Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 134

“Not bad, huh?”

“Right?”

With the exception of Idrissa Gueye starting instead of Georginio Wijnaldum, Hyungmin had accurately predicted PSG’s starting lineup.

In fact, the roles of the two players in PSG’s tactics weren’t significantly different, so it didn’t matter much who started.

And he had perfectly predicted Christophe Galtier’s tactics as well.

But more important than anything else was…

“Ah, he’s really good at things like that.”

Carolina giggled as she watched Lionel Messi, who had been jostled while trying to receive the ball and ended up missing it, get annoyed.

What’s so great about the Austrian-born Nicolas Seiwald (a defensive midfielder known for his relentless pressing), Burnley’s vice-captain, is that he is polite and respectful to everyone off the field.

And what’s even better about this young man, who is universally popular with Burnley Football Club staff, players, and fans, is that he respects no one on the field.

Without even glancing at the world-class striker who was annoyed with him, Nicolas Seiwald passed the ball he had stolen to a teammate and calmly went back to stand near Lionel Messi.

Whether it’s an attacking situation or a defensive situation, just erase Lionel Messi.

At yesterday’s tactical meeting, Hyungmin gave Nicolas Seiwald a simple but difficult instruction, and he was literally interpreting it, cleanly erasing the presence of Lionel Messi from the field.

Whether he touches the ball, dribbles to shake off the defense, or passes, he has to do something, right?

Against a young midfielder who has begun to be nicknamed the destroyer of the midfield, the cleaner, and even the black hole of the midfield among critics and fans for his leech-like defense and insane activity, Lionel Messi, whose physical abilities are gradually declining, couldn’t do anything.

“Still, the original Messi couldn’t have been stopped like that.”

Block Lionel Messi from the start.

Hyungmin isn’t the first manager to have this thought.

But the reason why almost everyone has failed so far is that there aren’t many players who can perform such a leech-like defense with dedication, and even if there are, Lionel Messi has the movements, skills, and speed to shake them off.

But that’s not possible anymore.

Carolina sighed softly, as if regretting the sight of an era coming to an end like this.

She herself was a midfielder who dominated an era in women’s football, but it would be a lie if she said she didn’t regret that her playing career ended relatively short due to injuries.

“Time and tide wait for no man, they say.”

Carolina shrugged at Hyungmin’s words next to her.

“Even so, I don’t necessarily want to see the opposing team’s players performing at their peak against us.”

“Hehehe. That’s true.”

Hyungmin chuckled softly, watching the visiting team’s technical area become busy as Lionel Messi was effectively neutralized.

*If this were chess, we took out a bishop, but you lost a queen.*

Hyungmin, who had erased Lionel Messi using Nicolas Seiwald, crossed his arms.

Well, Christophe Galtier isn’t a novice either, so he must have countermeasures for this situation.

But do you think I’ll give you the time to use those countermeasures?

That’s how the game that would later give Turf Moor [Burnley’s home stadium] the nickname ‘where stars go to die’ began in earnest.

***

“Oh, dear…!”

Christophe Galtier clicked his tongue.

As soon as Lionel Messi was blocked at the start of the game, he could read the Burnley manager’s mind: *If you erase the most threatening player from the opposing team with one of your players, you get a head start.*

Of course, PSG doesn’t just have Lionel Messi.

Kylian Mbappé and Neymar are fully capable of turning a game around on their own, and the midfield, defense, and even the goalkeeper are full of world-class players.

However, Abdou Diallo, who started as a left-back today but effectively formed a back three, is firmly blocking the rear with central defensive partners James Tarkowski and Anel Ahmedhodžić.

In particular, Abdou Diallo, who was pushed out of PSG, was completely blocking Neymar, who was placed on the right flank, with an ironclad defense, as if to make them regret letting him go.

*No, if he was going to do this now, he should have just shown that skill when he was still at PSG.*

It was pointless for Christophe Galtier, who was appointed to PSG after Abdou Diallo left, to lament.

Anyway, when the attack is blocked like this, the midfield and fullbacks have to work together to create opportunities, but three problems arose.

The first is that in order to save the powerful but overly aggressive attack, the midfield is focused on defense rather than creativity, so good passes are not coming out well.

The second is that even if the midfield is excellent in defense and can hold firm, Burnley’s remaining two midfielders are overwhelmingly outperforming PSG’s three midfielders, even without Nicolas Seiwald.

The third is that in order to relieve the frustrating attack, the fullbacks continue to attempt penetrations to the front line, which is shaking the defense.

And Burnley players dug into the gaps that Hyungmin and the Burnley coaching staff intended.

*Thwack!*

Marco Verratti was sent flying by the rough shoulder charge from Tomaso Pobega, but the referee didn’t blow the whistle.

“Nico!”

As if not caring about the referee or the opposing player thrown on the grass, the Italian midfielder, trained in the Premier League, immediately sent the stolen ball to Nico Gonzalez, who was waiting nearby for pressure and support.

“Here it comes!”

The jewel that Barcelona’s youth team boasts didn’t even lift his head to look at the ball, and swung his right foot powerfully with a long shout.

“Yes!!!”

As Burnley’s home fans cheered in unison, the pass that crossed the field in one go was delivered to Burnley’s right winger, who was penetrating the left side of PSG’s penalty box.

The one who received the ball was Karim Adeyemi, who emerged like a comet on the world stage through the last Qatar World Cup.

Softly pushing the ball, which gently landed right in front of his feet, forward again, now Burnley’s most threatening attacker began to break into the penalty box.

“No! Stop him!”

Christophe Galtier, who was watching from the technical area, shouted like a scream.

They attempted a counterattack but were blocked and suffered another counterattack.

Most of PSG’s players are caught in reverse somewhere in the midfield.

Even the left and right fullbacks, Achraf Hakimi and Juan Bernat, are already over the halfway line and into Burnley’s territory.

On the other hand, Burnley seems satisfied with only putting in three attackers to stir up PSG’s penalty box, and except for Nicolas Seiwald, who is still stuck to Lionel Messi like gum, the midfield and defense are checking their positions and reorganizing instead.

Only right fullback Guðmundur Guðmundsson is excitedly running along the sideline, filling the spot that Karim Adeyemi just vacated and preventing the players placed on PSG’s left flank from going to support the defense.

With the defense still unsettled and disorganized, Sergio Ramos, who started as a central defender, stepped forward to block Karim Adeyemi’s path, and Marquinhos, who started with him, supported him from behind.

“Oh, no!”

Galtier clicked his tongue again.

It is much more ideal for the quick-witted Marquinhos to block in front and the experienced Sergio Ramos to prevent Karim Adeyemi from escaping from behind.

However, when facing Karim Adeyemi, who was diagonally penetrating from the left side of PSG’s penalty box, Sergio Ramos inevitably had to face the opponent first.

Sergio Ramos came from the Sevilla youth team and joined Real Madrid at the young age of 19.

After that, he spent a whopping 16 seasons at Real Madrid, becoming one of the defenders with the most championship trophies in football history.

A veteran with extensive experience in winning the Primera Liga [Spanish League] and the European Champions League, as well as the Euros and the World Cup.

But time waits for no one.

The veteran defender, now 36 years old, was skilled enough to block Karim Adeyemi’s path directly to the goal, but he lacked the agility to prevent the ball that Karim Adeyemi pushed out from escaping to his right.

“Marquinhos!”

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma shouted the captain’s name like a scream from behind, but PSG’s captain was already sweating and throwing his body sideways.

The one who received Karim Adeyemi’s short pass was Burnley’s central striker, Benjamin Šeško, who had slipped out of the penalty box and was now penetrating again.

PSG’s central defender Marquinhos threw his entire body to block the young striker who had a perfect shooting opportunity in front of the goal.

“Heh.”

And Benjamin Šeško, seeing the desperate expression of such a defender, smiled slightly and let the ball flow to his left again.

“Ugh!”

It was clearly a shooting angle, and it was a perfect shooting chance, but he shook off the defender and passed the ball again.

While Marquinhos and Gianluigi Donnarumma simultaneously let out short screams, the one who received the ball that had passed through Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Šeško was Dwight McNeil, who was quietly penetrating on the right side of PSG’s penalty box.

And the star from Burnley’s youth academy drove like a storm into PSG’s goal.

“No!”

PSG’s starting goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, is only 24 years old.

But he comes from Italy, the origin of *catenaccio* [a tactical system in football known for its highly organized and effective defense], proudly thinks of defense, and believes that the goalkeeper is the pinnacle of that defense.

And the young star who occupies the starting goalkeeper position in the Italian national team and pushed out veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the club team made the best decision in that short moment and quickly turned his body and ran forward.

He had to somehow narrow the angle at which Dwight McNeil could shoot at the goal, narrow the distance, and pressure the attacker to make a mistake.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made that decision, blocked the shooting angle towards the goal by spreading his arms, legs, and even his head as much as possible, but…

“Ugh!”

Along with the goalkeeper’s unique scream, Dwight McNeil sent a pass across the front of the goal.

While Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had already thrown his body, helplessly watched the ball pass by him like a dog chasing a chicken, the target to receive the pass that passed through the no-man’s land was Karim Adeyemi, who had passed to Benjamin Šeško on the left and then ran to the right to shake off Sergio Ramos.

That’s how Burnley’s attack, which started with Tomaso Pobega’s steal, was about to end with the 5th pass connected in the blink of an eye.

“Heh.”

The opportunity created by Burnley’s young attack, which leisurely rotated a triangular pass once inside the opposing team’s penalty box while mocking the world’s most expensive defense.

Karim Adeyemi, who rose to stardom in the World Cup, lightly finished it with his left foot.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

And Turf Moor vibrated with the fans’ fierce cheers.

“Ah… really…!”

Taejin, who was screaming with the players gathered at the corner flag and cheering, as well as the substitutes and coaching staff on the bench who were also happy, looked at the young manager who was smiling with his arms crossed in the technical area.

He had known since high school that Hyungmin had a good sense of reading the game and a quick wit.

And although he couldn’t know the detailed details after he went to Europe, he also knew that Hyungmin had graduated at the top of the world-renowned Hennes Weisweiler Academy [a prestigious German football coaching academy] and submitted a thesis that shook the German Football Association.

Above all, he thought it was really amazing to see him grab Burnley, a weak Premier League rural team, by the collar and drag them up to the European competition.

That’s why he came to Burnley with all sorts of excuses, wanting to learn even one more thing while watching such a high school classmate right next to him.

But seeing that each and every scene from the start of the game flowed exactly as Hyungmin had predicted and planned, chills and thrills ran down his entire body.

“Isn’t he really amazing?”

Carolina said quietly next to him, noticing where Taejin’s gaze was directed.

“This is really… just like crazy.”

Taejin replied in an overwhelmed tone.

Not in every game, not every time, but there are times when he succeeds in reading the game perfectly like this.

No, in fact, the number of times he succeeds is overwhelmingly more than the number of times he fails.

Carolina muttered, looking at her friend who had caused all of his classmates to be frustrated at the Hennes Weisweiler Academy, where only the best talents in the German football world gather to train as managers.

“Yeah. He’s crazy. He’s just crazy.”

Beyond the two people talking, the cheering song of the enthusiastic Burnley home fans echoed.

“Welcome! Welcome to the Jungle!”

“Kim’s got fun and games!”

“Kim’s got everything you want honey!”

“Kim knows the names!”

“In the jungle, welcome to the jungle!”

“Watch it bring you to your shaking knees!”

(From Guns & Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”)