Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 194

194. Carabao Cup Semifinal

[…Lewis-Potter! He gets past another one! This time, it’s Liverpool’s captain, Jordan Henderson, rushing to support the defense! The veteran Liverpool midfielder misses his footing, allowing the promising Hull native to shift the ball from his left to his right, then from his right to his left, facing the next defender… Ah!]

[…Liverpool’s Joel Matip finally trips up Keane Lewis-Potter. The young English player looks disappointed. He brushes off the grass and starts preparing for the free kick. It’s already the third free kick in the second half! A good position!]

From the press box in the new stadium, the broadcasters and commentators were delivering enthusiastic coverage, while Burnley’s free-kick specialists huddled together.

“I’ll do a feint [a deceptive movement], and you should take the kick.”

They constantly switched positions, trying to confuse Liverpool’s defense.

Burnley’s tactics primarily involved passing, but these dribbling breakthroughs had the advantage of making it difficult to dispossess them.

The two players, acting more like attacking midfielders than wingers, cut inside, weaving through Liverpool’s penalty box, forcing Liverpool’s defense to chase and creating gaps.

The dribbling wasn’t necessarily aimed at scoring but rather at drawing out the opposing players as much as possible.

Thanks to this, the two were using all sorts of techniques they had only ever tried alone during practice sessions.

Wiping the rain from his face in the thinning drizzle, Adam Hložek spoke, but Keane Lewis-Potter shook his head.

“You should go into the penalty box, and I’ll feint while Amar takes the kick.”

The cheerful Austrian full-back standing next to him pointed at himself.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Keane Lewis-Potter looked at Amar Dedić, who was starting on the right side of the defense for today’s game, as Adam Hložek ran into the penalty box.

“Since Adam went in, everyone will think I’m taking it. So, I’ll feint, and you cross it a beat later.”

“…Okay.”

He had been consistently playing games since coming to Burnley, improving his match fitness, but as RB Salzburg’s technical director, Mark Lang, had worried, his confidence was slow to return.

He would play normally most of the time, but in moments where he should have been ambitious, he would choose safety.

A situation similar to, yet different from, Dwight McNeil, who carried the burden of being a Burnley youth product.

Although the rain was light, Keane Lewis-Potter carefully wiped the ball clean with his uniform and placed it on the spot marked by the referee.

He hoped that the Liverpool players watching would be even more confused about who was taking the free kick.

The spot was just outside Liverpool’s penalty box, slightly to the left.

It was the perfect position for the right-footed Amar Dedić to kick from.

“Amar, just kick it like you practice. Got it?”

The young Austrian defender looked at the young English attacker’s face with a serious expression.

That kind face showed nothing but belief and encouragement that he would kick it well.

Amar Dedić chuckled and nodded.

“Just make sure you do your part.”

“I’m a master of feints, remember? Hehehe.”

The two players, who had shared a brief laugh, stepped back from the ball the same distance.

In the thinning drizzle, Amar Dedić checked the situation inside the penalty box.

That monster, Virgil van Dijk, was out for today’s game, but Joel Matip and Joe Gomez were no pushovers either.

Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, and even central attacker Darwin Núñez, were all waiting inside the penalty box, ready to contribute to the aerial battle.

As they pushed and shoved to get into better positions, Amar Dedić spotted his teammate, who was about half a head taller than the others.

Whatever else, Lorenzo Lucca never failed in set pieces [plays set up for a specific outcome, like free kicks or corners].

Recalling the fact that the entire Burnley team and almost everyone in European football had confirmed and reconfirmed over the past half-season, Amar Dedić waited for the referee’s whistle.

The referee, having checked the two players, the players crowded inside the penalty box, and the surrounding area, nodded and brought the whistle to his lips.

Beeeep!

With the referee’s whistle, the players crowded inside Liverpool’s penalty box began to move all at once.

Keane Lewis-Potter ran towards the ball, and Amar Dedić started running a beat later.

As if to kick the ball, Keane Lewis-Potter’s right foot rose high behind him, and the impatient Liverpool players and some Burnley players began to jump into the air.

But Keane Lewis-Potter, with his right foot raised, hopped over the ball with his left foot and then…

…fell flat on his face in front of the ball.

“What?!”

Amar Dedić stumbled for a moment at the absurd scene that occurred mid-run.

What should I do?

Should I appeal to the referee to take it again?

Since he didn’t touch the ball, the free kick is still alive, right?

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind in that short moment, but inertia carried him to the ball, and his right foot, which he had raised, inevitably came down and struck the ball hard.

Damn it, I hit it harder than I thought.

The ball, passing so close to the back of Keane Lewis-Potter’s head that his hair fluttered, soared into the air.

“Watch out!!”

Regardless of the opposing team’s farce, Liverpool’s second goalkeeper, Caoimhin Kelleher, who was starting today, warned his defense as the ball, which had risen higher than expected, slowly began to fall into the penalty box.

Enough time for the Liverpool players, who had been fooled by Keane Lewis-Potter’s feint, to land and jump again.

“Damn it!!”

As Amar Dedić cursed, having lofted the ball higher than expected, the slightly mis-hit ball fell into the center of the penalty box.

“Lorenzo!!”

The 188cm tall Adam Hložek shouted his teammate’s name and leaped into the air.

But Adam Hložek’s target wasn’t the ball.

The direction he jumped was towards Joel Matip, who was preparing to jump to check Lorenzo Lucca.

As the young Burnley winger and the Liverpool veteran collided shoulders in the air and fell away, Lorenzo Lucca, easily overpowering Joe Gomez’s desperate check, launched his massive frame into the air.

“Damn it!!”

As Liverpool’s center-back, Joe Gomez, cursed and fell away, overwhelmed by the sheer size difference, the young Burnley attacker, having secured the aerial ball, twisted his head to the side and powerfully thrust it forward, just as he had practiced.

His solid forehead aimed for the center of the trajectory of the softly spinning ball.

Thump!

With a clear sound, the air-filled ball shot into Liverpool’s goal.

“Uwaaa!!!”

The Burnley fans, sensing a consolation goal, cheered, and the Burnley players rushed towards the goal net to retrieve the ball.

Tommaso Pobega, who arrived first, hugged the ball and sprinted towards the center circle, while Lorenzo Lucca, striding after him, gave Amar Dedić a high-five as he approached.

“Great cross.”

“Thanks.”

“Tell me it was a great feint too!”

The player who provided the assist and the player who scored the goal glared at Keane Lewis-Potter, who was smiling brightly without even wiping the dirt from his face.

“You… later, let’s seriously talk about what a proper feint is.”

Amar Dedić said through gritted teeth, remembering the dizzying moment, but Keane Lewis-Potter tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand why.

“Why? Some of the Liverpool players couldn’t even jump because they were laughing!”

***

“Puhahaha!! He claims he did that on purpose?! Puhahaha!!”

In the manager’s office at the Barnfield Training Centre [Burnley’s training ground].

After suffering a heavy 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup [EFL Cup] semi-final, recording their first loss at the New Turf Moor [Burnley’s stadium], the drinking session that had become an annual event after a major defeat was taking place.

As Helena, having heard Keane Lewis-Potter’s claim, collapsed with laughter, Karolina gritted her teeth while pouring alcohol into her empty glass.

“Ugh, that kid… He’s dead during tomorrow’s training.”

“But isn’t it okay since we scored a consolation goal?”

Karolina clicked her tongue.

“It’s only thanks to Amar pulling himself together and kicking the ball well, and Lorenzo finishing it off well… Otherwise, if you search for ‘soccer comedy’ on YouTube, it’ll definitely come up.”

“Well, yeah.”

Helena, who had been chuckling, raised her glass and took a sip of strong whiskey before stroking the black hair of the man who had collapsed next to her.

“By the way, can you and this guy really be drinking like this today?”

“He said he couldn’t possibly endure today without drinking.”

At Karolina’s reply, Helena frowned slightly.

She was the owner’s representative and CEO of Burnley Football Club, but there was nothing she could do to alleviate the burden the manager was carrying.

The sense of loss and bitterness after such a crushing defeat, even if it was just a cup game, and the pressure of facing a derby match [a game between local rivals] for the first time in seven years.

Helena, who had only emptied one glass and was stroking Hyungmin’s head as he collapsed from the alcohol and fatigue, suddenly looked up at her friend.

“What are you going to do?”

“Me? About what?”

Helena raised an eyebrow at the blonde head coach, who was pretending not to know and taking a sip from her glass.

“You know what I’m talking about. What are you going to do about Emil?”

“….”

Karolina silently sipped her whiskey.

Helena waited for the ensuing silence for a long time before finally speaking again.

“I might be biased because I’m his older sister, but I don’t think Emil is a bad match.”

“…Of course.”

Helena looked puzzled at Karolina’s agreement.

“Then why didn’t you stop him from going back to New York?”

“Haa…”

Karolina tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling, then looked back at Helena after letting out a long sigh.

“Helena, I’m in my mid-30s now. I can’t block the path of a man who hasn’t even graduated from college yet and has a bright future ahead of him.”

“Emil is almost graduated now.”

“And after that, he’ll start working formally and establishing himself. Whether he works at your fund or goes to work somewhere else.”

She was currently in Burnley, but could she accept the life of a wanderer who might have to leave where she was and settle in a new place at any time, as long as she was in the business of soccer?

Helena frowned at Karolina, who gave a self-deprecating smile.

“So, is that the end of it?”

The star midfielder, who had once dominated the women’s soccer scene, shrugged at the question from her friend and the older sister of her ex-boyfriend.

“How can beginnings and ends be so easy in this world? If fate allows, we might meet again.”

“Fate, huh…”

Helena muttered, looking down at the face of the man whose series of strange coincidences had created a connection with her.

“…That’s such an ambiguous word.”