Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 274



Only Noblemtl

Episode 274: Water Fight

The last round against Manchester City, the first half, with several crises mixed in.

Under the opponent’s strong pressure, we passed the ball around and built up the game.

I was at the center of it all.

I held my ground firmly at the back and distributed the ball here and there, but even I, like monkeys who fall from trees, made mistakes.

I wish you would pass the ball to me.

And Holland, who runs up to the nose and puts pressure.

I leisurely passed the ball to Shaw on the other side with a ground ball, but the pass was short and Bernardo Silva, who was near Shaw, stole the ball and ran towards him.

‘ah.’

Silva, who won the ball and entered the box, hit the ball himself even though Holland was in front of him and Deukbae was behind him.

And I was able to catch the ball without difficulty.

“Phew.”

Oh my heart. I almost got in big trouble.

And when Silva had a crucial opportunity and failed so obviously, Holland and Kevin protested harshly as to why they didn’t give him the ball.

‘It’s a nice sight.’

They were very friendly brothers.

Honestly, even if the ball had gone to you guys, I don’t think it would have resulted in a goal.

‘I need to come to my senses.’

I can’t believe I made this mistake.

Fortunately, this crisis was overcome with ease, but it was clearly a fatal mistake.

It had only been a few minutes since I had made up my mind like that.

My mistake has come back to haunt me again.

The ball was sent far forward and ended up in the hands of Holland, who failed to get past the defenders and after a bit of dribbling he fired a long-range shot.

It was a random shot, but my expression became serious.

‘It’s not an extreme sport, but now I’m creating a crisis with my own hands.’

Holland, whose shot went wide of the goal, just scratched the back of his neck, not seeming too disappointed.

However, since I, who never showed this kind of behavior before, made two mistakes in a row, my colleagues became increasingly worried.

“Kim. Are you okay? Are you not feeling well?”

“are you okay.”

I answered like that, even though I wasn’t okay at all.

No matter how protected the system is, it is human nature to make mistakes.

But if this kind of mistake is repeated, only the innocent defenders will die, so we really have to be careful now.

* * *

Kim is shaking!

This fact alone had Manchester City fans excited as if they had already won, but in reality, nothing had changed.

Kim was shaking, but he was only shaking and not collapsing.

At first, I was expecting Kim to collapse on his own because it was the first time I saw him wavering, but now even that feeling has subsided.

Kim, who made two or three mistakes, has been performing well since then and has not made any mistakes.

After that, there was actually an attack by Manchester United.

Man City’s attack was more aggressive than expected, although it was half intentional.

If we leave it like this, we’ll end up losing first.

And once again, Manchester City have their chance.

It was Phil Foden.

Phil Foden came running down the flank with astonishing speed.

As Manchester United were on the attack and then counterattacked, there was virtually no flank defense, and Phil Foden came into the box and dribbled into the centre to widen his shooting angle a bit.

He moves his feet in a flashy manner, making the defenders confused as to where to go, and after getting past one defender, he shoots!

was blocked by Kim’s defense.

But the ball bounced off Kim’s hand and just as Holland was about to receive it, Raphael Varane kicked it away.

“shit.”

Another scoring opportunity is wasted.

frustrated.

On the outside, he pretends that nothing is wrong, but it’s impossible for him not to be.

Beep— beep— beep!

As the first half was almost over, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

Score 0:0.

The game was such that if Manchester City hit five times, Manchester United would hit once, but no one related to Manchester City or any of their fans would think that the current situation is advantageous.

Even if Manchester United draw, they will win the championship, and Manchester United had a legendary undefeated king who had never lost a single game.

We had a lot of hard work, thoroughly prepared tactics, and various other devices to break that record, but it seemed to be inadequate.

‘Of course, there is still the second half left… .’

It’s too early to tell who will win or lose.

As I entered the locker room, Coach Pak-Pak-I was walking around with an angry gait.

“Everybody calm down! Everybody calm down!”

Manager Pep Guardiola said so.

But the one who seemed the most uneasy here was Pep… .

“If we stay calm, we can win today’s game!”

Holland drank water first while listening to Pep. Pep said several ways to break through Kim. They were the same things he had said before the game.

Pull the goalkeeper forward and physically make it impossible to stop the chip shot. However, creating this situation itself is not easy.

Making it physically impossible for Kim to run with each other’s passing play. It was a scene that came up once in the first half, but Kim even blocked this.

And many other things.

‘Damn it. What difference does this make? In the end―’

Holland suddenly shook his head.

He must have lost his motivation without realizing it because of the continuous super saves in the first half. He was talking to the media about Mane before the game, but he lost his motivation again after the first half ended.

‘I expected this much. I just have to keep trying.’

Kim is also human. He is made of flesh and bone. He made two mistakes in the first half. There is no reason why he should not score a goal.

‘And above all, I am the best player in the world who has won the Ballon d’Or.’

Holland, who had made up his mind like that, closed his eyes for a moment and meditated. He can do it.

* * *

Choi Sung-hee returned to the stadium after a long time.

Until the beginning to the middle of the season, I used to go to my son’s games without fail, but now that passion has all but died down.

‘First of all, Manchester United’s home stadium is very poor.’

It was one of the worst stadiums I’ve ever been to in Europe. It was called the Stadium of Dreams, but it was just an old and worn-out stadium.

In dire need of remodeling and reconstruction.

Especially when the rain poured down like a waterfall from the stadium ceiling the last time I visited… … Oh my.

In contrast, what about Manchester City’s home stadium, the Etihad Stadium?

‘It’s comfortable!’

First of all, the seats were different. Of course, there was no artificial waterfall (leakage). Perhaps because it was newly built, the facilities were no less than those of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

That’s why Choi Sung-hee was able to watch the game with a happy heart for the first time in a long time.

Also, Manchester City and United are located in the same city of Manchester, but they are located in the east and west respectively, so there is no need to travel far, which makes it much less tiring.

Now that the first half is over.

Choi Sung-hee stopped by the bathroom for a moment and then went to a restaurant to buy some things. She was hungry because she hadn’t eaten anything.

‘Hotdog, burger, french fries…’

It’s been a while since I’ve had something like this.

All together it was 15 pounds (26,000 won). If it was expensive, it was expensive, and if it was ordinary, it was an ordinary amount. In England.

Choi Sung-hee filled her stomach while waiting for the second half to start. Then, when her phone vibrated, she checked it and—

[Kim Shin-ah: Mom, Mom]

[Kim Shin-ah: What do you think about it? Is it more fun than watching it on TV?]

Choi Sung-hee took a selfie with a hamburger in her mouth. Then she sent it to Shin-ah.

[Kim Shin-ah: Wow… gulp;]

[Kim Shin-ah: More importantly, what is my mother’s appearance?]

[Kim Shin-ah: After all, the mother who gave birth to me?]

[Choi Sung-hee: Haha]

[Choi Sung-hee: It’s fun to see it for the first time in a long time^^]

Shin-ah chattered on KakaoTalk for a while, but then disappeared as soon as the game started. She’s my daughter, but she’s really cute.

Choi Sung-hee also focused on the game again.

The first half was quite exciting.

Since the opponent is the opponent, my son’s performance stood out, and although I don’t know what will happen in the second half, I think that if it’s the Manchester United I know, the flow will be similar to the first half.

‘If we win today, we will be able to lift the trophy in front of Manchester City fans.’

Man City fans must be pretty heartbroken.

Not winning is frustrating enough, but watching the derby team that competes with them take the trophy right in front of them… … hmm.

As I was thinking about that, Manchester United’s crisis came again.

“wow.”

With so many Manchester United players, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne passed the ball precisely into the open space.

Phil Foden received the ball, entered the box and took a shot, but as always, Minwoo easily blocked it.

‘It was a space that even I, watching from above, couldn’t easily see, but how can the players there kick like that?’

Are there eyes in the sky?

It was really interesting that among the numerous players, he only poked at the spaces where the Manchester City players were. I wonder if that’s why they are called one of the best teams of the current generation.

‘And our son, who has not conceded a single goal against those players…’

Even Sunghee Choi thought it was a mystery.

There was a time when I wondered if my son had been switched, so I asked him all kinds of questions about his childhood.

I saw him answer without hesitation and wondered what he was doing, so I stopped.

[Now even Mom treats me like an alien?]

How many times did he protest to his son who was so bewildered?

Actually, looking back, there were a lot of strange things.

It was also contradictory that my son, who absolutely hated anything moving, especially sweating, suddenly declared that he wanted to start playing soccer.

If there is a result, there must be a cause, but I still don’t know what the cause is. At best, I can just blurt it out by saying, ‘I think I have the potential to be a goalkeeper.’

‘There are still many things I don’t understand… but I hope my son will confess to me someday.’

With that thought in mind, Choi Sung-hee focused on the game again. Manchester City, which seemed to be attacking hard from the start of the second half, has now fallen into a lull again.

It was a common build-up process in soccer.

And this time was also a time for the audience to focus on something else for a moment.

“Yum.”

So Choi Sung-hee focused on eating first. There was still a lot left.

* * *

Manchester City showed a brief flash of brilliance in the second half, but their next move was ‘standing still’.

This was largely due to Manchester United’s drastic change in tactics in the second half.

In the locker room, Giovanni guided us with great passion.

“Manchester City is definitely a strong team. Pep, that bald guy, is a manager who will make his mark in history with his football intelligence. Don’t you all admit it? Don’t you admit it!?”

We all acknowledged the director’s words because we felt like something big would happen if we didn’t.

And the director shouted in an even more excited voice,

“Man City is intentionally pulling us in now. They are deliberately giving us an opportunity to attack, pushing up the line, and then counterattacking. You must have felt it while playing. They must have thought that they had a much better chance of scoring.”

I agreed. Especially since I was the goalkeeper and watched the game from behind as if I was in charge, what Giovanni saw was the same as what I saw.

“Second half. We will never be caught up in Manchester City’s intentions! Not only the four defenders, but also the central midfielders must not look beyond the halfway line!”

The second half tactics that Giovanni spoke passionately about were as follows.

First, 4-2 out of 4-2-3-1 does not participate deeply in the attack operation.

Second, prioritize defense and be passive in your attacks.

Third, you don’t have to score, but you have to prevent conceding goals.

The second half started like that.

Although he looked a bit shaky right at the start of the game, things have been going according to Giovanni’s intentions since then.

Manchester City intentionally took steps such as lowering their line to give Manchester United the right to attack, but they looked clearly flustered when we did not follow through and took our time.

And then Pep realized that his intentions had been figured out and called one of his players over to tell him something urgently.

When you see something like that, it’s clear that he’s a great general. It’s a gesture to try to change it right away because it seems like the existing tactics aren’t working.

After about five minutes of pointless play, Manchester City stopped pushing their line and trying to provoke our attacks.

And in fact, what happened next was self-evident.

‘Coming.’

Infinite attacks until the end of the match.

Whether it worked or not, the Manchester City players invaded our space.

And this is where it got important.

The direction of the game depends on how the manager responds.

‘Well, I’m confident that I can stop it even if the director does nothing and just watches.’

For a goalkeeper, conceding goals is like fate.

The less dangerous situations occur, the less likely they are to occur.

I was confident, but I prayed that Giovanni wouldn’t just sit by and watch.

After I blocked several attacks from Manchester City, Giovanni also recognized Pep’s attacking strategy and gave new detailed instructions to his players.

Post-attack after the first goal.

The basis for blocking was the same, but now the order was to attack more actively.

The order was to target the back space with a counterattack, but in fact, such an order was so common that it was almost impossible to avoid it.

However, taking a certain action in a certain situation may not go as intended if the timing is off, but this time, coach Giovanni’s order was quite appropriate.

‘Let’s just block it for now.’

The new orders had been given, and now I concentrated on dealing with the danger right in front of me.

There were seven Manchester United players surrounding us in our half, and there were four Manchester City players including those on the wings.

The personnel distribution was reassuring, but the pass trajectory being created before my eyes made me doubt my eyes.

‘Look at that crazy pass.’

A pass that cuts right through the defenders. And Holland had already exchanged glances with Kevin De Bruyne, who was about to pass, as if he was trying to break into the box.

I also moved right away.

And Deokbae’s crazy kill pass cuts through the space.

I ran faster than Holland and kicked it away. Holland dodged to the side just before I collided with him.

We’re out of the woods again.

If I hadn’t moved quickly, it would have definitely been a 1-on-1 situation.

Holland, who had stepped aside, looked at me as if he was dumbfounded and said something.

“How did you know and kick it out?”

The defenders didn’t even react, so how did you, the goalkeeper, know to run and kick it away?

I glanced at Holland and answered honestly.

“Show me.”

“…Can you see it?”

“It’s obvious.”

“… … .”

At my words, Holland gritted his teeth and turned away. I was just telling him the truth, but Holland looked quite angry.

At that point, I looked at the scoreboard again. I just had to hold on a little longer. Or else I could score a goal.