Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 122

< Paris vs. West Ham >

The starting lineups are 4-3-3 for Paris and 4-2-3-1 for West Ham today.

Both teams are fielding their best lineups for now. We’ll have to see how things change during the match, though. Paris’s coach, Debussy, is known for his versatile tactics.

If Plan A isn’t working, Coach Debussy immediately switches to Plan B.

There’s even a rumor he has a Plan Z. Haha.

Paris fielded their best eleven.

The same lineup that played against Marseille over the weekend.

However, just because the lineup is the same doesn’t mean they’ll use the same tactics as the Marseille game.

No one knows what’s written in Coach Debussy’s notebook.

On the other hand, West Ham’s Coach Schmidt is known for sticking to Plan A.

He focuses on his team’s style rather than adapting to the opponent. Coach Schmidt’s style is to stick firmly to Plan A.

In that case, it might have been easy for Coach Debussy to analyze. It’s obvious how West Ham will come out.

That’s right. He’s definitely prepared tactics to counter West Ham’s Plan A.

Before the game, the players gather in a small circle.

With everyone’s arms around each other’s shoulders, Captain Gordon shouts a rallying cry.

Everyone knows what the media has been saying leading up to today’s game, right?

I know it. Yeah.

If we screw up, the coach will get all the blame. So, let’s go wild! Let’s get revenge for the hell we went through during physical training.

…Huh?

Just kidding. Let’s get our heads in the game. Let’s make our coach proud.

Okay!

West Ham!

United!

The players shout their fighting words and scatter to their positions.

As Gordon said, the media had pointed out Coach Schmidt as West Ham’s weakness before today’s game.

In contrast, they cited Coach Debussy as Paris’s strength.

They predicted that if Paris won, it would be a game highlighting the difference in tactical abilities between the two coaches.

They said that Coach Debussy uses various tactics skillfully, while Coach Schmidt uses fairly rigid tactics, and that he would struggle with tailored tactics.

So, what would happen if they lost today?

With them talking like that before the game, how much criticism would the coach receive if they lost?

I didn’t want to see that.

The players wanted to make their coach a winning general today, no matter what.

Peeeeep-!

The game started.

*

Paris Saint-Germain, one of the top five clubs in Europe and the absolute powerhouse of Ligue 1 [the top professional football division in France].

And a game held at their home.

Most people would have thought that West Ham would play defensively.

However, West Ham didn’t cower.

They came out strong from the beginning of the first half and went head-to-head with Paris.

Nathan and Buckley are stirring things up quite effectively.

These players have Premier League-level [the highest level of the English football league system] energy. There aren’t many players in Ligue 1 who can press like this.

Especially against Paris. Paris is struggling with their build-up. There are also frequent passing mistakes.

Away team West Ham is showing no signs of intimidation. Rather, it’s Paris Saint-Germain that’s flustered.

As expected, the previous game between Marseille and Paris was a good hint.

That Paris struggles surprisingly against strong pressure.

Jonathan Nathan and Jacob Buckley, who are confident in their energy, swept through the midfield like fish in water, and thanks to their performance, West Ham took the initiative early on.

Capello shoots directly! It goes just wide of the goal. But a good shot!

It was worth trying directly. Paris’s defense was entirely focused on Johann. West Ham’s second line seems to have quite a few opportunities today.

West Ham is not only taking the initiative but also maintaining good momentum, dominating the game.

Second-line players like Capello and Bailey are under instructions to shoot actively today.

Paris would definitely keep Johann in check, and it was determined that shots from other areas were needed to complicate their thinking.

Sure enough.

Paris had a defensive midfielder dedicated to marking Johann, leaving space elsewhere.

That space is Capello’s main stage.

Just now, a threatening shot was fired.

As if saying, ‘You shouldn’t leave this place empty like this.’

The same goes for the opposite side.

Bailey on the left is also being given quite a bit of space.

…

West Ham came up with an unexpected approach.

Thanks to that, Coach Debussy took out his notebook just 10 minutes into the first half.

*

‘Adventurously.’

Paris midfielder Ethan Cassel, after receiving Coach Debussy’s note, nodded and gestured to his teammates, adjusting their positions.

Let’s possess the ball a little further back.

They were struggling with the opponent’s unexpected pressure.

As originally expected, the opponent should have retreated and defended, aiming for counterattacks.

But the current situation is the opposite.

The opponent is even having their left and right wingers join the midfield, gaining a numerical advantage in the midfield and pressing.

Because of that, they couldn’t even possess the ball, let alone develop attacks, and they had lost the initiative.

However, in any case, it’s not like they hadn’t considered this situation at all.

They already had a similar experience in the previous game against Marseille.

Now, they can deal with the situation more comfortably than they did then.

Marseille pressed strongly forward as a whole, but West Ham’s pressure is focused on the midfield area.

That must be because of that guy, Johann.

To press forward, all the attackers have to move, but that guy doesn’t move.

In other words, to sum it up, it’s simple.

Just possess the ball by circulating it further back.

Coach Debussy’s instruction to be ‘adventurous’ means that.

Possessing the ball in the back is definitely a risky act.

The moment you get pressed, it’s a dangerous area.

However, the dangerous area is actually the safe area.

At least for today.

Paah-!

Paah-!

Paris’s defense spreads wide to the left and right, positioning themselves.

They started possessing the ball, passing it back and forth from the goalkeeper.

Occasionally, West Ham’s wingers come in for individual pressure.

However, there is no pressure in the central area.

Because Johann doesn’t move.

Thanks to that, Paris started possessing the ball more comfortably than in the midfield.

Now that they’ve possessed the ball, it’s time to switch to attack.

The transition must be fast.

Ppeoeoeoeong-!

The ball, which had been moving horizontally, was suddenly shot forward.

With just two passes.

Two passes were all it took for the ball to reach Paris’s left winger, Kleberson.

If you were to divide Paris’s squad into defense, midfield, and attack, the weight of each area would probably be around 3, 2, and 5. This reflects their attacking strength.

That’s how dazzling Paris’s attack is.

Among them, the ace is Brazil’s star player, Kleberson.

Kleberson was such an outstanding attacker that he won the MVP award at the most recent Copa America.

Paris’s first shot was breathtaking.

If Hurrichel hadn’t made that super save, no one could have argued if it had gone in.

Hurrichel held the ball in his arms and let out a sigh of relief.

Movements that seemed to change the flow began to appear.

Kleberson’s shot was the start of that change.

Around this time, on the opposite side of the field.

West Ham’s left attacker, Joshua Bailey, felt that his turn had come.

*

“You just need to move like this. Do you understand what I mean?”

On the first day he was called up to the first team.

Bailey heard something unexpected during his meeting with Coach Schmidt.

“Yes…”

“Why isn’t your answer clear? Don’t you understand?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that…”

“Then?”

“Well, can I really do it this way? I think it would be more helpful if I spread out more and put in crosses.”

“For Johann’s sake?”

“Yes.”

“Then your strengths will disappear. Of course, that kind of play is also necessary. But there’s no need to eliminate one of your strengths. You can contribute to the team play while still utilizing your strengths.”

In fact, when he heard the news that he was being promoted to the first team.

Bailey had personally started physical training.

He thought that he, like the other players, would have to run for Johann.

Even though it wasn’t his style and he wasn’t confident.

He thought that in order to play in the first team, it was more important to adapt to the team than to utilize his strengths.

He thought that’s what Coach Schmidt wanted.

He had heard that Coach Schmidt was the type of coach who gave players autonomy but wanted them to move strictly as planned.

So he thought he would just be used as a component for the team.

Bailey didn’t mind being a component as long as he could play in the first team.

But Coach Schmidt’s story was the opposite.

“You’re not here to create opportunities for Johann. You, like Johann, must become a goal scorer for our team.”

Coach Schmidt knew everything about him.

Strengths, weaknesses, even small habits.

And based on that, he explained how weaknesses could be hidden and strengths could be highlighted.

The explanation showed traces of great deliberation.

“Do well. Are you going to lose to that lazy guy? Show the power of diligence. I’ll support you.”

“…Yes.”

Bailey also knew.

The team had become incomparably stronger than before, but strangely, the coach was being underestimated.

His tactics were always the same, and he was getting good results because of the players.

Now that they had advanced to the Champions League, they should bring in a better coach.

But Bailey knew.

If it’s about the players, then it’s about the players.

That’s true.

But it was Coach Schmidt who made those players perform not at 100 percent of their abilities, but at 150 percent.

That’s also true.

Bailey was able to realize that within a few days of joining the first team.

Without Coach Schmidt, the current team would not have been created.

The only way to prove that is to do what he does best.

Bailey receives the ball on the left.

If it were a league game, strong pressure would have come in before he even touched the ball.

But now he has more leeway.

That’s what the opponent thinks.

After all, Johann is the only one with live ammunition [a player who poses a direct scoring threat], and the rest are just blanks [players who are not considered scoring threats].

However, Bailey’s magazine was also loaded with live ammunition.

“Don’t go out! Center!”

“Don’t fall back!”

Bailey slowly approaches the box.

However, the Paris defense stays in the box and doesn’t move.

Their movement seems to be aimed at preventing any connection to Johann.

The only one blocking Bailey is right-back Angel Nigea.

However, leaving Bailey in a 1-on-1 situation in this dangerous area means…

Paris still doesn’t know very well.

That Bailey, hidden behind Johann, was originally the biggest prospect in the West Ham Academy.

Tata tat-!

Bailey, who had been approaching slowly, suddenly changed direction.

After feinting to the left, Bailey cut inside towards the center.

Nigea lost his balance and couldn’t keep up with the movement.

That’s because Nigea naturally thought that Bailey would drive towards the goal line and then cross.

He couldn’t imagine.

That Bailey’s sole target from the beginning was the Paris goal.

Ppeoeoeoeong-!

A right-footed shot with proper weight.

The in-swinging shot flew low and fast towards the near post.

The goalkeeper dove for the shot, but the course of the shot was exquisite.

Chwaaaaaaa-

Thud-!

“…!”

The moment the shot hit the goal.

Bailey and the players ran towards the bench instead of celebrating.