Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 207

207: Advance and Advance

“Amar!!”

His name is shouted once again.

But this time, the person calling him is different.

Having received the ball in the center of the square formed by the three lines—the sideline, the goal line, and Chelsea’s penalty box—Amar Dedic began his advance towards Chelsea’s goal as soon as he received the ball.

“Support him!!”

Chelsea’s right defender, Reece James, shouted as he ran after him, but even without his words, the Chelsea players were already swarming to block Burnley’s attack.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, stood blocking the goal, cutting off the angle for a direct shot.

Chelsea’s central defender, Kalidou Koulibaly, was approaching him slowly, with his body lowered.

Over Kalidou Koulibaly’s shoulder, Wesley Fofana, the central defender guarding Chelsea’s left flank, and Marc Cucurella, the left full-back, could also be seen rushing in.

Probably, Chelsea’s midfielders were also rushing in from outside the penalty box to provide support.

The moment he confirmed that everyone’s attention was focused on him, Amar Dedic passed the ball diagonally to the right without hesitation.

“F***!!”

Kalidou Koulibaly, who had already been toyed with by Burnley’s young players three times, cursed. Benjamin Šeško received the ball, which had passed to Koulibaly’s left and headed towards the center of the penalty box, having already penetrated into Chelsea’s penalty area.

“Block him!!”

As goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga shouted, Chelsea’s defenders rushed towards Benjamin Šeško all at once.

A young monster who, alongside Lorenzo Lucca, had emerged like a comet this season, had scored over 20 goals in all competitions.

The young striker, who was considered a contender for the top scorer award if he hadn’t missed a significant portion of the first half of the season due to injury, raised his right foot, causing Kalidou Koulibaly, who had turned around, and Wesley Fofana, who had already arrived in the center of the penalty box, to close their eyes tightly and throw themselves in front of him.

Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had to block any shot that was aimed low at all costs.

It was a moment to block a shot that would fly with a force and height that even the goalkeeper couldn’t handle.

However, Benjamin Šeško smiled and betrayed the expectations of Chelsea’s defense, instead gently passing the ball diagonally to the left.

“Huh?!!”

Chelsea’s defense screamed in shock.

Just by exchanging the ball once, Chelsea’s defense was dragged around and devastated.

The defense that had been perfectly blocking all angles for Amar Dedic to shoot had shifted its position to Benjamin Šeško, and thanks to that, when Benjamin Šeško returned the ball to Amar Dedic, no one was blocking him from the goal.

Kepa Arrizabalaga desperately threw himself, sensing the imminent goal, but it was already too late.

As the home fans, sensing the goal, stood up all at once, the young defender, loved by the coaching staff and teammates for his pleasant personality, sent the ball towards the empty goal.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

88th minute of the second half.

It was a dramatic winning goal.

***

Burnley, with the momentum gained from the dramatic winning goal against Chelsea in the final minutes of the second half, secured a comfortable victory against Southampton in the 31st round of the Premier League.

The point difference with Liverpool, who were also on a winning streak, remained at 5 points.

While the players joined their respective national teams or took a break during the A-match [international match] call-up period scheduled for the end of March, the manager and coaching staff finally entered the dreaded phase with the start of the second half of the season.

The 32nd round of the Premier League would begin against Arsenal on April 6th, and seven games would be played in 43 days until the 38th round of the Premier League against Liverpool on May 19th.

There were hardly any easy opponents.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool.

All the Big Six except Chelsea were waiting their turn.

At least they would face Aston Villa and Norwich in May, but Norwich, who were struggling to escape relegation this season, and Aston Villa, who had a solid squad that had settled in the mid-table, were by no means easy opponents.

“From now on, there are really few games that you could call easy.”

Carolina sighed as she looked at the confirmed match schedule.

“At least we were eliminated from the FA Cup…”

Taejin, who was continuing his words, looked around and slightly modified the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

“…it’s not a good thing, but it seems a little better in terms of schedule management?”

Based on Liverpool, who lifted the Carabao Cup trophy at the end of March and were cruising in the FA Cup, they would have to play up to 6 more games than Burnley.

However, the reason why Hyungmin and the coaching staff’s expressions were dark was not simply because of the league schedule.

“…In the end, our opponent is AC Milan.”

Hyungmin muttered with a troubled expression.

AC Milan, who have been consistently challenging for the league title since winning the dramatic Italian Serie A [Italian top league] title in the 2021/22 season, have a solid squad.

AC Milan, led by Rafael Leão, now considered the best striker in Serie A, easily defeated Atletico Madrid from the Primera Liga [Spanish top league] in the round of 16 of the European Champions League with their exciting attacking football and tight defense.

Atletico Madrid, led by coach Diego Simeone, may have weakened a lot recently, but they are still a strong team that consistently ranks 3rd in the Primera Liga.

However, AC Milan boasted a clean sheet at home and away, winning easily with a total score of 5-0.

“Who’s next after we get past AC Milan? Barcelona or Juventus? It’s a series of mountains, isn’t it?”

Paulo Morais shook his head at Taejin, who was speaking half-jokingly and half-dumbfounded.

“Once you get through the group stage in the Champions League, there are only monsters left anyway. We were lucky to meet Ajax in the round of 16.”

“Some people said that Ajax was lucky to meet Burnley…”

Taejin smiled as the Portuguese fitness coach pointed out.

“…Anyway, it’s going to be burdensome no matter who meets who in the quarterfinals.”

The European Champions League is truly a competition where the strongest teams from each country participate, and by the time they reach the quarterfinals, they not only have strong objective power, but also good teamwork and momentum.

Currently, the teams that have reached the quarterfinals are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, AC Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Burnley.

Burnley, who have never lifted the European Champions League trophy among the 8 teams, are the only ones occupying a humble last seat.

Fortunately, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Liverpool are on the opposite side of the quarterfinal bracket, so they will not meet unless they reach the final.

Objectively speaking, it should be assumed that they will not meet the remaining 3 teams this season at all, except for Liverpool, who have one more game left in the league.

Of course, if you ask if Barcelona, Manchester City, and AC Milan, who they are facing this time, are less burdensome than the other 4 teams on the opposite bracket, the answer is absolutely no.

“Haa…”

Hyungmin sighed lowly and then shook his head as if trying to shake off the gloomy thoughts.

“Let’s not think about the semifinals in advance. It’s just going to give us a headache if we worry about it in advance, and honestly…”

He had no idea if they could beat AC Milan at all.

“Yeah, let’s just think about one game.”

Taejin readily agreed with Hyungmin’s words, as if admitting that he had gone too far ahead.

“If so, then forget about AC Milan too. Because what’s in front of us right now is Arsenal.”

At Carolina’s cold remark from the side, all three men let out a long sigh.

Although Arsenal had dropped out of the title race a long time ago and their former glory was nowhere to be found, the sharpness of their attack, led by Bukayo Saka, in a squad as young and vibrant as Burnley’s, was not something to be taken lightly.

“Okay. Let’s start by worrying about Arsenal.”

As Hyungmin swallowed a sigh and readily admitted, Carolina displayed the data she had prepared on the large screen.

“Arsenal seems to have settled into a 4-2-3-1 formation now. First of all, the defense…”

***

“Waaaaaa!!!”

At Turf Moor, officially known as Andrelz Moore, cheers mixed with relief from the home fans echoed.

“Damn it!!”

From the adjacent technical area, Arsenal manager Eddie Howe’s curse mixed with lament could be heard, but Hyungmin shrugged his shoulders.

To be honest, they were a little lucky in this game, but Hyungmin wasn’t so spoiled that he would kick away the luck that had come to him on its own.

Of course, it was understandable that Arsenal’s manager, whose decisive shot had been blocked by the goalkeeper’s unbelievable save for the fourth time today, was making a strangled scream next to him.

“Focus!! Keep the defense tight!!”

Hyungmin, who had used his substitution cards to his heart’s content, had deployed a combative midfield of Nicolas Seiwald, Patrick de Paula, and Tommaso Pobega for the first time since the derby against Blackburn, and Burnley was reaping the benefits.

As Arsenal’s midfield, consisting of Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, and Martin Ødegaard, was unable to exert its power against Burnley’s destructive midfielders, all of Arsenal’s attacks were only proceeding through the flanks.

With the central defender duo of Nathan Collins and Anselmo Garcia McNulty, who formed today’s starting lineup, hardly giving up any shooting opportunities from the front, most of the shots coming in from the flanks were being blocked by goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi’s saves.

The young Italian goalkeeper, who was rushing towards his 19th clean sheet of the season, had just blocked a decisive shot from Bukayo Saka, who was only 3 meters away and was almost a sure equalizer, by sticking out his foot in a state of being completely caught in the wrong direction.

The tall goalkeeper, boasting an impregnable defense, clapped his hands together and encouraged the defenders.

“I’ll block everything!! I’ll block everything~!! You’re all dead~!!”

The players could be heard muttering to each other from the bench behind Hyungmin, who was standing in the technical area.

“I understand the part at the end, but what the heck is he saying at the beginning?”

“Isn’t he saying not to worry because he’ll block everything?”

Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who had become rapidly close to Marco Carnesecchi while spending this season, replied in an unsure tone to Sebastian Szymański’s question, who was looking bewildered.

Honestly, it’s great that the two goalkeepers are getting along so well, but it’s a bit worrying that Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s Italian is improving faster than Marco Carnesecchi’s English.

Hyungmin had heard Carolina’s complaint mixed with worry a while ago, but he shrugged his shoulders.

Marco Carnesecchi’s hopeless English skills were an issue that no one, including Jonathan Landress, who had led his recruitment, had anticipated, but when you look at his clean sheet record, it doesn’t seem to be a problem on the field.

“Marco! Marco!!”

The tall goalkeeper, who looked back at the technical area at the coach’s call, smiled brightly and raised his thumb back at the coach, who was smiling at him while raising his thumb.

See, everything important gets through, right?