea players are all skillfully completed.
I felt it in the last game, but they are players who are not easy to deal with now that their stats have improved.

Especially Mbaba.
Even in the Premier League, where physically superior players are preferred, Mbaba’s athletic abilities are no less than mine, as would be expected from a monster-hearing guy. Rather, except for speed, he generally has higher specs than me.

As if he wasn’t being referred to as the world’s best center back for nothing, he had a hard time keeping Baba’s check on him, but he even got a rice cake stick from the Viking country.

The Swedish giant competes actively with its size, and the fast and agile Mbaba keeps it in check from behind.
They are not impenetrable opponents if you look at them one by one, but the organic movements of the two players combine to create a subtle synergy, to the point that even I, who enjoy quite challenging play, refrain from dribbling.

However, this level of difficulty was expected, and even though the cooperative defense of the two was difficult, it was not to the extent that they could not deal with it.
As hard as I was, it was clear that the opponent was having a hard time blocking me.

As if suppressing my dribble breakthrough was the top priority, instead of thoroughly blocking the breakthrough, the pass path was open.
Rather than forcefully trying to break through, he focused on ball distribution by using an obvious pass path.

“This way, Minjun!!”
“Red! Great!”

Even the cooperative defense of Chelsea’s two players couldn’t completely tie me down.

Even though the competition with the Swedish giant might be staggering, he finally endured it, and several times he made good passes to his teammates who were penetrating Mbaba’s check.

Several chances that made Chelsea’s heart flutter ended in vain, and the first half ended with Chelsea’s offensive defense conceding two goals.

And it was around then that I realized the ideal.
After Chelsea’s second goal split the net, I felt the vague sense of incongruity as I watched the delighted Chelsea players and Mbaba sneeringly glance at me.

‘Something is strange. What? What’s strange?’

My performance today is not bad.
I just couldn’t record an attack point, but I created a few decisive chances as the starting point of the attack.

It’s just a slightly disappointing follow-up play that continues to fall short, but it must be doing well enough…

‘Strange. Why are you so embarrassed?’

I have a strange feeling of deja vu.
It seems to be working fine, but there is no real speed.

How many passes connected to Chelsea’s final third and how many passes led to near the penalty box?
But in the end it didn’t lead to a goal.

The flimsy play-making, which I had felt before and thought it was supplemented by raising the passing ability, has come more significantly today.

“Move more, move more. Especially the side. The fullback and the third line take a lot of movement and erase the empty space! Chelsea are clearly over pace right now. You can’t get pushed here! We need to run more to keep up with the numbers battle—”

I raised my hand without realizing it while looking at the coach who was giving tactical instructions more passionately than ever.
I wonder if the director can clear this stuffiness.

“Something?”
“How do I move?”
“Minjun, you continue as you are now. If you tie up two opponents like you are doing now and keep making passes to dangerous areas, you will follow the goal. In the second half, move more boldly and try to break through the dribble. And… “

After hesitating for a moment, the director spoke briefly and then turned his gaze back to his colleagues.

“Try a direct pass to the penalty box. Now, focus. Let me explain again—”

A direct pass to the penalty box?
Wouldn’t it be more dangerous if you forcibly connect and then disconnect? No matter how much the opponent is in a hurry to block my breakthrough, they won’t open that much even if they open the pass path.

You can only try it once.

The second half started like that.
The game went the same way as the first half.

When we attack, we send good passes several times, but it ends without stalling, whereas when Chelsea attack, we defend in a hurry and face the risk of conceding several times.

Why do we keep running out of numbers when attacking or defending? Why does it always seem like there are more Chelsea players?
Maybe the team members are jumping around, but… It wasn’t even that.

Looking at his colleagues, he seems to be more tired than usual as he is sweating and breathing heavily.

No matter how late it is, aren’t they soccer players who play 90 minutes in the first and second halves?
They are not amateurs who have played 1 or 2 games, but pros who play as a starting player in the EPL are only 15 minutes into the second half.

If it’s one or two people, they’ll think that they didn’t take good care of themselves during the break, but that all of their colleagues are like this…

‘I can’t do it like this.’

It hasn’t been that long since the second half started, but I suddenly feel like this won’t work.

It’s not that the current performance is bad, but a more decisive opportunity was needed to reverse the atmosphere.
And in this situation, the decisive opportunity is an adventurous play.

‘Yes, sir. Since when did I enjoy such stable play? Just shut up and go.’

The moment the ball is caught, the power of the giant presses heavily from behind.
A sharp pain shoots up in his ribs as he strains his staggering body and barely manages to balance himself. This time, his body overlaps and he rubs with his elbow where the referee can’t see.

The pain gave me strength for an instant, and as I stumbled, my feet stretched out as if I had waited.
Reflexively, he touched the ground and raised his body as if bouncing.

“Ugh?”

As he stretched out his foot at that momentum, he was staggered and pushed his body into the gap that had been created in an instant.

Raising his half-collapsed body, he gently pushed the ball away with his weighted front foot,
The ball rolls under the leg that stretches forward one step, and naturally hits the side of the foot, bending the path.
The movement of Mbaba running towards the ball that bounces back to the side after being hit by two steps.
He scrapes the top of the ball with his foot, which he took three steps, and turns his body round and round.

The black face of Mbaba, who passes by like a person who entered the other revolving door, is painted white, and the guy who has stopped suddenly as he drives a hard stud into the floor bends as if it would break.

‘Such a crazy bastard!’

Mbaba’s body lost balance and collided with me as his knee came to a sudden stop in a motion that would not be strange to me.

Because he was controlling the ball and turning his body, he couldn’t overcome his weight and stumbled together. After barely regaining his balance, he put his hands on the ground like a dog and blocked his way.

A prostrate guy could break through, but it was already too late.
By that time, Carl Gustaf, who has already been chasing you, will catch up with you.

Shall we get rid of Gustav?
Then Mbaba would also have regained balance, but again Mbaba aside?

In a complicated head, various thoughts flashed in an instant, thinking that it would be better to make use of the few opportunities to attack rather than lose the ball by overdoing it, the car reflexively glanced back.

‘Directly to the penalty box… ’

As if by chance, Luke’s eyes met as he infiltrated the penalty box.
The idea of ​​when the defensive midfielder will end up here comes to mind, and at the same time, the body moves instinctively for the pass.

The foot that had been scraping the ball slipped and landed on the floor, and the heel of the stepping foot kicked the ball with a bang.

“What… !”

I fall down on top of Mbabawi Rock, startled by the ball that shoots between my prostrate arms and legs.

“Oops… ?”
“… Yes?”

During the turn, the unbalanced body collapsed in a half-turned state due to excessive movement… Suddenly, it looked like he was sitting on top of Mbaba, who had fallen face down.

“Rain, get out of the way!!”
“Uh, yes.”

Wake up later,

“Goal!! It’s a goal, Minjun!! I, I scored a goal!! He received Minjun’s amazing pass and put it in!!”

Our team runs up with a bright smile.
… Not a bear

* * *

“Oh Jesus!! What is this!! Hong Min-jun’s wonderful pass came out!!”
“How the hell did you pass!? Ah, looking at the slow screen, he changed his foot in the middle of the turn and made a heel pass… No, does this make sense? This is, no, what the heck should I do to move like this… “
“Saw? Did you see? What did I say! Didn’t Hong in the second half say it was different! Look at this fantastic heel pass! Hong is a crazy player, but in the second half, Hong is like an alien!!”
“Ah~ If this happens, Newcastle will catch up with one goal and it will be 1:2. This… It really goes to the same situation as when the two teams faced each other in the first half.”
Haha, watch it. In the second half, Hong Min-jun will show great performance again!!”
“Oh, okay, please calm down, Jimmy. I am also looking forward to it.”

However, contrary to the expectations of the relayers, the match ended with Chelsea winning 1:3.

“Ah~ Chelsea will take this match. In a way, it’s a down-to-earth result. Chelsea dominated Newcastle for most of the game.”
“It would be very disappointing for Newcastle. We lost in the first half and lost in the second half. More than anything, it’s a big thing to lose 2 losses to a competitor for the championship. Points lost to rivals tend to be more painful as the second half progresses.”
“Director Botman must be very sorry for this. I announced victory in the interview, but I lost 3:1.”

During the closing remarks, the camera focuses on one place.

“Yes? Chelsea coach Federico and player Hong Min-jun walk shoulder to shoulder and whisper something. What are you talking about?”
“Wouldn’t that be a compliment? Today’s game, even though Newcastle lost, Hong Min-joon showed a lot of flashes and proved why he is an ace.”
Haha, that’s right. I hope you don’t want to eathaha.”
“Ah~ I can’t believe ithaha.”

I guess it was right.
At that time, Hong Min-joon was half-forced shoulder to shoulder with director Lorenzo Federico and was listening to the conversation.

“Yes? What?”
“Let’s have a meal. What’s wrong?”
“No. What did you say before that?”
“Were you frustrated with today’s game? Wanna know why? One meal if you want to know.”

… What has this man entrusted to me?