Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 179

179: Climbing the Rankings

“Yo, welcome.”

“Okay.”

Patrick de Paula.

23 years old this year.

He had only been in Brazil for a few months, so his English wasn’t great, but he understood the meaning of the fist Nicolas Seiwald offered.

Patrick de Paula grinned and lightly bumped his fist against the captain’s.

Up front, Lorenzo Luca was signaling to Dwight McNeil on the left and Andre Anderson on the right, among the attacking line that had reunited after a long time.

Behind them, Tomaso Pobega, who had dropped to a more defensive position, was coordinating with the central defenders, while left-back Luca Pellegrini and right-back Gu-ga strolled forward on either side.

“You know, right?”

“Of course.”

He had heard the explanation so many times it was like nails in his ears, and he had constantly moved around the training ground until his legs cramped, learning the positions with his body.

Under the firm direction of the coach and head coach, who said that knowledge known only in the head was only half the story, he ingrained the positions, the positions of his teammates, and, more importantly, the changes into his body until it moved instinctively.

The coach and head coach demanded not only that they take the instructed tactical movements, but also that they rise to a level where they could instinctively grasp each teammate’s style and tendencies, and what choices they would make in any given situation.

“Pre-arranged detailed tactics will eventually be figured out! The success or failure of an attack depends on how much variation you can add there, and how much your teammates can support that variation!”

The head coach’s sharp criticism.

He couldn’t confidently say that he had reached that level yet, but he was impressed to see the situation when the game went well being implemented through training while coming up through the youth ranks at Palmeiras, a prestigious club in Brazil.

The best league in the world, with the best coaches in the world.

The coach and coaching staff self-deprecatingly said that it was a rural club located in northwestern England, but he felt that there was a clear reason for the fresh breeze that had swept through England, Europe, and the football world for the past two seasons.

And within that, Patrick de Paula began to find his place while running around the field.

Dwight McNeil on the left has tremendous skill and individual ability, but he is the type to choose stability over risk in the final choice.

If a Brazilian had that level of individual skill, he wouldn’t give the ball to a teammate until he was dispossessed, but Dwight McNeil had no such greed at all.

Rather, the coach and coaching staff were persuading the player that he could take more risks.

In any case, Dwight McNeil rarely lost the ball, so Patrick de Paula glanced around to take in the overall situation of the field rather than rushing to support his teammate, who had two defenders stuck to him.

On the other hand, his fellow Brazilian, Andre Anderson, who was starting as a right winger, had an incredibly aggressive tendency.

He is the type who wants to get as close to the opponent’s goal as possible and contribute directly to the goal scene.

He doesn’t have unnecessary shooting greed, but he enjoys receiving the attention of both the opposing team and our team on the precarious line between greed and contribution.

As expected, Andre Anderson was already penetrating deep into the penalty box, dragging Fulham’s left-back behind him, in order to receive a cross or pass that might come up.

He was receiving the attention of Fulham’s goalkeeper and defense, straddling the offside line.

If Burnley’s wingers draw the attention of the defense and goalkeeper in this way, what will be empty is…

“Dwight!”

At the sound of his name being called clearly even in his thick accent, Burnley’s gem Dwight McNeil, who was facing two Fulham defenders and looking for a chance to break through, pushed the ball hard with his left foot without even looking up.

The ball that went down the sideline arrived at the feet of left-back Luca Pellegrini, who was rushing forward.

From here, he could use his confident left foot to send a cross into the penalty box in one go, but that would be close to gambling in the current situation where Fulham’s defenders are concentrated in the penalty box.

However, there would be no shooting angle to send the ball to his Italian friend Lorenzo Luca, who was quickly popping out towards the penalty circle.

Of course, you don’t have to consider all of this yourself, just think about who the owner of the voice that signaled the start of the attack is, and everything will be easily resolved.

“Going!”

With a short warning, Patrick de Paula slightly stuck out his right foot with his back to the goal to pass the ball that Luca Pellegrini had diagonally stabbed through his legs, and at the same time, he gracefully turned 180 degrees to the right.

“Huh?!”

Fulham’s veteran midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, who was running behind him to put pressure on him, let out an embarrassed cry, but Patrick de Paula, who had already stripped one of the opposing team’s players, began to dribble the ball forward.

This Brazilian talent discovered by Jonathan Landris and the scouting team is truly an all-around midfielder.

In particular, as befits a Brazilian, his skills such as passing and dribbling are so smooth that they do not suit the position of defensive midfielder.

“This way!”

Andre Anderson, who was already penetrating into the penalty box, shouted while raising his hand, and at the same time crossed the penalty box from right to left, while Dwight McNeil, who was facing two opposing defenders on the left sideline, quietly penetrated into the penalty box from left to right.

An absurd situation where the opposing team’s wingers cross each other in an X shape in the middle of the penalty box.

While Fulham’s defense and midfielders were panicking as their eyes were distracted from side to side, Fulham’s veteran goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who was the only one who was maintaining his sanity amidst the chaotic movements of the opposing team, pointed to the front.

“Front! Block the front!!”

It’s already too late.

Instead of saying the words out loud, Patrick de Paula saved his breath and raised his right foot to stab the ball low and hard to the front.

The target of the ball is the giant striker, Lorenzo Luca, who has already advanced to the penalty mark.

The giant Italian, who calls himself the first of Burnley’s Luca trio, took a soft step forward with his left foot with a movement that was natural considering his nationality and absurd considering his physique.

At the same time as he cleverly let the ball coming from behind flow between his left and right feet, he used his left foot, which he had stepped forward with, as a fulcrum to raise his right foot high.

“Ugh!”

The two Fulham central defenders, who were rushing in from both sides, couldn’t even get close to the elbows that the giant was unfolding, and at the same time as the ball caught on the end of his right foot, which he swung with all his might, Fulham’s goalkeeper screamed in terror as it flew like a cannonball.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Amidst the Burnley away fans’ fierce cheers, the ball that passed through Bernd Leno’s left side, who couldn’t move, was embedded in the goal net as it was.

81 minutes into the second half, the score is 2 to 1.

With Lorenzo Luca roaring with both arms raised to the sky and the cheering Burnley bench in the background, Burnley took a big step closer to securing 6 points [a win].

***

[…Are they coming back to life a little?]

[…It doesn’t feel like they’re overdoing it, but in any case, it seems that Burnley is recovering well now. At least it’s certain that the Burnley management’s decision not to fire manager Hyungmin Kim after the 5-game losing streak was not wrong.]

Helena chuckled as she listened to the commentators’ discussion on TV.

“Did you hear that? They say I did well not to fire you.”

“Oh, I think you did well not to fire me too,” Hyungmin retorted to Helena, who was sitting side by side on the sofa with her head resting on his shoulder. Helena raised her head to check Hyungmin’s face, and then made a relieved expression.

“What is it! I thought you were talking seriously.”

Did he get drunk on the recent success?

Helena, who had checked Hyungmin’s face with the thought that he wasn’t the type to do that, chuckled and leaned her head back on his shoulder.

“Well, you’ve been doing well lately.”

In the 7th round of the Premier League, they added 3 points with a 2-1 victory against Fulham, bringing their total to 6 points.

In the 8th round of the Premier League, they added another 3 points with a 2-1 victory against Leeds, bringing their total to 9 points.

In the 9th round of the Premier League, they added another 3 points with a 2-0 victory against Brentford, bringing their total to 12 points.

In the 10th round of the Premier League, they added 3 more points with a 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace, bringing their total to 15 points.

In the meantime, in the Carabao Cup, they easily defeated Blackpool 4-2, scoring 4 goals in the first half alone, and in the Champions League, they won 1 game each against AS Roma and Club Brugge.

9 consecutive wins after 5 consecutive losses.

In the Premier League, they have an exact record of 5 wins and 5 losses.

Thanks to this, they finally rose from 20th place to 15th place, barely escaping relegation in the 10th round of the Premier League.

Of course, the 15 points secured so far are a long way to go to catch up with the leading group such as Liverpool with 27 points and Manchester City with 24 points, but at least the worry that this season will end in the worst situation of relegation has now disappeared.

Rather, the fans’ attention is more focused on the Champions League, where they are running first in Group A with 3 consecutive wins, as they have ruined this season’s Premier League.

Within the team, the friendly competition between Lorenzo Luca, who scored 7 goals, and Benjamin Sesko, who scored 5 goals, was the biggest concern.

“Lorenzo seems to be doing well, doesn’t he? Benjamin’s expression has been very determined lately.”

“He’s adapting better than expected. His skills are definitely real.”

Helena chuckled again at Hyungmin’s answer.

“Taejin is guiding him well too, isn’t he?”

“Hmm…”

Both Lorenzo Luca and Benjamin Sesko were receiving special training every day under Taejin’s guidance.

It’s not every day that you can receive guidance from a veteran striker-turned-coach who has joined the Century Club [players with 100+ international caps].

Moreover, Taejin was the type who combined his tall height and superior physical condition with a natural sense of football, just like Lorenzo Luca and Benjamin Sesko.

Thanks to his tall height, he was a perfect fit for Lorenzo Luca, who was weak in delicate movements, and Benjamin Sesko, who had not yet completed his physical growth and lacked experience in responding to the rough defense of tall defenders.

With the addition of friendly competition, Burnley’s two central strikers were becoming the nightmare of the opposing team’s central defenders, but Hyungmin simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

Helena, who understood the subtle love-hate friendship between Hyungmin and Taejin well, just smiled.

“Well, I hope it continues like this.”

The construction is now entering the final stage, the team’s performance has completely hit rock bottom and is rebounding, and the ambiguous relationship has now become quite solid.

At Helena’s words, Hyungmin made a strange expression and looked down at her, who had her head on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, when I say things like that, people around me keep telling me not to raise death flags…”

Oh, come on.