Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 153

< Episode 152 – Special Assistant >

“Hey. What kind of team was Valencia?”

“What?”

“How did they win games?”

“…They played a defense-oriented style of soccer.”

“Wow, just like me. The team I was on was like that too. Then you must be thinking the same thing I was during my debut game.”

“Thinking what?”

“Ah, I feel so relaxed.”

Guimarães chuckled at Bellamy’s words.

He had noticed it since training, but Bellamy is a smart guy.

You could say he’s cunning, or that he’s quick-witted.

Either way, he’s smart.

So, he must be able to see through people’s minds.

“It does feel less burdensome.”

“People don’t really know how comfortable it is for a defender to play on an attack-minded team.”

Forwards might naturally find it fun to play on attack-oriented teams.

But, that’s also the case for defenders.

If a team’s offense is strong, it’s obvious that the burden on the defenders is lessened.

Guimarães’s former team, Valencia, wasn’t a strong attacking team.

Rather, their weakness was the lack of offensive firepower, and the defense carried the team.

That team color definitely played a role in Guimarães’s skill development.

However, separately from that, the pressure he felt during games was immense.

Defense is inherently a stressful position where one mistake can directly lead to defeat.

And the team relies on its defense? Plus, their scoring ability is weak?

In Valencia, Guimarães had been playing every game under pressure.

That’s why he felt so much more relaxed today.

So this is how it feels to have a forward who can score goals, and score a lot of them.

It’s so comfortable.

It felt like he had multiple coins [lives or chances in a game].

If Valencia felt like having to beat the final boss with only one coin, now he had enough coins to not worry about making a few mistakes.

But,

the mindset that it’s okay to make mistakes actually makes the mistakes disappear.

Guimarães defended confidently.

The audience applauded at the sight.

Returning to his position while receiving the applause from the audience, Guimarães thought.

‘If I had to be sold, I wish it had been to Man City or Man U [Manchester United].’

Either way, he didn’t want to leave Valencia.

But if he absolutely had to leave, he wanted to go to a club that would at least pay a lot of money.

So when his destination was decided as West Ham, he felt a bit bitter.

West Ham did give him a considerable transfer fee, but he could have received more if it had been one of the other super-rich clubs.

But, playing like this, it doesn’t seem so bad.

No, he even thinks he made a good choice.

At least, he’s glad he didn’t go to Liverpool.

Compared to Johann, there wasn’t anyone in Liverpool impressive enough to even exchange names with.

*

The back-and-forth between the two teams continued throughout the first half.

Liverpool’s mindset was, ‘We can’t stop Johann anyway, so let’s score at least one more goal.’

As Liverpool came out like that, West Ham countered with attacks that continuously targeted the space behind the defense.

In that bloody battle, Liverpool was able to find some meaning in the winter transfer market.

Right before the end of the first half, new striker Granero scored a goal.

However, that goal wasn’t an equalizer, but a consolation goal. Because Johann had already scored one more goal before that.

Around the 20th minute of the first half, Johann scored a solo goal with his individual skills in a counterattack situation.

So, with West Ham leading 2-1, the second half continued.

The game’s flow was the same in the second half, and many goals were scored again.

This time, West Ham, or rather Johann, scored first again.

58th minute, Johann’s third goal.

71st minute, Liverpool’s consolation goal created by Carvalho’s good breakthrough.

84th minute, Barkley didn’t miss the rebounded ball and scored again.

In total, three goals were scored.

A tremendous slugfest match with three goals in the first half and three goals in the second half.

However, in the end, it was Liverpool who got hit more and was KO’d [knocked out].

Score 4-2.

Liverpool’s punches were heavy, but West Ham’s guard was sturdier than expected.

And each of West Ham’s punches made Liverpool’s legs wobble.

It was a game where Liverpool’s front office sighed, and West Ham’s front office could smile with satisfaction.

ㆍㆍㆍ

At the end of the 23rd round, Coach Schmidt felt that he needed to be very meticulous.

Based on the 23rd round,

1st place West Ham with 69 points.

2nd place Man U with 20 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses, with 61 points.

3rd place Man City with 19 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, with 59 points.

Compared to running with all league wins and without dropping a single point, the point difference with 2nd place is smaller than expected, but it’s still a somewhat comfortable score.

As long as it’s not too many, it’s okay to have a few draws or losses in the future.

The important thing is the Champions League Round of 16 match against Juventus.

Right now, all focus must be on this game.

Now that they’ve made it to the tournament, they can’t be satisfied with just reaching the Round of 16, even if that was the original goal.

The status of the club is clearly different between the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinals.

Especially if the opponent is Juventus.

In fact, if there were only league and Champions League schedules, they could have been more greedy.

Wanting to catch both rabbits [achieve two goals at once].

However, in the midst of this, there is a national team call-up period.

The games during this period are not just friendly matches, but World Cup qualifying matches.

Many players who are active as starters in their national teams are also in West Ham.

Assuming they all play full time and return, it would be quite troublesome.

Appropriate rotation was not a need, but a necessity.

“I guess I have to use the experience I’ve gained in soccer for times like this.”

Coach Schmidt has been in the soccer scene for so long that he has acquaintances with most coaches.

Including the current coaches of the players’ national teams.

He’s about to call them one by one to ask for some time.

To ask them to use them moderately and send them back.

To ask them to spare him.

Especially Coach Ranister.

Johann already won the Euros [European Championship] after you took him, right?

I know the World Cup qualifiers are important, but England has plenty of players.

Let’s all live together [cooperate for mutual benefit].

“It’ll be tough, but it can’t be helped. This seems to be the best option.”

Maybe this could be called a crisis.

He may have to be prepared for a few point drops.

He’ll just have to try to keep that number as low as possible.

The 2028/29 season was heading towards the mid-to-late stages.

ㆍㆍㆍ

West Ham’s opponent for the last league game of January, the 24th round of the season, was Newcastle.

Last time, West Ham had completely defeated Newcastle 5-1 thanks to Johann’s 4 goals and 1 assist.

However, this game was not easy.

No, it was very difficult.

The absence of Capello, Nathan, and Bellamy due to rest was significant.

The pressure from the front and midfield that Nathan had to do, Capello’s ball keeping and forward passes, and Bellamy’s defensive line control.

None of these worked well.

The players who played in the game were not in a physically comfortable situation either.

Newcastle effectively exploited this.

Newcastle doesn’t have an ace with outstanding skills, but Newcastle’s strengths were revealed well at times like this.

The fact that the entire team runs a lot, even though there is no outstanding ace.

Newcastle continued to press, used the field widely, and drove West Ham.

Newcastle almost caught West Ham.

In a situation where they were being dragged down 0-1, the 90th minute, where the color of defeat was thick.

Johann, who had been quiet for the previous 89 minutes, finally showed up in the last 1 minute.

It was a thrilling theater goal, and it was an equalizing goal that made all the Newcastle players kneel.

Looking at it, it was a very disappointing result.

They drew with Newcastle, a team they could have caught enough, and thanks to that, their winning streak came to an end.

The grand ambition to challenge for all league wins can no longer be dreamed of.

However, because it was such a dramatic draw, everyone could be happy at that moment.

Also, there was a welcome aspect to this draw.

“Why. I feel strangely happy about the draw.”

“It’s no fun if we confirm the early championship. You have to see Johann for one more game, right?”

“If possible, let’s go all the way to the end.”

Well, there’s nothing to say if you call it mental victory [finding a positive in a negative situation].

But, anyway, the important thing is that we didn’t lose, right?

Whether it’s a game or a mind.

ㆍㆍㆍ

After the 24th round, the A-match week [international break] continued.

Coach Schmidt’s wish was not fulfilled in this call-up.

All the players who were originally called up to the national team were called up again this time.

Including Johann.

From West Ham or Coach Schmidt’s point of view, it was an inevitable decision to hate Coach Ranister.

The countries they will face during this A-match week are not strong teams.

It’s a lineup that can be easily won even without Johann, so why bother taking Johann.

But, Coach Ranister also had something to say.

Coach Ranister, who also extended his contract with the national team to use Johann.

He’s been waiting for this day too.

“Are you going to play in the World Cup next year?”

“Next year? Not at all.”

“Then, just mess around and come.”

“I understand.”

Coach Schmidt gave a request to Johann, who was heading to the national team.

During training, just mess around and come.

To act like he’s not in a condition to play the game and act like a brat.

Anyway, the World Cup is a tournament that has nothing to do with you.

Johann also nodded at that.

And, he faithfully carried it out.

Coach Ranister was very tongue-tied.

‘Johann who has made up his mind’ is great, but ‘Johann who has not made up his mind’ was even greater.

I guess everyone had forgotten because he had been playing for about 2 years.

Johann is a lazy person who doesn’t even listen to his dad.

Still, wanting to use Johann, Coach Ranister put Johann in the game.

However, Johann, who has no reason to run hard, was not the Johann everyone knew.

In the end, Coach Ranister had to raise both hands and feet [surrender], and Johann was able to spend the A-match week comfortably.

ㆍㆍㆍ

After the A-match week, the Premier League was resumed with the league’s 25th round game.

There were a total of eight West Ham players who went to the national team.

Hurrichel, Bellamy, Petrovic and Jenkinson, Capello and Nathan, Buckley, and Johann.

Most of the starters went to the national team, and everyone played more than one game.

In this situation, they could not be made to play in the 25th round game.

In fact, there’s nothing they can’t do if they try, but the problem is that the next game is against Juventus.

In this day’s game, all the players who went to the national team, including Johann, took a break and entered a large rotation.

Fortunately, the result was not bad.

The opponent for the 25th round was Everton.

Everton is a team that you can’t guarantee to win even if you face them with all your strength.

Against such a team, it was definitely a good result to draw despite a bold rotation.

PL 25R Everton 1:1 West Ham

Of course, it may not be the best result.

There were several opportunities to win, but they failed to capitalize on them.

However, it was a result that could be accepted as long as it wasn’t the worst.

No, maybe this was the best.

However, it seemed that the views inside and outside the club were inevitably different.

As many as 23 consecutive wins, followed by consecutive draws.

There was a group that started talking as if West Ham was about to end with this.

It was Juventus.

-Juventus showing confidence, “West Ham has no experience. Experience of a big club. It’s natural that they started to shake.”

-Juventus Chairman Andrea Tonelli, “The Champions League is a war of stars… but there is one asteroid mixed in.”

-Juventus Captain Barcelli, “When West Ham was decided as the opponent, I wondered if we were in the Europa League.”

-Dimitri Bolerovic, “What are you worried about? If I had to pick one, it would be London Stadium. I’m worried about whether the game can be conducted properly because it’s a place that has never hosted the Champions League.”

-Juventus with 8 consecutive league wins, West Ham with momentum slowing down due to consecutive draws… The first leg clash at London Stadium on the 9th