Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 174

174. Moon and Stars

“We made that, you know?”

Hyungmin turned to look at Helena, who spoke with confidence.

“We?”

“Yes. You and I. Everyone working at Burnley, every player on the field, and all the fans supporting Burnley. All of those people made it.”

Hyungmin turned his head back to look at the stadium, which employed the most advanced construction techniques but boasted a classical elegance rather than a cutting-edge aesthetic.

“So, we’re all in this together. You’re not solely responsible. Whether it goes well or not, we all share the success and failure.”

Hyungmin looked at Helena again.

“I told you about when I went to Detroit, right?”

“A little.”

Helena continued, still not taking her eyes off New Turf Moor.

“Actually, the first year there was a mess. The factory was in the middle of a slum, the facilities were outdated, the union was strong, and even long-standing clients were turning their backs. I ran around trying everything that first year, but honestly, there was no visible chance of recovery. And then I even had my engagement broken off… Personally, it was the worst year ever.”

“…”

As Hyungmin remained silent, Helena continued.

“I was so frustrated, but one day the factory manager came to see me. Samantha, a tough woman who had lost her husband and raised three boys on her own, had worked her way up from a day laborer to the factory manager. She was amazing.”

“Hoo.”

As Hyungmin quietly admired, Helena continued the story.

“She told me that even though everything seemed bleak and frustrating, it was nothing in the long run. Hard times pass faster than you think. So, I asked her who was giving me such textbook advice.”

“What did you ask?”

Hyungmin, now engrossed in Helena’s story, asked, and Helena smiled brightly.

“I asked Samantha when was the hardest time for her. Do you know what she said?”

“What?”

“She said she hadn’t had an easy time since dropping out of high school!”

“Pwahahaha!”

Hyungmin, who had been gloomy, burst into laughter without realizing it.

“But somehow that gave me so much strength. She started in such a difficult environment and had been suffering for so long, yet she still had the *yoyu* [余裕, Japanese for ‘composure’ or ‘leeway’] to encourage others. I realized I had been given so much, yet I was giving up too easily.”

“So what happened?”

At Hyungmin’s question, Helena shrugged.

“Eventually, we succeeded in the turnaround. Of course, it was like dying for about 2-3 years, but I didn’t actually die. Eventually, we normalized the factory, persuaded the union, and secured clients again one by one. And then the slums around the factory started to come back to life.”

“What happened to that company now? No, what happened to Samantha?”

At Hyungmin’s question, Helena smiled brightly.

“The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Cartwright Fund slowly sold off its shares. Samantha became the president as my successor. I think she’s still the president now? Or maybe she’s the chairman?”

“Ah, I see.”

As Hyungmin nodded, Helena looked at Hyungmin and smiled.

“So, stop thinking that you have to take all the responsibility.”

“Is that what the owner of Burnley Football Club is saying?”

At Hyungmin’s question, Helena raised one eyebrow.

“Of course. That’s what the owner and CEO of Burnley Football Club is saying. Forget what other people are saying. The recent poor performance? That happens sometimes! When I first gave you the baton two years ago, neither the media nor the fans expected Burnley to avoid relegation.”

“…”

Hyungmin couldn’t speak.

“So, I’ll take responsibility. You can do whatever you think is necessary. You can relegate the first team to the reserve team, or you can put youth team players in the next game. You can go on a training camp, or you can just go on vacation.”

With a face where shock and emotion were vying for dominance, Hyungmin looked at Helena.

“Let’s look back together after this season is over. And then let’s decide what to do next. But please grant me one request.”

“…?”

At Hyungmin’s questioning face, Helena smiled.

“Please avoid relegation if possible! If we get relegated, neither you nor I will be able to walk around Burnley openly.”

Hyungmin chuckled, then reached out and pulled Helena, who was smiling brightly at him, into his arms.

“Ah…?”

Before Helena, who was embraced by Hyungmin, could say anything, Hyungmin’s voice was heard above her head.

“Thank you, Helena. And please wait a little longer.”

“…Of course.”

***

“You didn’t go home yesterday?”

The next morning.

Taejin, who entered the manager’s office, asked, seeing Hyungmin lying on the sofa, and Hyungmin nodded.

“Yeah. I had something to think about.”

“You know, you think too much sometimes, right?”

Hyungmin smiled at his friend’s words, which were said jokingly but couldn’t shake off the worry about the tremendous pressure the manager was facing as he started the season with the worst record.

“I know it well.”

Taejin raised his eyebrows at the manager’s calm words.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry, but could you call Carolina and the others to the conference room?”

“I will.”

The expressions of the coaching staff gathered in the first team conference room were a mixture of fatigue, anxiety, and expectation.

The mental fatigue that they couldn’t help but feel as they had accumulated five consecutive losses for almost two months.

The growing anxiety about Burnley’s position in the increasingly precarious Premier League and the position of the manager and coaching staff within Burnley.

Nevertheless, the expectation that the manager who had summoned them would somehow end this situation.

Hyungmin’s heart grew heavy at the gazes of his colleagues, but he repeated what Helena had said a long time ago in his heart.

“Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

He thought he had only repeated it in his heart, but it seemed to have come out of his mouth.

At Carolina’s question, who was sitting next to him, Hyungmin shook his head.

“The reason I asked you all to gather here today is to tell you what we are going to do in the future.”

At the manager’s calm but serious tone, the coaches straightened their postures and concentrated.

“I think we’ve all been too intimidated lately. Me, and you guys too. As a result, I think we’ve forgotten what the essence is.”

Hyungmin continued, looking at his friends and colleagues who were raising questions on their faces.

“The essence was to do our best as enjoyably as possible in the present. Actually, this place is nothing, right? But after achieving some success, I think we became too arrogant ourselves.”

Carolina and Paulo Morão tilted their heads as if they didn’t agree with the word arrogant, but Hyungmin shook his head strongly.

“It’s right that we became arrogant. I think it’s arrogance for a small team like us to not do our best in each game in front of us and try to think ahead and prepare for the next one.”

“Ah…!”

A light of agreement appeared on the faces of the coaches.

“Honestly, we haven’t been able to do proper physical training because we were worried about injuries, right? At least, we haven’t been doing it at the intensity we used to.”

The intensity of training was unknowingly reduced as key players were being carried off due to injuries.

“It’s my fault. I knew Paulo was worried, but I didn’t take care of it. I’m sorry.”

Paulo Morão waved his hand at the manager’s words, who apologized before he could.

“No, it’s my fault too. I lowered the intensity of the entire team because of the injury of one or two players.”

“Then let’s say it’s all our fault.”

Carolina said from the side, and Taejin nodded.

After winning the Small Double [winning two minor trophies] last season and the club’s finances were normalized, and at the same time, a global star appeared in the team, their minds became unknowingly relaxed.

Their minds were more comfortable than when they were squeezing and pulling the team along in a deficient environment, but instead, the sharp and fierce desperation disappeared, and everything gradually slowed down.

And the level of the world’s best football league, the English Premier League, is such that even that much of a gap can instantly drag a team into the abyss.

Taejin interjected and asked.

“So, what should we do now, manager?”

“Let’s go back to basics.”

Hyungmin continued, looking at the coaching staff sitting around the conference table.

“What made Burnley Burnley. Intense pressure, fast counterattacks, and fierce fighting spirit for 90 minutes. I made a mistake by constantly thinking of bizarre means to solve the problem as the power was leaking.”

“Well, it’s not just your mistake.”

Carolina, the head coach in charge of tactics who had been contemplating customized tactics for each game with the manager, said.

“But I think you can take about 60% of the responsibility.”

“Hoo!”

The atmosphere in the conference room livened up at her joke.

“Yeah, we’ve been letting the kids go too much. Let’s get their fitness up properly.”

Paulo Morão, with a firm determination etched on his face, muttered to himself as if making a pledge.

“Okay. Everything Burnley does starts with the fitness to be one or two steps ahead of other teams. And the detailed tactics…”

As the head coach in charge of detailed tactics looked at him, Hyungmin nodded.

“…We’re going back to the beginning. Full-field press. Short, quick passes. Securing width by utilizing both flanks as much as possible and time-difference attacks involving midfielders.”

Hyungmin brought back the initial tactics that had begun to fade as teams began to sit back and go all-in on defensive soccer when facing Burnley.

“In the end, this was the basis of our tactics in any situation. How can we do the applications on top of that if we can’t do the basics properly.”

“Still, it can be a headache when facing teams that sit back.”

Hyungmin shrugged at Carolina’s point.

“It may be a headache, but conversely, they will have a headache too. Anyway, if I had to choose between being beaten up for 90 minutes and beating them up, I would always choose to hit.”

The coaches nodded at the manager’s words, which were full of determination.

“And anyway, things can’t get any worse than they are now, can they?”