Breath of The Interferer - Chapter 73
Only Noblemtl
#73 – Breath of the Interferer_Key – 1665437
#
The quest is difficult
Shingi slept in the study, not in the master Mosando’s bedroom. After falling asleep while lost in thought, he saw a familiar face.
“Tell me the quest information.”
Kishin smiled slightly at Shingi’s question about quests other than soccer.
“Congratulations. Your next target is Silver Dragon’s Pride. It’s the right earring and protects your magic from being dispelled. It’s in central Canada.”
Shingi nodded. Then, Kishin, who noticed something strange, asked a question.
“But where did the ice dragon on your head go?”
Shingi explained in detail what had happened. It was assumed that he was currently fighting the female monk and could not follow Shingi. After Shingi’s story ended, Gishin’s story began.
“It’s the day before the home game of the 6th round of the Champions League.”
### I am the dark dividing line ###
Kishin did not have high expectations for the new season’s Champions League. In fact, winning the Europa League was also a matter of luck. He was lucky to beat strong opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and in the final, he faced Sevilla, which was also considered the weakest team in the quarterfinals. Five of his starting players were eliminated, and he was able to take the lead tactically by winning the starting lineup.
However, Kishin did not expect that even the league matches would be difficult. Objectively, the players that Kishin brought in after taking over as manager have grown into players suitable for the second division. However, there is no way to solve the lack of experience.
The Championship, the second tier of English football, is fast and rough. Defensive moves are rough and physical contact is intense. The transition between offense and defense is fast, and the attack is based on finding the striker right away with a cross or long ball after the winger breaks through. There are some teams that roll the ball on the grass and play the game technically, but such teams do not achieve good results.
Notts County is also a team that plays this style of football. So Notts County’s attack is not so unfamiliar to Championship teams. On the other hand, Notts County’s defense has become weaker due to Marco’s retirement.
Hector is building his body and Kim Si-woong is re-learning the basics. Agiane Renault’s problem is not so much his shooting accuracy as his shooting timing. This is a matter of feeling, so he can only improve it with sufficient training and a lot of experience. However, he needs to be able to use it quickly, so he is focusing on training several techniques to shoot suddenly while dribbling.
With three players out, Notts County have had a decent run of form. Even their 3-0 defeat to Champions League winners Barcelona in the Super Cup was not a big deal. In fact, the defense led by Cha Bum-soo was praised by the media for blocking Barcelona’s attacks well.
However, after the first Champions League match at Wembley Stadium on September 15, there was a series of bad news. With only 20,000 seats at Meadow Lane, they had to look for other stadiums. Notts County faced a high-pressing Dortmund at home, which they were not familiar with, and were crushed 0:6.
With Marco’s retirement, Kishin instructed Cha Beom-soo to coordinate the overall defense. Although the league games are fast-paced, Cha Beom-soo has done well. Although he sometimes makes mistakes due to his lack of experience, he always maintains a high level of concentration and faithfully completes his duties.
However, when they met Dortmund, the tempo was much faster and the pressure was higher, so Cha Beom-soo was confused and the team’s defense line was also confused. Although there was an objective difference in skill, the team was completely defeated in terms of compatibility and could not avoid a crushing defeat.
After the disastrous defeat against Dortmund, they had a long-awaited rivalry match with Nottingham Forest. However, the players who had not recovered from the disastrous defeat in the Champions League were not in top condition. Although their physical condition was fine, their mental condition was very poor despite their constant efforts. They missed a lot of opportunities and suffered a 0:1 defeat due to a rare mistake by Turner.
In the Champions League away game on September 28, Notts County played excellent football. The defense was stable and there were many attacking opportunities. However, they lost 2:0 with one own goal by Black and one penalty kick. If you only look at the match content and statistical data, it was a match where it would not have been surprising if Notts County had won.
From this point on, Notts County, which was led by young players, began to falter. There were many instances of close draws or losses in the league. If the opponent was ahead and made up for it, they were satisfied with a draw and played conservatively, and if they were caught by the opponent when they were ahead, they were afraid of losing, so they played conservatively.
Even though Kishin’s field command is 10, he cannot control each player individually. The attackers kept joining the defense, and the ability to counterattack disappeared. Kishin thought that it takes time to accumulate experience, so he was patient.
They lost 5-1 away on October 19. Ward, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored Notts County’s first Champions League goal with a free kick. The goal against Real Madrid helped Notts County’s morale. As expected from young players, they showed good form in the league.
However, Notts County, who scored 1 goal and conceded 13 goals in 3 games, were under a barrage of media attacks. Kisin declared that his goal was to win all three remaining games due to the indiscriminate attack of the media. Immediately, the media rushed in like hyenas looking at rotten meat and began to tear Kisin apart.
Some media outlets praised Kishin’s remarks as a way to protect young players by putting all the pressure on himself. They were the media friendly to Notts County and the media in Korea. However, Notts County’s tactics when they faced Real Madrid at home on November 3rd showed that Kishin was really aiming for victory.
Notts County, who used a 3-4-3 formation, faced Real Madrid, which only had three starters. They focused on attacking while holding off Real Madrid’s attacks with Cha Beom-soo’s defensive command and Turner’s saves.
Hunter headed in Rune Damkei’s cross to score his first home goal. Soon afterwards, Eduardo scored from distance after a back pass from Bonavich. Real Madrid, surprised by the unexpectedly strong resistance, brought ‘him’ on as a substitute in the first half.
Although he had poor physical ability and stuck to his old style, his scoring ability was greatly reduced, but just by standing on the field, he gave strength to the other players. When the players kept looking at him, Kishin waved his left arm with all his might. It meant to keep attacking. Kishin decided that regaining the players’ confidence was more important than winning or losing. He ignored the on-site command’s advice to focus on defense.
Real Madrid, who brought in two more attackers in the second half, turned the game around by scoring three goals in a row. However, Ward, who came on in the second half, scored with a long-range shot after dribbling past three defenders. Notts County focused on attacking until the last minute of the game and earned their first Champions League point with a score of 3:3.
With Real Madrid already on 10 points and Dortmund on 8, Notts County have already failed to advance to the next stage. They should give up the Champions League and focus all their energy on the league, but Kishin did not do that. The draw with Real Madrid gave the young players confidence. They have confidence in their attack regardless of win or loss.
Despite dropping to 16th place in the league, Kishin rested some of his regular players in the 18th round match. Then, he played 3-4-3 attacking football in the away match against Dortmund on November 23. Dortmund only needs to draw one of their remaining two matches, but they fielded their main players, perhaps to show a good performance in front of the home crowd.
Within 20 minutes of the game, Dortmund was ahead by three goals. Notts County had not adapted to their characteristic pressure defense and quick passing. However, Cha Bum-soo calmly adjusted the positions of the defenders and reorganized the defensive line. As Notts County’s defense stabilized, their offense began to gain momentum.
At the end of the first half and the break, the two teams were tied at 3-3. Hunter scored a rare goal with his foot, Cha Bum-soo scored a free kick, and the other was an own goal by a Dortmund defender.
As the second half began, Notts County scored another goal from Jose’s free kick to put Dortmund ahead. Even when leading the game, Kishin instructed his players to keep attacking. The aim is to solve the problem of players shrinking in the league in the Champions League.
The on-field command simply considers the win or loss of a single game. Kishin has to manage the game while looking at the entire season, so he ignored the on-field command’s advice and insisted on continuing to attack. Since Notts County is weak in defense, the offense must cover the defense. He must instill this idea in the players not only through training but also through games.
Field command provides a model answer when looking at just one game. However, when looking at the entire season, it is often the wrong answer. It may sound obvious to say that you should do your best in every game, but it is not realistic. Giving up on some games is also the way to become the ultimate winner.
In the second half, Dortmund scored five goals and won 8:4. Despite the loss, the faces of Kishin and the Notts County players were not gloomy. It was because they felt like they had played a really refreshing and cool game.
“There may be some who say that it was reckless to go on a 90-minute counterattack against a strong team like Dortmund on an away game. I would like to correct myself in advance by saying that it was brave. We faced a strong team and did not back down, but faced them bravely.”
Although they lost, the young players gained a lot from the game. Cha Beom-soo gained good experience by coordinating the defense to deal with Dortmund’s constantly changing attack formation. Turner gained more strength after allowing 24 goals in 5 Champions League games. Although the team’s performance was not good, Jose showed a calm appearance even in the midst of repeated losses, drawing the attention of many teams.
On the evening of December 5, Kishin watched three players sweating at Notts County’s small training ground. Kim Si-woong’s cross was not bad enough to be criticized. Kim Si-woong, who has good stamina but lacks strength, has a habit of putting too much strength into his supporting foot and waist when he crosses. That’s why his body became stiff and his cross accuracy decreased. Now that he has gained strength through training, that problem has been naturally solved. Of course, even a cross without strength cannot be considered high-quality.
Renault has been trained to pass stealthily while dribbling or to create space by changing speeds and shoot. There has been no result yet in training to find the timing of shooting. It is not something that can be overcome through training alone.
Hector actually had no technical problems, enough to be put into the game from the beginning of the season. However, because his body was not fully formed, he was at high risk of injury, and it was likely to spread quickly after playing for a month or two. Although Hector is not fully recovered now, Harvey assured that he will have no problems completing the season.
On December 8, Notts County’s last Champions League game of the season, at home to Lisbon, featured three unfamiliar names in the starting line-up. Three players who have been part of Notts County this year are making their Champions League debuts.
#