Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 276



Only Noblemtl

Episode 276: Possible Goals

Manchester United’s victory this time was a signal of a spectacular revival for a club that was on the verge of collapse.

It was also revenge for something that happened 14 years ago.

In the 11/12 season, Man Utd and Man City had exactly the same structure as this season.

Same points. However, Manchester United came in second place due to goal difference, while Manchester City won the championship.

It’s the famous ‘Aguerooooooooo!’ match. The match where Aguero’s statue was erected at Manchester City Stadium.

It took Manchester United a very long time to recreate the situation at that time and succeed in getting revenge.

Also, from Manchester City’s point of view, they had to give up many of the records they had built up so far.

First of all, the most important thing is that Manchester City’s streak of six consecutive titles has been stopped.

Despite being challenged by several teams in recent seasons, Manchester City have maintained their dynasty and maintained their dominance.

And Man City continued their winning streak, almost as long as Munich, until it was finally broken by Man Utd.

[Manchester City may have now stepped aside, but Manchester will continue to dominate the Premier League for some time to come…]

A prominent football pundit also wrote: “In the end, the throne will change from City to United, but Manchester’s dominance will continue.”

This trend has been evident since 2010. Since then, only Manchester City has won the trophy.

“I hope all my fans enjoyed today.”

Giovanni said so in an interview after the victory. And he was showered with beer by the players. Giovanni, who was being showered, also looked happy.

“In the end, we couldn’t get through to Kim. Even after debuting in the Premier League, Kim still has a clean sheet. What do you think, manager, and do you think this trend will continue next season?”

On the other hand, the defeated Pep quoted a famous saying with a bitter expression.

“We will find the answer. As we always have.”

* * *

Recently, something called the ‘Kim Min-woo effect’ has been emerging in Korea.

To put it simply, the proportion of goalkeepers among youth soccer players has increased significantly.

Originally, goalkeeper was a special position in soccer, a position that only those who could do, if not those who avoided it, could play. However, these days, if you are just a little taller than your peers, anyone can volunteer to be a goalkeeper.

“Hajun, what kind of player do you want to be when you grow up?”

A question from a soccer YouTuber. The young child who heard the question answered without hesitation with a brave expression.

“It’s Kim Min-woo!”

Now, Kim Min-woo was almost a syndrome in South Korea. Flyers using Kim Min-woo’s face without permission were a joke, and schools that taught goalkeeper skills were springing up all over the country.

There are places that benefit from this, but the one that has changed so much that it feels like the world has changed is Suyang High School.

“Hey… Those guys are the ones coming in this year?”

Kim Tae-ho, who has been a coach at Suyang High School for several years, opened his mouth as he looked at the new Suyang High School soccer team members who joined this year.

Kim Min-woo debuted.

More precisely, it started to gain traction about two years ago when Kim Min-woo started to make a name for himself in the world, and starting a year ago, all the kids who were considered cool by people around them were applying to Suyang High School.

Suyang High School, which was once unknown among unknowns, produced Kim Min-woo, Kim Jun-young, and Han Seung-woo, and was reborn as a prestigious soccer school in an instant.

I get it.

Since the school produced three European players (two of whom went to huge clubs) in one semester, parents who are sensitive to such things probably applied to Suyang High School without hesitation.

At the time, several requests for favors came to Kim Tae-ho.

“Excuse me, how can this not work? Coach. It’s a little weak, but this… .”

“Why are you doing this? I don’t accept this kind of thing!”

The parent, who thought the amount was insufficient, brought a thicker envelope the next time, but Kim Tae-ho ultimately refused the offer.

In fact, I really wanted to open one side of my jacket and pack it like Choi Min-sik, but I couldn’t do it in good conscience.

Above all, it was impossible to accept bribes and admit students with no skills to Suyang High School, which was now truly emerging as a prestigious soccer school.

For Kim Tae-ho, who once coached Kim Min-woo, that was an impossible task.

“But he… seems a little lacking compared to the other kids.”

Kim Tae-ho, who was watching the new kids practicing, tilted his head with a slightly questioning look.

One person really stood out. Not because he was good, but because he was bad.

It felt like I was playing alone because my level didn’t match. It’s not easy to make such a strong impression in a team game with 22 people.

“I guess that guy isn’t feeling well today.”

It was coach Park Hyeon-woo who had been with me since the days of Director Yoo Jin-ho. But somehow, his expression and the way he spoke felt suspicious.

“Did you get the money?”

“What are you talking about!”

Or did the director receive it?

Kim Tae-ho watched the game with a troubled look. As he watched the game, he suddenly remembered the past.

When Yoo Jin-ho was the director of Suyang High School, he hired Kim Min-woo despite everyone’s opposition.

A leader who was almost like a loser, but managed to raise Kim Min-woo and let him shine.

Compared to the current manager, his personality was definitely worse, but his passion for soccer was definitely different.

Should I say he was crazy about soccer? That’s the kind of coach he was.

‘now….’

I don’t know.

Although his personality was much gentler, he was a director whose inner thoughts were completely unknowable.

At that time, I didn’t like Yoo Jin-ho because he seemed like such an old fart, but now that I think about it, he was actually not a bad type of director.

At least, the person’s appearance on the outside and inside are the same.

“Well, it’s probably a condition issue, like you said. The rest of the kids are all doing well.”

“Tch. That’s right. And by the way, the kids who are entering Suyang High School now are much more skilled than when Yoo Jin-ho was there.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Are these guys here better than Kim Min-woo, Kim Jun-young, and Han Seung-woo?”

“No! They are a special case. If you look at the average, this place is better.”

“Ugh.”

Kim Tae-ho did not agree with Park Hyun-woo’s words at all. If Suyang High School, which was under Yoo Jin-ho, were to face Suyang High School now, it would be a sure defeat.

How on earth were we going to get through to Kim Min-woo at that time? But if we leave Kim Min-woo out of the discussion, that is just a meaningless assumption.

“But still. Things have changed. To be honest, in the past, weren’t goalkeepers just there to fill in the numbers, except for one starter?”

“… That’s true.”

The goalkeeper competition has definitely changed since Kim Min-woo appeared.

After the success of Kim Min-woo, a rolling stone, spread through YouTube and the media, goalkeepers now have to compete just like field players.

It wasn’t like that in the past. No matter how hard they tried, the sub-goalkeepers couldn’t get over the wall of the starting goalkeeper. The only chance to play was when the starting goalkeeper got injured or in the team’s own practice matches.

But these days, the situation is similar within Suyang High School and other schools as well. Once a success story is written, many students who see it are influenced.

“But when you meet people, you brag about raising Kim Min-woo?”

“Who said that?”

“Everyone you meet? From what I hear, it seems like you raised most of them.”

Park Hyeon-woo chuckled at Kim Tae-ho’s words.

“Even if it’s an exaggeration, it’s not a joke, right?”

“Eugene Ho raised me, so what…?”

Kim Min-woo’s success did not end with Kim Min-woo’s success alone. It also had a strong influence on the young people who grew up watching Kim Min-woo.

Moreover, it gave hope to people even in difficult economic conditions.

[Kim Min-woo declares after winning the league, “I will also lift the World Cup”]

Kim Tae-ho, who checked the news on his cell phone, thought for a moment and then said.

“I think I’ll call Director Yoo Jin-ho after a long time.”

“What? Why?”

“Just. Is there a reason? I’m calling to check up on you.”

Although Yoo Jin-ho joined the national team from a high school coach with his miraculous political skills, it was not negative. If he had discovered Kim Min-woo, he would have been worthy of that honor.

* * *

The Champions League final between Manchester City and Real Madrid ended with Real Madrid winning.

The score was 4:3. It was the best match with a heated confrontation. However, with Mbappe joining Real Madrid, which was already the best in the world, even the world’s best Manchester City had a hard time, and in the end, the big ear of this season was held in the arms of Real Madrid.

I had a lot of thoughts while watching that game.

‘Manchester United will also be advancing to the Champions League next season, but will they be able to win against Real?’

Would it be possible to even draw, let alone win?

Well, it might be possible if you grow more than you are now.

And now the scheduled schedule was proceeding.

Car parade.

Although he didn’t win the Big Ear, he did win the Europa League, and although less prestigious, he did win the beer mug, its superior trophy, the FA Cup, and most importantly, the league championship trophy.

All of this combined gave Manchester United a motorcade through the city.

As I looked down from the bus, I saw that everywhere I looked, there were people everywhere. I wondered if this was what they meant by the phrase “a sea of ​​people.”

And they cry out with one voice.

“Kim! Kim! Kim! Kim! Kim!”

Kim Jun-young was dumbfounded, thinking that the voice was shouting at him, and Captain Bruno tapped me on the shoulder and gave me some words of encouragement.

“No Manchester United legend has ever been treated like this, and you deserve it.”

It’s actually not common for a goalkeeper, let alone a striker, to receive this kind of treatment.

We soon held up the championship trophy in the middle of the road, and the crowd cheered.

The players took turns holding the trophy, and later coach Giovanni also held the trophy.

It was a happy moment. I won every trophy I could in my first year.

Everyone here looked happy and joyful. Their faces seemed to have been briefly liberated from the hardships of everyday life.

‘I wonder how happy our people would be if we had the World Cup.’

Korea wins the World Cup?

Just imagining it makes my heart swell.

The one that was heard as a ‘myth’ in the semifinals was Korea.

But winning the World Cup? And in an away World Cup?

‘Honestly, it seems more realistic than a big transfer to Man U next season.’

First of all, the player pool wasn’t bad. Korea was currently in an unprecedented, golden generation that would never happen again. Their recent record was also good enough to beat any European team.

“This time, let’s just lift the trophy among ourselves!”

I was pushed and dragged along with Junyoung to lift the trophy.

But all I could think about was the upcoming World Cup.

‘I really want to try it.’

The player pool isn’t bad, but the reward for dominating the EPL this time is…

[Characteristic Enhancement Ticket]

[Description: Consumes 30 stats to strengthen desired characteristics.]

*You can continue to use it.

It was a bit of a strange trait.

Consume traits to strengthen the traits you want.

Even though it is not a one-time use and disappearance like the ‘ordinary’ trait, it can be used continuously, but you have to take the risk of consuming 30 stats.

And after thinking about it carefully, I realized that this trait might be a better trait than ‘ordinary’.

Unlike the one-time use trait of the common one, it is advantageous in that it can be used continuously, but above all, the efficiency decreases when the stat increases beyond a certain level.

In Hanover, just training would raise your stats, but now, even if you finish a match, you only get 1 or 2 stat points.

If you go any further from here, there will probably be cases where even if you play full-time, your stats won’t increase at all.

then.

‘If your stats decrease with a trait enhancement ticket, won’t the speed at which your stats increase again increase faster?’

I think that’s what this trait was.

A trait that significantly increases the level of the equipment you are wearing instead of reducing your stats.

In that case, even if your basic weight class is lowered, you can still grow with better equipment.

‘But since the World Cup is coming up, and I don’t know what will happen if all the stats drop too much at once, let’s just raise one. Then we’ll watch the progress to see what changes occur.’

I wanted to experiment and see what would happen by strengthening the newly received trait enhancement ticket, but I couldn’t do something like that during this important time leading up to the World Cup.

So I picked out the traits that I have that would help me the most in the World Cup.

No matter how much I thought about it and worried about it, if I had to pick one trait and strengthen it, there was only one thing left.

‘The performance of the quick and accurate kick is already very good, and I don’t think that upgrading it further will significantly improve its performance.’

Adrenaline also doesn’t seem to be as efficient, and the rest are mostly traits that increase stats.

If you cover everything like that, there is only one thing left.

[Trait: Wedge Goalkeeper]

[Description: When participating in an attack, attack ability is greatly increased.

This one is left.

These days, I’ve been participating in a lot of build-up for Manchester United, and build-up and attack participation were important for the national team, so I decided to strengthen this guy.

… Not now, but a little later.

Now it’s time to enjoy the parade.