Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 75

< 074. It Might Not Be So Bad >

“Haha, 7 to 8. A hair’s breadth, really. If I’d just adjusted to the time difference, I would have won. Haha, 7 to 8.”

Capello, seemingly incredibly embarrassed by his loss to Johan, muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

‘Time difference’ my ass.

It’s only an hour difference.

Watching Capello, the West Ham players shook their heads.

“Johan missed two more, that’s why it’s 7 to 8.”

“Hey, be quiet. How embarrassed must he be to act like that?”

“What a mentality. Those guys are the scariest – the ones who mentally win.”

“Well, it’s better than those who get discouraged after losing once, right? As a teammate, not a friend.”

“That’s true.”

“7 to 8. Haha! A negligible difference that might have changed if the wind had blown a little harder, practically a tie. Haha!”

“…I don’t know.”

In a way, he’s quite remarkable.

Good at soccer, good at mental victories.

That kind of thing is important in its own way.

Anyway, Capello is a star who was signed after breaking the club record.

He’s receiving a lot of expectations from the fans, and conversely, jealousy and scrutiny from fans of other teams.

He’s in a position where he can’t help but feel pressure.

But, if he has that kind of mentality, there seems to be no need to worry too much.

No matter what criticism is thrown at him, it seems like he can positively spin it.

Well, it might be a little tiring to see up close, though.

Anyway, even without Johan, the remaining training continues.

“I just don’t understand.”

“What are you muttering about again, newbie?”

“Hey. Does this make sense? Doing offensive tactics training without the starting striker?”

“When in London, do as the Londoners do. It took us a while to adjust too. You better adjust quickly.”

“Adjust?”

Capello, never one to keep his mouth shut, let out a dumbfounded laugh.

First of all, he couldn’t understand why Johan left the training ground less than an hour after arriving.

Even though he’s spent half his life playing soccer, he’s never seen a guy who just goes home without looking back after doing everything he needs to do.

But, what he couldn’t understand even more was what came next.

The head coach of this team said that he would do offensive tactics training from now on.

No, the striker went home.

We’re doing offensive tactics training, but there’s no striker? He just went home?

But they’re going to do offensive tactics training.

From Capello’s point of view, it was a culture shock.

What kind of team is this?

There’s no foundation at all?

Capello was starting to regret it after just the first training session.

That he came to West Ham, passing up Juventus.

He suffered the disgrace of damaging his ‘genius’ image from the start, and the training sessions don’t make any sense at all.

“No, how are we even going to train in the first place?”

“What do you mean how? It’s simple. The coach standing in the box will take Johan’s role. Just think of it that way and do it.”

“That’s ridiculous! How can that coach replace him? Can he move exactly like that guy?”

“Yeah. He can move exactly like him. Coach Jamie is good at imitating Johan.”

‘No, really.’

It seems like my teammates are all idiots.

No matter how well the coach imitates him, how can he perfectly imitate an active striker, especially one who is setting all-time scoring records?

“Look. It’s exactly the same.”

“…That’s it?”

The training is divided into several groups.

The previous group was in training, and Capello frowned, pointing to the coach who was playing Johan’s role.

…He’s just standing there blankly.

The only thing he does is come out in front of the defense and turn his back.

Gordon shook his head at Capello’s incomprehension.

“Didn’t you watch our team’s games?”

“I only watched a few highlight games.”

“What a joke. You decided to transfer after watching a few highlight games? Didn’t you say you came to our team because of Johan? But, you don’t even know what kind of guy he is?”

“I’ve heard the stories. He’s scoring 40 goals. I saw him once during the last Nations League.”

“…Didn’t you even check if our team was right for you?”

“I don’t care about teams. Wherever I go, I’ll do it my way.”

“Sigh. I don’t know. It won’t be easy.”

At Gordon’s words that it wouldn’t be easy, Capello laughed again.

Trying to assert dominance.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

What kind of body do you think this is?

I’m a genius who came after breaking the club’s transfer fee record.

Record, I set it…

“Okay. Next!”

“…What. Is that the end there?”

“That’s the end. If it connects up to there.”

“What do you mean the end? Is it the end if you just connect the ball to the front line?”

Capello, who had been watching the previous group’s training with a dissatisfied look, exploded again.

Because as soon as the midfielders succeeded in passing the ball to the coach in Johan’s role, avoiding the defense, they immediately received a pass sign.

“What’s the pass about? It’s too simple. It’s just an obvious pass.”

“That’s enough.”

“That kind of pass is enough?”

“Yeah. We just have to pass it. After that, Johan will take care of it.”

“You’re just hoping he’ll take care of it? This pathetic…”

“Well, yeah. We wouldn’t have signed you for that money for no reason. There must be a reason. Show us once. Why you recorded that transfer fee.”

“Hmph. Fine.”

Soon, it was the turn of Capello’s group, and Capello stood on the pitch with the ambitious idea of showing these ignorant people what real soccer is.

“Beep-!”

As the session began, the passes quickly followed.

As Schmidt’s style is well known, he does not give players much freedom.

They must thoroughly and accurately perform only the roles assigned to them.

For West Ham’s midfielders, the role assigned in attacking situations was simple.

Connect passes as quickly and concisely as possible. So, shorten the time it takes for the ball to be delivered to Johan itself.

That’s all.

Because of this, the players quickly and quickly passed the ball towards easy options.

Paang-!

The ball quickly came to Capello as well.

However,

Capello did not pass the ball immediately after catching it.

Tatat-!

As the defense approached, Capello dribbled and spun around.

It’s not a dribble to break through, but a dribble to protect the ball.

Commonly known as ball keeping.

Capello’s keeping ability is outstanding.

He lightly touches the ball to induce the opponent’s missteps and keeps the ball.

“Hey, Capel…”

“Wait a minute. Leave it for now.”

Coach Schmidt stops the coach who is about to say something as Capello drags the ball.

No matter how much Coach Schmidt minimizes autonomy, it is only to minimize the player’s weaknesses and maximize their strengths.

Capello is good at that kind of thing.

You shouldn’t stop him from doing what he’s good at and force him to do what he’s not good at.

It is the manager’s job to figure out how to make it work with the team.

“Nathan! Buckley! Run in!”

“…Ah!”

“Yes!”

At Coach Schmidt’s roar, Nathan and Buckley, who had been standing blankly, began to run along the sidelines.

And,

“Too late, you guys!”

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

Capello, who had been keeping the ball until then, lofted a lob pass as if he had been waiting.

That pass,

Shuuuuuung-

Flew with an ideal height and intensity, and fell in an ideal position.

In front of Nathan, who was penetrating towards the left corner.

It was a kind pass that accurately caught the speed and direction of the receiving teammate, and even put a backspin on it to make the first touch easy.

Thanks to that,

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

Nathan was able to simply put up a cross without much difficulty.

Paang-!

Coach Jamie jumps up and catches the cross with both hands.

The height at which Coach Jamie stretches out his hand to catch is roughly the height that Johan’s head reaches.

“Capello!”

“?”

“Good.”

Coach Schmidt shows Capello a thumbs up.

Then, Capello wiped his nose and smirked.

‘Still, it’s not like the coach is stupid.’

Somehow, he suffered humiliation, not humiliation, because of Johan from the first day.

Capello certainly seemed to be a good resource that could add variety to the team.

***

After the Leicester City game on January 2nd.

After taking a sweet week-long break.

West Ham’s next schedule was the FA Cup Round of 32 match.

└I was so bored for a week that I was dying

└What are you going to do when the season ends if you’re going to die in just a week lol

└Capello will be on the starting lineup, right?

└He’ll be out right away ㅇㅇ [Korean slang indicating agreement or affirmation, similar to “yup” or “definitely”]

└I want to see if he matches Johan

└Don’t expect too much from the first game ㄴㄴ [Shortened Korean slang] About a month is the league adaptation period

└But Capello seems like he’ll do well right away He’s the type with good sense

└I heard he trains really hard

└He looks like he’s going to be lazy, but it’s unexpected

└He’s full of motivation I heard from Johan

└Why? Did he feel a wall?

└He got destroyed in the free kick battle

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean equivalent of “hahaha”]

└He must have felt the wall for the first time in his life?

└Anyway, he’s positive There are kids who don’t work hard after feeling the wall

└Originally, types with overflowing ego release inferiority complexes as positive energy

During the week without games, fans steadily followed club news through SNS or YouTube.

Capello looking around the stadium, participating in his first training session, etc.

They were promising scenes.

The fans couldn’t wait to see him on the field as soon as possible.

They wanted to see him play on the field quickly because they were curious.

What kind of chemistry will he be able to show with Johan?

If you only look at the style, the two can’t help but get along.

A combination of a midfielder with excellent technique and passing ability, and a striker who turns even bad passes into honey passes.

It’s impossible for it not to taste good when you add something delicious to something delicious.

However, you never know.

It’s not always the case that delicious things create synergy when they meet.

Strawberries and soybean paste stew are both delicious, but if you eat them together, you may have to throw away your tongue.

So, I wanted to see the game and check it as soon as possible.

<2027/28 season English FA Cup, Round of 32. West Ham vs. Birmingham City game. This is the London Stadium.>

At the beginning of the season, one of the goals that Coach Schmidt presented for this season was winning the FA Cup.

Unlike the League Cup, which doesn’t give you much to gain even if you win, the FA Cup has a bigger prize money and you can also get a Europa League spot.

Of course, the Europa League spot may not be very attractive right now.

Since they are running second in the league at the halfway point, it seemed that they could be in the top 6 even if they experienced a slump in the second half.

There is a high possibility of advancing to the Europa League just by league ranking.

However, the goal of winning remained unchanged.

West Ham is a team that is in urgent need of a trophy.

In addition, the FA Cup has a great value as a trophy.

Because the FA Cup trophy is one of the trophies that make up the ‘Treble’ along with the League Trophy and the Champions League Trophy.

If West Ham could lift the FA Cup trophy, the club’s status could be raised even further.

Because of this, West Ham, with all of its existing best eleven, started today.

Oh, even with Capello added.

“Finally.”

“?”

“It’s here.”

“…?”

“The moment when the works of art from Florence are exhibited in this gloomy London.”

“Ugh.”

“Bbiiek-!”

The game started.

Today’s opponent, Birmingham City, is definitely a weaker team than West Ham.

At the same time as the start, Birmingham sat back and took a defensive stance, and West Ham began to lead the game by turning the ball.

Unlike the league, the FA Cup is a cup competition, so if you can’t win within 90 minutes, you can go to extra time or even a penalty shootout.

Going to extra time with a team like Birmingham is something to be avoided at all costs.

Because of this, West Ham’s goal in the first half is to score quickly.

The best thing to do is to score 2 or 3 points as quickly as possible and let the starters rest.

“What I wanted.”

“That’s good.”

Capello and Johan welcomed the instruction to quickly take the lead in the beginning.

Capello was eager to show off his talent to the fans as soon as possible, and Johan wanted to quickly decide the game and rest.

Capello was talking about how geniuses have something in common, but anyway, the two were very different.

Originally, West Ham’s style is to quickly turn the ball and find gaps when facing a team that sits back deeply like Birmingham.

However, the style has changed slightly because of Capello.

First, give Capello the ball and the rest go high.

As the players go up, Capello looks ahead.

‘First impressions are important.’

Capello wants to start his first pass in the PL [Premier League] with an impressive pass if possible.

Because of this, Capello, who was carefully watching for an opportunity,

‘There’s no one I like.’

When there was no suitable place to go, he began to carry the ball through dribbling.

Tatat-!

One guy sticks to it right away.

Capello advances, knocking the guy down with skillful footwork.

However, it is a series of mountains.

West Ham players are not familiar with organic off-the-ball movement.

There are no players who find empty spaces or make movements to create empty spaces.

Because of this, Capello continues to have the ball for a long time.

Eventually, Capello was surrounded by two or three people.

‘Damn it.’

You can’t pass back.

Do you want to make your first memorable pass a back pass?

I hate it to death.

But, I can’t lose the ball either.

A situation where you can’t do this or that.

In the end, the second worst is better than the worst.

Capello connected a forward pass just before losing the ball.

Paang-!

He succeeded in passing, but he doesn’t like it.

This is not what I wanted.

I wanted to make a creative and beautiful pass that would make everyone’s mouths drop open for the first pass.

“Haa.”

The moment Capello sighed.

Bbeoeoeoeoeoeong-!

“Huh?”

The sound of the ball exploding echoed.

The main character of the sound is Johan.

It was Johan who received Capello’s pass, and Johan, who received the ball, turned around and hit a left-footed shot.

And that shot,

Shuuuuuuuuung-

Cheolseok-! [Sound of something heavy dropping or sticking, emphasizing the impact of the goal]

Stretched out like a clothesline and stuck in the corner of the goal.

As the commentator said, Capello recorded 1 assist with 1 pass.

Capello’s mood was quite strange.

“…”

It wasn’t like he opened the scoring with a beautiful pass as he wanted, but the assist that rolled into his mouth was sweet.

‘Da, damn it.’

But, it’s so sweet that I hate myself.

I just made a terrible pass, but an assist comes in…?’

‘A, an uncool assist like that is completely meaningless…!’

Even though he was thinking that way, Capello’s body was running towards Johan.