Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 139

139. A Glamorous February

[Scheisse! (German for “shit!”)]

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, who had returned to the technical area for the start of the second half, cursed under his breath.

He had a feeling this might happen, but seeing as many as five Burnley players standing on the sidelines, ready to be substituted in quick succession, made his blood pressure spike.

After the COVID-19 situation, five substitutions were allowed, but the young manager of Burnley was probably the first to think of using them in this manner.

“This isn’t baseball, but they’re switching offense and defense like that…”

“Do they really think they can hold out against us for 45 minutes?”

Pep Lijnders, his assistant coach, standing next to him, responded with a mix of admiration, frustration, bewilderment, and a hint of anger.

Facing Liverpool, who possessed the most threatening attack in the Premier League and arguably all of Europe, they were locking down their defense and trying to secure a clean sheet in the second half.

As an assistant coach, it was a blow to his pride.

Watching the Liverpool players’ faces harden as they stepped onto the field, Jürgen Klopp let out a sigh that was a mixture of relief and concern.

He was relieved that his players were already angry, so he didn’t need to motivate them further; they would attack with everything they had in the second half.

Already, captain Jordan Henderson was red-faced, passionately encouraging the players.

But conversely, the concern…

“That kid doesn’t strike me as someone who would do something without a high degree of confidence…”

***

The back three were still Abdou Diallo, James Tarkowski, and Anel Ahmedhodžić.

However, with Dwight McNeil and Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson substituted, Jamal Lewis was newly positioned on the left and Nathan Collins on the right.

There, Luka Sučić and Kristijan Medina stood side by side with Nicolas Seiwald in defensive midfield positions.

With Karim Adeyemi moving to the front line, Sebastian Szymański was placed alone in central midfield.

In terms of formation, it resembled something like a 5-3-1-1, but no one cared about precise labels anymore.

Just now, during halftime.

Hyungmin explained the tactics for the second half one last time.

“Five players go into the penalty box and pack it as densely as possible, and three players block the opponent’s attack right outside the penalty box.”

The marker indicating the players was placed so tightly inside the line symbolizing the penalty box that it was practically crumpled.

“And if you win the ball, send it to either Karim or Sebastian unconditionally. If you don’t know where they are or can’t see them, just kick it into the opponent’s penalty box.”

Leaving two players forward to attempt a counterattack.

Rather than prioritizing scoring a goal, the aim was to create a situation where Liverpool would inevitably have to leave defenders behind to prevent the counterattack.

To contain Karim Adeyemi, who scored the opening goal in the first half, at least two players had to be left behind, and to contain Sebastian Szymański as well, at least one more player had to be left behind.

That meant Liverpool could only commit a total of seven players to the attack.

Of course, enduring 45 minutes against the furious onslaught of Jürgen Klopp and the Liverpool players wouldn’t be easy.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Hyungmin muttered, watching his players take their positions on the field with determined expressions, facing the Liverpool players.

***

“…Unbelievable! Burnley defeats Liverpool and wins the Carabao Cup!!”

“This is truly an upset of upsets! Burnley, who had lost twice to Liverpool this season! They suffered two heavy defeats with a cumulative score of 9-2, but they stopped Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and won the championship!!”

The atmosphere in the studio where the game broadcast was taking place was electric.

Amidst the excitement, emotion, annoyance, and anger, the veteran commentator, a Liverpool supporter, roughly pushed himself away from the desk and got up, leaving the camera’s view.

“Argh!!”

Although a strange scream was heard from next to him, the other commentator sitting in his seat stroked his short goatee and chatted with the caster with a beaming smile.

“Ah, it was truly a great game! Burnley’s coach Kim hasn’t often employed such tactically risky strategies! This time, he came up with completely different tactics in the first and second halves, succeeding in stopping Liverpool.”

“Yes, it seems that Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp and the coaching staff were also caught off guard. Going all-in in the first half to score the opening goal, and then defending with an airtight defense in the second half. It’s easy to conceive, but it’s amazing that they succeeded in deploying these tactics against Liverpool!”

The caster and the second commentator, shaking their heads in excitement, welcomed the return of their colleague who had left his seat.

“…What do you think, commentator?”

“Argh!”

The first commentator, whose face was still red with anger at his former team’s defeat, sighed heavily, but he did not completely neglect his duty.

“Tactically, we were completely outmaneuvered. All of us gathered in the studio were also taken by surprise.”

“That’s right.”

Not only the caster and commentators caught by the camera, but almost everyone in the studio nodded in agreement.

A tactical approach that even the veteran caster and staff in charge of programs that professionally broadcast only soccer were amazed by.

“Especially in this second half, it was like watching Sean Dyche’s Burnley from two years ago. These are scenes that show that Burnley has not completely forgotten the tradition of airtight defense. Let’s take a look.”

With the caster’s words, a hastily edited defense highlight reel began to appear on the large screen.

The scene of Burnley players throwing their bodies to block the ball while Liverpool’s attackers and midfielders were constantly shooting was replayed.

There was also the scene of Karim Adeyemi blocking Darwin Núñez’s strong shot from the center with his face and then falling down, using his legs and head to defend.

“Look! Burnley even had their striker come into the penalty box and throw his body on the line to block the shots.”

“Do you see this as anti-football?”

The caster asked mischievously at the first commentator’s sigh.

“Anti-football or whatever, this is simply a defeat. Defeat. The Burnley players had a stronger will to win, and the Liverpool players ultimately failed to overcome that, which is the cause of the defeat.”

The second commentator, who was happy about the rival team’s defeat, interjected, but the first commentator did not deny this interpretation.

“In fact, I would have been disappointed if they had played the game like this for the entire 90 minutes. But I have no choice but to praise the bold and dynamic pressure they showed in the first half! And the tenacious patience that hid Karim Adeyemi until the very end and unleashed him.”

The first commentator, who reluctantly praised Burnley, let out a long and hot sigh.

“Look at the indicators. This is…”

During the first half, Liverpool had 4 shots on goal. Burnley had 1.

And the expected goals during the first half were 0.43 for Liverpool. Burnley had 0.87.

Conversely, in the second half, Liverpool had 14 shots on goal. Burnley had 0.

The expected goals during the second half were 0.62 for Liverpool. Burnley had 0.0.

“Frankly, if you look only at the indicators, Liverpool’s expected goals are 1.05, and Burnley’s are 0.87, which is almost the same. But Liverpool created the expected goals with 18 shots, while Burnley created them with only 1 shot. And frankly, Karim Adeyemi’s shot was from outside the box, so this is…”

The caster nodded to the first commentator, who raised both hands with a sigh while explaining.

“Then who do you think is today’s MVP [Most Valuable Player]?”

At the caster’s question, the two commentators looked at each other and pondered for a moment.

“…Perhaps the easy answer would be Karim Adeyemi, who succeeded in scoring the only goal…”

The second commentator took over the words of the first commentator, who trailed off.

“If they hadn’t succeeded in blocking Liverpool’s attack in the second half, Karim Adeyemi’s goal would have faded into obscurity. This is… It could be said that it’s all of Burnley’s players, but if I had to pick one person, I would pick Nick Pope.”

The caster nodded at the second commentator’s words.

“…I don’t disagree with picking Nick Pope either. That’s 14 shots on goal. If it wasn’t for Nick Pope today, it wouldn’t be surprising if Burnley had conceded several goals. But if you don’t have to pick a player on the field…”

The first commentator intervened and continued.

“…I would pick Burnley’s coach Hyungmin Kim.”

***

“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”)

The cheers of enthusiastic fans echoed through the stadium.

After the players had tossed him into the air several times, Hyungmin, who still couldn’t hide his excited expression, waved to Helena, who was approaching him with a bright smile.

“Hyungmin!”

“Helena!”

It’s even better than the last FA Cup.

With Karolina and Taejin watching with interest, Hyungmin still felt a bit awkward, but he gave Helena a proper hug.

“Congratulations!”

“It’s something we should all celebrate!”

Hyungmin answered with a bright smile to Helena’s congratulations, who hid her slightly disappointed expression well.

“Yeah. Let the young ones do the congratulating!”

At the grumbling words from behind, Hyungmin smiled brightly with surprise and joy.

“Arthur!!”

Burnley’s former assistant coach smiled back with a face that was still much more ruddy than before and with slightly faded wrinkles.

“Yeah! I came to see if you had hired a new assistant coach and abandoned someone like me!”

“Hey, there’s no way I would do that!”

While Hyungmin was smiling and appeasing the British old man, Karolina and Helena exchanged glances behind Arthur’s head.

‘Is that the former assistant coach?’

‘Yeah! Be careful not to get caught up in the conversation!’

‘I’ve heard the stories too!’

Karolina, who had finally seen the former assistant coach in person, who was talking with his head shrunk as if he was still afraid of Burnley’s veterans, smiled.

‘Ah, at first glance, he’s a formidable꼰 [Kkon-dae: A Korean term for an older person who is condescending and insists on their own way].’

“Is this young lady my successor?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s right. Nice to meet you, Arthur. I’m Karolina Stefan, Burnley’s assistant coach.”

Arthur nodded briefly to Karolina, who deliberately smiled brightly and greeted him cheerfully, and immediately moved on to what he wanted to say.

“Really? I have so much to tell you…”

Oh, no, not this again.

Although he desperately sent out requests for rescue to those around him, Hyungmin and Helena were already slowly backing away.

The sunny weather in southern England after a long time.

It was a glamorous February.