Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 146

“Aaaah…!!!”

With that sigh, the stadium was momentarily hushed.

The FC Copenhagen players, shoulders slumped, stared at their goalkeeper retrieving the ball from the net, their expressions mirroring the despair etched on the faces of their home fans.

Despair.

As if sensing the oppressive atmosphere, Karim Adeyemi, who had scored the opening goal in the first minute with the kickoff, approached the Burnley fans and celebrated with his teammates, though with relative calm.

“Woooah.”

“Woooah. Awesome.”

Karim Adeyemi, pleased with the goal but feeling the physical toll, acknowledged the Burnley supporters’ applause. Suddenly, a thick arm wrapped around his neck, and he looked up.

By now, everyone at Burnley knew who that arm belonged to.

Though it was most often draped around the manager’s neck.

“Karim! Knock it off. Or you might find yourself in a dark alley in Copenhagen later…”

“Agh! Don’t say such scary things!”

Karim Adeyemi exclaimed, startled by Tae-jin’s teasing.

Of course, it was highly unlikely that FC Copenhagen fans would resort to violence in the streets.

In any case, FC Copenhagen might have initially considered Burnley a manageable opponent in the quarterfinals.

Burnley had defeated PSG in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 and held fourth place in the Premier League, virtually guaranteeing a Champions League spot, but their squad depth was limited, and the season was nearing its end.

This is typically when smaller to medium-sized clubs face challenges with player fitness and injury management.

While overcoming a two-goal deficit from the first leg wouldn’t be easy, they had the advantage of playing at home, and the 38,000 fans in Parken Stadium had been singing their hearts out until just before kickoff.

But conceding a goal so early seemed to deflate both the FC Copenhagen players and their supporters.

So, already at a disadvantage in terms of overall strength, FC Copenhagen now faced the daunting task of overcoming a three-goal deficit in 89 minutes, considering the cumulative score of 3-0 from both legs.

Success would have marked one of the greatest comebacks in Europa League history, but FC Copenhagen’s misfortune wasn’t over.

“Uwaaaaah!!!”

This time, Max Cornet sprinted to the corner flag, arms outstretched in celebration.

As the Burnley players piled on top of him, jumping and celebrating, Hyung-min, expressing his joy with more restraint, glanced towards the silent home team’s technical area.

“They seemed to be panicking.”

Carolina, who had orchestrated Burnley’s goals in the 1st and 41st minutes with precise attacking tactics, muttered from beside him.

“Wouldn’t they have to be? They conceded two goals in the first leg and then conceded the opening goal here,”

Hyung-min replied, shaking his head.

The FC Copenhagen players, attempting to shake off their despair and anxiety after conceding the early goal, pressed Burnley hard throughout the first half with aggressive pressing and relentless energy.

The home fans, their morale briefly lifted by the players’ efforts, cheered and supported the fierce attack.

But the Burnley players were now far more experienced than they had been at the start of the season.

“They’ve definitely become more adaptable. Before, they would have had no choice but to launch a counterattack when pressed like that.”

Unlike last season or the first half of this season, when their game was primarily about attacking, they seemed to have naturally learned how to control the tempo as they played more games, flexibly retreating and weathering FC Copenhagen’s attacks.

Even when the game seemed unfavorable, they possessed the experience to know that an opportunity to turn the situation around would eventually arise, and the confidence to seize that moment.

These were two crucial lessons that the Burnley players had learned that no amount of training from the manager or coaching staff could have instilled.

They wore down the FC Copenhagen players throughout the first half and then launched a swift counterattack, easily scoring another goal.

“I think we’ll be able to implement more diverse tactics next season.”

As Hyung-min said brightly, Carolina looked at him with a skeptical expression.

“How many players do you think we’ll be able to keep in the summer transfer market? We might have to start rebuilding from scratch again, just like this season.”

“Ugh…”

Hyung-min grimaced as if the thought alone was unbearable.

At that moment.

“Waaaaah!!!”

“Huh?!”

The roar of the crowd, reacting to something on the field, made Hyung-min and Carolina widen their eyes in surprise.

***

[…Oh? A penalty! The referee points to the penalty spot!]

[…Ah, honestly, he couldn’t just ignore that. The referee, who had the whistle in his mouth ready to signal the end of the first half, calls a foul right before the whistle.]

The commentator and co-commentator spoke with a hint of sympathy.

Since the first leg had ended 2-0 away, it wasn’t a disastrous result in itself.

However, it was hard not to feel sorry for FC Copenhagen, who were in danger of ending the first half 3-0 down in the second leg at home, where they were supposed to mount their comeback.

[…There’s a brief discussion among the Burnley players. Eventually, Jung steps up to take the penalty kick.]

[…It looks like they were deferring to each other. Karim Adeyemi waves his hand, indicating that he won’t take it.]

He had already scored a goal in the first minute, crushing the opposing team’s hopes, and scoring a penalty to effectively seal their fate might make him unwelcome in Denmark for a long time.

Karim Adeyemi, who had been feeling the weight of the home fans’ angry stares, breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Jung Tae-jin successfully convert the penalty.

***

“Hoo… It really feels like we’re reaching the end of the season now.”

The day after the Premier League Round 30 away game against Brentford.

After finishing the morning recovery training and dismissing the players, Paulo Morão muttered as the analysis of yesterday’s game was being finalized.

In the Europa League away game during the week, FC Copenhagen had desperately managed to score two goals in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Burnley’s solid defense, who had already scored five goals over the two legs.

Having secured their place in the Europa League semifinals, they returned to the Premier League and clinched a hard-fought victory in Round 30 against Brentford, with Szymanski scoring the only goal in the second half.

“Well, it’s a relief that the players’ teamwork and tactical understanding are progressing well,”

Hyung-min said, organizing the data he had analyzed from the Brentford game.

“If we can manage the players’ fitness effectively until the end of the season, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

There are now eight Premier League games remaining.

The remaining opponents are, in order: West Ham, Manchester United, QPR, Manchester City, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Bournemouth, and Aston Villa.

There are no easy games in the Premier League, no opportunities to rest players.

QPR, who were promoted this season but have already all but confirmed their relegation with a poor record, are an exception, but Wolverhampton and Bournemouth, who are fiercely battling to avoid relegation, are by no means easy opponents.

They are the kind of teams that have often caught the Premier League’s top teams off guard.

In addition, West Ham, traditionally a strong mid-table team, have been struggling recently, but manager David Moyes can always assemble a solid squad and devise customized tactics that can trouble any top team.

Furthermore, Aston Villa, who are competing for a place in European competition under the leadership of Steven Gerrard, and Manchester United, who have been recovering since their manager was sacked, are not easy opponents.

Liverpool and Manchester City, who are still locked in a tight battle for the Premier League title, are formidable opponents.

“Chelsea is slowly pulling away.”

Carolina muttered, looking at the Premier League standings.

Until the end of March, they had been fiercely competing for third place, separated by only one point, but the draw against Leeds between the two games against Arsenal and FC Copenhagen in the quarterfinals was costly.

While Chelsea earned 6 points, Burnley only earned 2, and Chelsea eventually extended their lead to 5 points with 66 points, while Burnley had 61.

It seems inevitable that Burnley’s strength, still competing in both the Europa League and the Premier League, will be more diluted than Chelsea’s, who can focus solely on the Premier League after being eliminated from all cup competitions.

“Um… then we definitely have to beat QPR, and I think we can beat Wolverhampton, Bournemouth, and West Ham…”

Tae-jin trailed off, counting on his fingers.

Aston Villa, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool are the real challenges.

They had comfortably defeated Manchester United in the first half of the season, but the rest were difficult opponents.

Manchester United, still under an interim manager, have also improved significantly recently and are not easy to overcome.

“I don’t think we need to look too far ahead like that.”

Hyung-min interrupted Tae-jin’s calculations.

“Let’s just focus on one game at a time from now on.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Tae-jin honestly admitted that he was getting ahead of himself.

“Then let’s focus on the West Ham game for now. We can take on the opponents step by step.”

Hyung-min looked around the conference room, and the coaches nodded.

“10 games, up to 11 games, until the end of the season. If no injury problems arise, I think we’ll be okay, right?”

A moment of silence fell over the conference room at the manager’s statement.

Team doctor Simon Morris and fitness coach Paulo Morão, who had attended the first team meeting for the first time in a while, glared at the manager, who had made an ominous statement, with slightly pale faces, while Carolina next to him diligently tapped the wooden conference table [a superstition to ward off bad luck].

Hyung-min looked around with a puzzled expression as he watched Carolina diligently perform the European superstition that touching wood could offset ominous statements or evil spirits.

“What’s wrong? We haven’t had many injury issues this season, have we?”

The faces of the assembled coaching staff began to fall at Hyung-min’s second statement.

“Aish, that idiot is raising a death flag here again!”

Carolina muttered quietly, and Hyung-min looked hurt.

“No, really. Surely nothing will happen, right?”