Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 266



Only Noblemtl

Episode 266: A Goalkeeper with No Strategy

The match against Hwang Hee-cheon was a good match.

Honestly, I didn’t know they would do this well, but the combination of our defense’s incompetence and Wolverhampton’s sharp attacking power resulted in many dangerous scenes.

‘This is literally the pinnacle of skill.’

It was a form that fit the word ‘heyday’ perfectly.

High-scoring Hwang Hee-cheon. No one but me can stop this… .

Giovanni is not a complete slacker, so he immediately identified Manchester United’s current problems and improved them.

Since Giovanni’s rebuild was complete, Wolves have never had the clear-cut chances they used to.

So what happens after that?

It was Manchester United style swamp football.

Struggling to score a goal… .

‘When you’re good, you’re good, but when you’re bad, you’re really bad.’

Man U’s special features this season.

The highs are high enough to beat Manchester City, but the lows are just as low. Even if they play against a team in the relegation zone, they can’t guarantee a win.

However, today I managed to keep the score at 1:0 with my power show, and two Koreans ended up contributing greatly to Manchester United’s victory.

Me on defense. Kim Jun-young on offense.

‘Eugene Ho’s kids are all doing it.’

And then the long-awaited final whistle.

I was tense for the entire 90 minutes, but only when the final whistle blew did my body lose its strength.

“Thank you all for your hard work.”

I approached my fellow defenders first and hugged them. The other defenders all sent me words of encouragement.

Also, I approached Hwang Hee-cheon first.

“If it weren’t for me, you would have scored multiple goals?”

“If you knew that, wouldn’t you have given me something to eat?”

We looked at each other and laughed and exchanged our uniforms. The reason I exchanged Hwang Hee-Cheon’s uniform, which is also seen on the national team, is because I wanted to own it.

I also wanted to decorate a room with the jerseys of players I’ve played against like Messi. It’s like a kind of trophy. Like a sniper takes away the dog tag when he kills an enemy player.

.

.

We took three more points after beating Nottingham and Wolverhampton, but it was the same for the second and third placed teams.

The two of them pursued him persistently and tirelessly.

As the two-point gap continued, Giovanni also held staff meetings every day, perhaps aware that the winner could be decided in the final round.

Well, actually, it was a very busy month this May, not only with the league but also with the FA Cup and Europa League.

‘Even the players have to be called up to the national team right after the season schedule ends and play the final evaluation matches right before the World Cup… .’

It was a really busy time for both the coaching staff and the players.

And unlike previous World Cups, this World Cup has more games and is therefore longer.

‘If Korea makes it to the World Cup finals and wins… … Will Manchester United give Junyoung and I some time off?’

Otherwise, he would have to return to Manchester United right after winning the trophy and complete the pre-season schedule…

I thought about it carefully and sighed deeply, wondering what this meant.

No one knows how Korea will perform at the World Cup until it is played. Korea could go really high as everyone expects, or they could get eliminated in the group stage.

There are ridiculous odds that starting players could suffer injuries right before the World Cup, weakening the squad.

‘The other players are all fine, but I am the most important.’

I need to take care of myself before I receive the trophy and my reward. If my wrist goes off like last time, I won’t be the only one screaming.

After that, I cleared my mind of distracting thoughts and did a quick stretch. Then I put on my goalkeeper gloves and entered the training ground.

“Kim. Okay. You don’t get involved in tactical training. It loses its meaning if you come in.”

“yes?”

The head coach scratches his head with a puzzled expression.

“The players’ morale is low, so for the time being, just focus on recovery training. It hasn’t been that long since you got injured.”

“Uh… um. Yes.”

It seemed like they were trying to stop me because if I participated in training, no matter what my intentions were, they would block everything. On top of that, if I participated in training too enthusiastically and got injured, it would be a disaster.

‘I understand what you mean, but why am I upset?’

I watched the players training from afar. The goal guarded by Chiller was easy to break through, unlike me.

The players who had scored goals had quite bright expressions on their faces.

“Ugh.”

From now on, when you train, I’ll make sure to feed you appropriately.

* * *

Hanover has been on an upward curve these days.

Even at the beginning of the season, there were attacks from the media saying that it was a dark and endless tunnel, and that Hannover, having lost Kim Min-woo, was preparing to return to its original position (second division), but now, these are just empty words.

Of course, it’s because of the good grades.

There were moments in the early part of the league, and even in the middle, when the team’s performance would fluctuate here and there and only end in defeat.

Later, he was given the nickname ‘Weak Team Reader’ and there was even a perception that Hannover was good at supporting weak teams.

What about the strong teams and mid-tier teams?

Lost or did not win.

Some impatient fans were clamoring to fire Jan Rytl and appoint a new manager, but the board was patient and waited for the second Hannover season led by Jan.

And after December.

[Hannover, undefeated. Surprise 1-0 win over Bayern Munich!]

Of course, the match was a disaster.

A goal was scored from a suspected penalty kick, and Munich was missing a player due to a suspected sent-off, but despite that, they barely managed to secure a victory after being hit and hit until the end of the game.

But ultimately, what sports are remembered for is the winning.

Hannover supporters, who had been looking at Jan with uncomfortable eyes, praised him, saying that the Jan we knew had returned, and the good performance continued, with the team currently sitting in 5th place in the league.

Not only in Munich, but also against other teams, they hardly ever lost.

Teams that were clearly stronger than Hannover either drew or won as if they had the energy of the universe focused on them, and teams that were slightly stronger than Hannover or of a similar weight class somehow won.

In this way, in the second half of the league, Hannover rose to the top by eliminating the good players, sending away the bad players, and kicking out the ambiguous ones.

The current gap with 4th place in the league is only 3 points. At this point, with only a few games left, if luck is on their side, they could even secure a spot in the Champions League.

And there was another equally important schedule left.

The Champions League final… no. The Europa League final.

It was a time when Hannover was greatly shaken, so they were unfortunately eliminated in the Champions League group stage, but were later transferred to the Europa League and advanced to the final.

Jan wanted to keep this momentum going and lift the Europa League trophy.

but…….

“Fuck. Why can’t a team as good as Manchester United make it to the Champions League?”

The final opponent happened to be Manchester United.

If it was just Manchester United, he would have thought hard to win against a difficult opponent, but the really big problem is that he has his disciple on that team.

Jan knew.

I can’t help but know, having been with the guy for two seasons.

When faced with the media, we would open our mouths and say, “We won’t lose,” and “I know the law better than anyone in the world,” but in reality, that was not the case at all.

In the first place, there is no way something like Kim’s opponents could have existed. If there had been something like that, we would have already scored several goals… .

Watching the players training at the training ground, Jan was lost in thought. Carrying his luggage on his back, he was contemplating how to prepare for the upcoming Europa League final.

But no matter how much I rack my brain, nothing comes to mind.

‘…there is just one.’

Preventing players from playing by steaming them before entering the stadium.

Why, there’s even a saying that if a person wants to beat a computer, they have to smash its body with a hammer… .

“Oh my.”

It’s not like there’s any Luddite movement.

Yan continued to circle the same spot, frowning. When we were on the same side, there was no difference between a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, but when he thought of the enemy, his eyes went dark.

“What should I do? What should I do…?”

As Jan continued to think about the law of relativity, an idea suddenly occurred to him.

If Kim’s clean sheet continues for a few more years, perhaps the likes of FIFA could change their rules on goalkeepers.

That is, the rule is changed to make it more likely that a goal will be scored, thereby breaking the clean sheet record.

If that really happens… .

‘There will be a lot more goals than there are now. And Kim will still keep a clean sheet in the process.’

I thought it was funny that they changed the rules to target Kim, but it would result in every goalkeeper dying except Kim.

And it really seemed like that would happen if FIFA changed their rules on goalkeepers.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem like Kim will score a goal.’

Jan shook his head. In this situation, such negative thoughts would not help in the situation he was about to face.

Kim is human too, and as humans, we make mistakes. If we think hard about it, there must be a way.

“Director! Why are you going around in circles?”

Jan turned his head.

The identity of the cute voice was Sophie.

Sophie was filming Jan with a camcorder.

“What? That damn camera again?”

“As Hannover is a citizens’ club, the fans’ right to know is also important.”

“Where in Germany is there a club that isn’t a citizens’ club…?”

“Hehehe.”

Jan scratched his eyebrows and suddenly remembered his relationship with Sophie and Kim. He had been so busy with his league schedule lately that he hadn’t even thought about it, but when he saw Sophie, it suddenly came to mind.

Then I have to tease you.

“So, how’s your relationship with Kim these days? You don’t see each other much because you live far apart, do you?”

“Huh? What are you talking about―”

“Oh, my. I know everything, so why are you ignoring me?”

Then Sophie glanced at him and put the camcorder down. That alone was enough for Jan. He didn’t want to see that damn camera in the training grounds.

“I saw it once when I went to England last time. Since then… … Kim and I have been very busy.”

“…You were busy?”

“Why! I was busy too!”

“Oh… Was there a K-POP concert in Germany?”

“I don’t really watch K-pop these days.”

“Because Kim is there?”

Sophie shuts her eyes tightly at the continued reply.

Jan was worried about how to deal with Kim, but seeing Sophie’s reaction made his stress seem to fly away.

As they say, there’s nothing more interesting than people’s reactions.

“Sophie, you know? We’re about to play Manchester United in the final.”

“Of course! I’ll go with you too, okay?”

… Oh right. You said you were going to follow me with a camera so I could upload something on SNS, right?

“Did you talk to Kim about anything about that?”

“I just… … joked that I couldn’t just not come out that day.”

“For the sake of the team, I seriously ask you not to come out.”

“Does that mean you won’t come out?”

I have nothing to say.

Jan sighed again.

Sophie studied Jan’s expression and said.

“It will be okay. Even if Hannover loses the final and becomes the runner-up, the fans will understand. Kim was a member of Hannover until last year. So they will think that it is inevitable that they will lose.”

“Because everyone knows what kind of player Kim is?”

“Yes. I’ve actually given up on that too. I’m just hoping that Germany will be the last to meet Korea in the World Cup.”

“ha ha ha….”

Yes, that’s not wrong.

I want to win more than anyone else, but even if I lose, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Even if we somehow drag out the game and drag it into overtime, it is meaningless.

Because Yan knew better than anyone that what Kim was most confident in was penalty shootouts.

If the Hannover goalkeeper miraculously saves two out of five, Kim will save all five out of five.

Or, if you’re really lucky, you might get one or two.

“If it seems like we can’t win no matter what we do… … we have to show them how equally we fought.”

“Of course! The fans will be satisfied with that. And, do you know? Even if it’s Kim, it’ll be burdensome if it goes to a penalty shootout. Since the players are kicking right in front of you, a few will go in.”

“Sophie. You know one thing and you don’t know the other. The goalkeeper has nothing to be concerned about.”

“yes?”

Jan answered with a kind smile.

“The burden is on the kickers. If our goalie and Kim are both on the same level, but everyone knows that Kim has a higher chance of stopping the ball, who would be more nervous?”

“ah…….”

“Kim has nothing to worry about. In a penalty shootout, losing doesn’t count as a goal.”

“Hmm, well, I guess so… .”

Jan stroked Sophie’s head. Still, he felt a lot better.

‘I’m going to face my former disciple, who has become the world’s strongest, on one of the best stages. How touching. How touching… .’

It would have been more touching if the outcome hadn’t been so obvious who would win. Tsk.