Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 107

107. Going in as Planned

The next day.

Hyungmin awoke to find liquor bottles scattered around his office. Groaning, he clutched his head, battling a terrible hangover.

Mike Garrick, hearing the coach’s groans as he passed by, peeked into the office. Seeing the state of the room and that two bottles of his secret whiskey stash were empty, he looked like he wanted to say something. But he just shook his head and disappeared into his own office.

“No, I didn’t drink this… I didn’t even bring it…”

Hyungmin muttered, feeling like he’d been promoted from a blackmail target to an accomplice, and now to the mastermind. But Mike Garrick’s ship had already sailed [meaning the situation was irreversible].

“Good morning!”

Helena poked her head into the office, greeting him with a clear, loud, and cheerful voice before disappearing.

Someone handed a water bottle to Hyungmin, who was still clutching his head, trying to quell the ringing in his ears.

“Drink some water.”

“Ugh… Will that actually make me feel better?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never experienced a hangover.”

Hyungmin shot a look of mixed pain and resentment at Carolina, who shrugged beside him, boasting about her natural physical resilience.

“Was it you? Did you get me drunk?”

“What are you talking about? You drank it all yourself. Especially that weird paint thinner stuff. Though, I guess Helena did bring a shot of whiskey at the end.”

“Helena was here too?”

Carolina chuckled at Hyungmin’s bewildered question.

“You don’t remember anything.”

“No. I remember one thing.”

Hyungmin said, clutching his head, where a dull throbbing seemed to originate.

“Call Paulo.”

“…?”

***

The Burnley first team coach and coaching staff gathered in the first team meeting room.

Coach Hyungmin.

Assistant coach Carolina.

Fitness coach Paulo Morão.

Team doctor Simon Morris was also technically part of the first team, but he was responsible for the overall management of injured players from the first team, reserve team, and even the youth team. So, he wasn’t usually called in for tactical discussions unless there was something specific.

It wasn’t exactly everyone, since there were only two people besides him, but Hyungmin began the conversation in a serious tone.

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

“…?”

As Carolina and Paulo looked puzzled, Hyungmin elaborated.

“I’ve been thinking about how to deal with teams that go all-in on defense.”

“Ah, that.”

Carolina and Paulo nodded, finally understanding the context. Hyungmin looked back and forth between them, then made a dumbfounded expression.

“What? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who’s been thinking about it?”

“Well… I’ve been busy with physical training…”

Paulo Morão subtly avoided Hyungmin’s gaze.

“I thought you’d come up with a good idea.”

Carolina openly passed the responsibility back to the coach.

“Haa…”

Hyungmin sighed briefly.

“So, what’s the solution?”

At Carolina’s question, Hyungmin tapped the tactical board on the table.

“I’m going to do what we’ve always done.”

“…Huh?”

***

“Aaaaargh!!”

Burnley’s right-back, Charlie Taylor, who had just scored the opening goal, ran madly towards the away fans and roared.

It was the fifth goal of his career, and only the second in six seasons since joining Burnley, in his 12th season since debuting for the first team after coming through the Leeds youth system.

The away fans and players flocked to celebrate the veteran defender’s rare goal.

“Hahaha! Great goal!”

Captain James Tarkowski, who had been with Burnley for almost as long, slapped him on the back.

“Awesome! The ball was curving all over the place!”

Maxwel Cornet, who started as a left winger and drew the attention of the opposing defense, put his arm around his shoulder and congratulated him.

“It was my assist, so you’re buying me dinner!”

Luka Sučić, who provided the assist from central midfield, was already demanding a reward.

“Hehehe. Of course, of course! When we get back to Burnley, I’ll treat everyone to a big one! No, I’ll even make commemorative t-shirts and hand them out!”

“Ah, that’s a bit…”

The players chuckled and celebrated the veteran defender’s goal and the team’s lead.

On the other side, Hyungmin saw Red Star coach Dejan Stanković, who had conceded the opening goal to Burnley in their home game, standing in the technical area and clicking his tongue. Hyungmin stood in his own technical area and clenched his fist.

“Yes! That’s how you do it!”

“Wow, even this crude method works.”

Hyungmin turned to Carolina, who was muttering beside him in a tone somewhere between dumbfounded and impressed.

“When this happens, you just have to double down!”

“What are you talking about…”

Seeing Carolina’s expression of utter incomprehension, Hyungmin rephrased.

“Double or nothing! Get twice as much or go home!”

“Ah… That’s what you meant…”

Carolina nodded, still dumbfounded but at least able to accept it.

“Well, you always preferred to lose spectacularly than to tie.”

“I’d rather win spectacularly if possible?”

Hyungmin retorted to Carolina, who was ruining the mood with her unnecessary comments.

“Anyway, swinging hammers with both hands seems to be working [meaning attacking with full force].”

Hyungmin nodded at Carolina’s observation, which was tinged with wonder.

The day before the game.

Faced with a Burnley squad whose morale wasn’t great due to the heavy defeat against West Ham and their recent poor Premier League form, Hyungmin conveyed the solution he had come up with.

“Uh… so, are we just going to beat them up unconditionally?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

James Tarkowski asked, representing the players with a bewildered expression. Hyungmin nodded strongly in agreement.

“We’ve come this far based on our strong stamina, intense forward pressure, and quick, concise passing, right?”

The squad nodded at Hyungmin’s question.

Of course, the newly joined players looked slightly nauseous at the mention of strong stamina, but Hyungmin cheerfully ignored their reactions.

“So, from now on, if an opposing team comes out with a ten-man defense or parks the bus [a defensive tactic where most players stay near their own goal], we’re going to raise our line as much as possible, trap them in their own half, and then launch our attack.”

Hyungmin adjusted Burnley’s 4-3-3 formation on the tactical board at the front of the meeting room.

“First, the two center backs and the defensive midfielder stand side by side on the halfway line like this.”

Three markers were placed side by side on the white line marking the halfway line.

“And the other seven will go in a ‘AAA’ formation, with three above and four below, staggered. But that’s just the appearance. In reality, all seven of them will advance as far as possible, occupying the entire space from the opponent’s penalty box and the space next to it, and pressing them down.”

Based on Burnley’s usual starting lineup, that would mean central striker Benjamin Šeško and left and right wingers Dwight McNeil and Karim Adeyemi in the ‘3’ above.

Below them, central midfielders Sevanstian Szymanski and Tommaso Pobega or Nico Gonzalez, with left and right backs Jamal Lewis and Guge on either side, in the ‘4’.

But in reality, all seven of them would advance as far as possible, pressing the opposing team and joining the attack at the same time.

The coach’s idea was to put all but the goalkeeper of the opposing team’s field players in the penalty box, and then press them back with a 9-on-7 advantage, almost 1-on-1.

“Uh… wouldn’t we be vulnerable to counterattacks?”

“That’s up to you or whoever’s playing as a defensive midfielder to intercept with the center backs.”

Hyungmin replied lightly to defensive midfielder Nicolas Seiwald’s question.

“What about the attack? If both teams’ players are gathered in the penalty box like that, it doesn’t seem like there’ll be any room for the ball to move.”

This time, Karim Adeyemi’s question caused the forwards to nod. Hyungmin turned his head to one side.

The players’ eyes followed Hyungmin’s gaze and landed on assistant coach Carolina Stefan, who was sighing deeply.

“Okay, Carolina will explain that from now on.”

Carolina, who had been briefly glared at by her boss for passing on the difficult and complex attacking tactics to her, stood in front of the tactical board and looked at the squad.

“First of all, you just have to play well, okay? If you pass well and shoot well, the goal will go in, yap!”

Looking at the players’ dumbfounded expressions at Carolina’s explanation, she burst out laughing.

How great would it be if you could play soccer this simply…

“Okay, that was a joke… but not really, I’ll explain it in more detail for you guys.”

None of the assembled players had yet built a career to her level, so they couldn’t resist her playful boasting that she would bestow wisdom on them.

“Okay, first we’re going to use pattern plays [pre-designed sequences of passes and movements]. I’ll start by explaining pattern play number 1. Here…”

The color gradually drained from the players’ faces as they listened to Carolina’s explanation.

One by one, and then almost all of the squad, opened the notebooks in front of them and began to take notes.

The amount to write down was no joke, and the amount to memorize was no joke either.

As the rest of the squad desperately began to write down Carolina’s explanation and the movements of the markers and the ball on the tactical board, the center backs and defensive midfielder Nicolas Seiwald, who only had to defend, wore relaxed expressions.

Unfortunately, Nico Gonzalez and Tommaso Pobega had to know all of that because they went back and forth between defensive midfield and central midfield.

“What are you doing there?”

Hyungmin pointed out James Tarkowski, who was trying to take a leisurely posture by raising his hands behind his head and stretching out his long legs.

“Oh, no… I don’t think we need to know that stuff.”

James Tarkowski replied, trying to deny the ominous feeling he was getting.
The center backs sitting around him in a relaxed posture, namely Abdou Diallo, Nathan Collins, and Anel Ahmedhodžić, nodded in unison.

“Of course you don’t need to know that stuff.”

“Haha, right? You don’t expect us to memorize that…”

“You guys have to do physical training with Paulo.”

“Huh?!”

The color drained from the faces of James Tarkowski and the center backs below him, as well as Nicolas Seiwald, who was standing next to them, at the mention of coach Paulo Morão, who was standing by the door with his arms crossed and nodding.

“Now?”

“Of course. You don’t need to receive attacking training, right? You need to do physical training during that time so that the three of you can build a defensive line and control the space.”

Of course, of course.

The rest of the squad, who had been enviously watching the relaxed defenders while desperately taking notes, nodded in unison in agreement.

We can’t be the only ones suffering!

And frankly, it’s much better to memorize the attacking tactics and pattern plays of assistant coach Carolina Stefan in the meeting room than to receive physical training directly from coach Paulo Morão outside.

Both are painful, but at least you can sit in the meeting room.

With a sigh of relief, the rest of the squad escorted the defense out, dragging their heavy feet like cows being led to the slaughterhouse.