Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 138

“Standby!”

From the defensive line came the captain’s fierce shout, demanding restraint from Karim Adeyemi, who had flinched to help his teammate pressing forward.

“Haa…”

Karim Adeyemi let out a long sigh and held his position.

From Liverpool’s perspective, he was roughly at the center of the triangle formed by left-back Andrew Robertson, left center-back Virgil van Dijk, and defensive midfielder Fabinho.

Looking at the entire field, it was a strategically significant point, halfway between Liverpool’s penalty box and the sideline, and halfway between the penalty box and the halfway line.

With three opposing players maintaining roughly the same distance from him, it appeared to be a no man’s land where three players could simultaneously check him. However, conversely, it meant no one could properly check him during a counterattack.

It was the spot that Carolina had painstakingly identified as the space where a player could remain relatively unmarked on a field with 22 players, while also being a place from which attacks could be launched effectively.

Moreover, left-back Andrew Robertson was preoccupied with Burnley’s right-back, Gu Ga, who was frantically running up and down the sideline.

Central defender Virgil van Dijk, along with his partner Ibrahima Konaté, was engaged in a battle of wits with Benjamin Šeško, who was constantly moving in the penalty box.

And defensive midfielder Fabinho seemed bothered by Nico Gonzalez, who kept hovering in his field of vision, trying to penetrate forward in the attack.

Thus, nine teammates, excluding goalkeeper Nick Pope, were desperately moving and trying to create a single opportunity for him.

And they held a firm belief that he would create something if that opportunity arose.

“Hoo…”

Karim Adeyemi, burdened with the expectations of the coach, coaching staff, and fellow players, let out a heavy sigh.

It was different from his experience with the German national team, where he had emerged like a comet in the World Cup and led the team to victory, but was actually the youngest member of the squad.

Back then, coaches and veterans genuinely apologized for relying on the young him, fully supported him even when he made mistakes, and aggressively compensated for any situation on the field without blaming him. But now, in Burnley, he was a key player.

Of course, neither the coach, the coaching staff, nor even his teammates would blame him now.

However, he couldn’t deny that the coach’s tactics were designed solely around him as the primary offensive threat.

If they failed, the coach would take the blame, but Karim Adeyemi’s feelings were more complex than that.

He felt a weight similar to, yet different from, that borne by Dwight McNeil, the youth academy ace with whom the fans felt a strong connection.

Karim Adeyemi desperately resisted the urge to rush into the swirling midfield battle, turning his head left and right to recheck the players’ positions.

And in the 43rd minute of the first half…

The opportunity that everyone in Burnley had fought so hard to create with blood and sweat finally arrived.

***

“Oops!”

Liverpool’s promising young midfielder Harvey Elliott realized his mistake and let out a soft groan.

No matter how hard he tried to send the ball forward, he was blocked by Burnley’s staunch defense and couldn’t advance, so he eventually tried to break through with a direct dribble out of frustration.

He somewhat believed in his ability to break through, thinking that even if he lost the ball, Fabinho behind him and captain Jordan Henderson beside him would provide solid backup.

However, he focused only on the support he would receive if he made a mistake and overlooked who he had chosen as his opponent to break through.

Something that at least no experienced player in the Premier League would attempt anymore.

The result of attempting to dribble past Burnley’s midfield linchpin, Nicolas Seiwald, was disastrous.

Harvey Elliott widened his stance, sized up his opponent, and tried to push the ball firmly between his legs to break through…

But as if Seiwald had extra limbs, he instantly adjusted his posture, cleanly intercepted the ball, and lightly bumped his shoulder into Elliott’s chest, knocking him to the ground.

It was more like Elliott had run his chest into Seiwald’s shoulder.

“Block him!”

“No! Hold your positions!”

Amidst the referee’s hesitation to blow the whistle at the Liverpool young midfielder’s near self-inflicted wound, conflicting shouts echoed from among Liverpool’s veteran midfielders.

Defensive midfielder Fabinho, who had been sitting deep, stepped forward to intercept the ball preemptively, while captain Jordan Henderson, who was near Harvey Elliott, instead retreated to reorganize the formation.

“Oops!”

The two veterans let out short exclamations as they realized each other’s mistakes, but their positions had already overlapped in an instant.

Harvey Elliott was still lying on the grass, stunned by the impact of the collision.

Liverpool, who had not conceded a single dangerous situation in midfield for the first 40 minutes, persistently maintaining their patience despite Burnley’s ironclad defense,

For the first time, the movements of all the midfielders in the Premier League’s top team momentarily froze in a defensive situation.

“Defense!”

The shouts of Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, standing in the technical area, and central defender Virgil van Dijk echoed simultaneously, but even faster was the sharp call of Nico Gonzalez, who had received the ball immediately after running towards Nicolas Seiwald as soon as there was a sign that the ball would be taken away.

“Karim!!”

The first name shouted in the entire 43 minutes.

Unlike the nine Burnley players who were moving frantically, he was almost static, barely moving, and even passes were not connected to him, so Liverpool players had unconsciously pushed him to the back of their minds.

And a place that Burnley players had also consciously avoided for half the game, causing the opposing team’s attention to fade.

Towards that place, Nico Gonzalez powerfully swung his right foot and sent the ball forward, drawing an elegant curve as it swerved to the left, passing Karim Adeyemi and flying fiercely towards Liverpool’s penalty box.

“Ugh!”

As the Liverpool bench grabbed their heads in dismay, Karim Adeyemi, who had finally been given the opportunity he had been patiently waiting for throughout the first half, turned and ran after the ball at full speed.

The ball flew as if it were skimming the grass with perfect speed, requiring no adjustment to its trajectory.

Puck!

Virgil van Dijk, who had taken a step forward to block the ball, collided with Benjamin Šeško, who was moving alongside him and bumping shoulders.

“Damn!”

A brief moment in which he couldn’t even argue with the referee about obstruction.

Benjamin Šeško fell to the grass as the price for challenging the giant defender, but in return, he bought a precious second for Karim Adeyemi.

Meanwhile, only Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson remained between Burnley’s young striker, sprinting at full speed as if flying, and the goal line.

“Cover the back!”

The Liverpool veteran goalkeeper desperately rushed forward, asking his teammates to fill the goal he was leaving vacant.

And even in that urgent rush, he slightly tilted his body to his right.

Karim Adeyemi is left-footed.

The typical play is to cut in from the right and shoot with his left foot.

So, tilting his body to the right to block the angle to shoot with his left foot would be the most reliable way to stop the shot.

Thus, Alisson narrowed the angle towards the goal as much as possible until the last moment.

***

“Hup!”

Karim Adeyemi had barely inhaled since he started running.

His heart was already racing like crazy, and his vision was narrowing to the front, but he couldn’t hear the crowd, who were clearly screaming to shake the stadium, nor the shouts of his teammates.

Thanks to Nico Gonzalez’s perfect pass, he didn’t have to touch the ball separately to control it while sprinting at full speed.

Following the ball as it flew as if skimming the grass, he quickly broke through the penalty box and crossed more than half of it, and before he knew it, the Liverpool goalkeeper, who was rushing towards him with gritted teeth, slightly tilted his body to the right and spread his arms wide.

If his heart beat one or two more times, they would collide.

At the moment when it seemed impossible to change direction any further, and the Liverpool goalkeeper’s desperate expression faintly revealed a hope that he could stop it, Karim Adeyemi twisted his left foot and pushed the still speeding ball to the goalkeeper’s left.

“Aaaaah!!!”

Half of the 60,000 spectators filling Wembley let out shouts of joy, while the other half screamed in despair, but Karim Adeyemi heard nothing.

He leaped over the Liverpool goalkeeper, who was sliding on the grass and reaching out to grab his ankle as if willing to concede a penalty.

He desperately stretched out his right foot with the momentum he had been running with.

Thump!

The ball, which was veering to the side, caught perfectly on the instep of his right foot.

The shot was more powerful than he had expected, as it had been hit cleanly.

The ball, with the speed it had been flying at, combined with the force added by Karim Adeyemi’s right foot, rotated fiercely and changed its trajectory towards Liverpool’s goal.

“No!!”

Liverpool’s central defender Ibrahima Konaté, who had been running at full speed towards the goal after the penalty box was breached, desperately stretched out his foot, throwing his entire body.

At the moment when it seemed like the ball would catch on the foot of the giant sliding on the grass…

The fiercely rotating ball slightly grazed the tip of that foot and passed straight through the goal line.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!!!”

As exactly half of Wembley Stadium roared towards the sky, Karim Adeyemi, lying on the grass, raised both arms towards the clear blue sky.

43 minutes into the first half.

The opening goal, created by Hyungmin pouring the entire stamina and activity of Burnley’s starting lineup, went in.

***

“Ice here, quickly!!”

“Here!”

“Need it here too!!”

Half-time.

Burnley’s locker room was a battlefield.

With exhausted players sprawled on the floor, team doctor Simon Morris and fitness coach Paulo Morais were desperately running around, taking measures to help the players who had to go back out in the second half recover even a little more.

Towels filled with ice were wrapped around ankles, knees, and even the back of the neck, and they were forcibly consuming electrolyte drinks [drinks designed to replenish fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise].

“How are things?”

Hyungmin, who was waiting for her next to the tactical board, asked as Carolina, who was moving with Simon Morris and Paulo Morais, checking the players’ conditions, approached.

“Benjamin, Dwight, and Gu Ga are out.”

“Okay.”

Three names were removed from the tactical board, and three names were added again.

“What about the midfielders?”

“Nico is also out. Tomaso said he can last until the 60th minute.”

“Hmm…”

First, Nico’s name was removed, and Luka Sučić was put in his place.

After hesitating for a moment, Hyungmin took out Tomaso Pobega and added the name of Christian Medina.

“No. Tell him to come out. If he gets injured badly here, the aftereffects could last a long time.”

“He’ll probably think he can play more, though?”

Even if they get injured during the game, the outcome can be different depending on whether they get injured with some stamina left or with their stamina completely depleted.

At the very least, if they have stamina left, there is a high possibility that the player will instinctively take measures to protect their body when they fall.

No matter how important the final is, the coach cannot risk the career of a promising player, and cannot allow it to be risked.

“Tell him not to be stubborn and come out. Chris will go in his place.”

Carolina nodded at Hyungmin’s decision.

“Okay. I’ll pass it on.”

As Carolina turned and ran towards Tomaso Pobega, Hyungmin tapped the tactical board and loudly gathered the players’ attention.

“Okay, listen up, everyone!!”