Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 31

31. Time of Pain and Endurance

Having completed 10 rounds out of the 38 in the Premier League.

Reaching roughly the quarter mark, Burnley secured a 2-0 victory against West Ham, positioning them in 2nd place, merely 3 points behind the leader, Liverpool.

An impressive record of 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 10 league matches.

The additional 2 wins in the Carabao Cup [a domestic English football cup competition] felt like a bonus.

Furthermore, while accumulating 25 points, they boasted 19 goals scored and only 3 conceded, with a solid goal difference of +16.

The teams currently ranked below Burnley are quite illustrious.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, and others.

Every newspaper, critic, and TV program in England is overflowing with praise for Burnley’s miraculous performance and the young, Asian genius manager who orchestrated it.

However, the man who achieved this feat, lauded by everyone as a miracle, couldn’t shake off his unease.

“Kim, are you alright?”

Was he unknowingly radiating anxiety?

Hyungmin, attending the executive meeting held on Tuesday morning, snapped back to reality at Helena’s worried gaze.

Around him, the other two directors, Technical Director Jonathan Landris, and Head Coach Arthur were also looking at him with concern.

“Is something the matter?”

Hyungmin hesitated, about to shake his head at Helena’s gentle question, but then nodded.

“I’m quite concerned about the last game.”

“The West Ham match? We won 2-0.”

“Yes, but…”

Hyungmin paused, gathering his thoughts to articulate the anxiety he felt.

“Um… how should I put it? We’ve been doing *too* well lately.”

The faces of those in the meeting room showed bewilderment and disbelief, with some subtly smiling at the manager’s worries, but Helena looked at Hyungmin with a serious expression.

“What does that mean?”

“Why is doing well a problem?”

Before Hyungmin could answer Helena’s question, Mike Garrick interjected, sounding puzzled.

Looking at the club’s CEO and the former club owner, Hyungmin struggled to express the discomfort he felt.

“Well… the West Ham game was abnormal. No, not abnormal, but rather a very *normal* response, I suppose?”

Seeing the confused looks, Hyungmin explained.

“West Ham’s manager, David Moyes, came out with a very defensive formation. Although Moyes’ reputation has declined since his time at Manchester United, he is an experienced manager with excellent tactical abilities. He led West Ham, a team with a mid-to-upper tier strength, to 6th place in the league last season, and yet he employed a defensive tactic against us.”

“Oh, maybe Moyes just tends to be defensive?”

“Exactly!”

Hyungmin clapped his hands at Helena’s point.

“If West Ham and Burnley were simply facing each other, it would be normal for Burnley to be defensive and West Ham to be offensive. On the other hand, if West Ham were facing the 2nd-ranked team in the league, it would be normal for West Ham to be defensive and the 2nd-ranked team to be offensive. That’s the normal response.”

“Um… I’m still not sure what that means?”

Helena and the board members remained confused.

Jonathan Landris and Arthur Brimlow, however, were beginning to understand.

“In other words, Manager Moyes didn’t see Burnley as the Burnley of old, but decided to recognize and respond to us as the 2nd-ranked team in the league. He wasn’t temporarily defending to wear us down and then counter-attack to take 3 points, but rather aimed to draw and take 1 point from an away game against the 2nd-ranked team.”

“So, isn’t that proof that we’ve reached a position to be respected?”

Hyungmin sighed at Helena’s question and replied.

“Being respected means they won’t let their guard down anymore. It means they’ve determined that we’re not just a flash in the pan, but a genuinely threatening presence. Now, after the 12 games we’ve played, they have enough data on us, but we haven’t internalized our tactics enough to make many changes during a game.”

The faces of the executives, now fully understanding the manager’s concerns, began to darken.

“In the future, strong teams will impose their style on us, and mid-to-lower tier teams will retreat defensively and fight desperately to take 1 point. In other words, opposing teams will grit their teeth and come up with customized tactics to break down our strategies, but we can’t make tactical changes.”

Hyungmin looked at his colleagues sitting around the conference table with a tense expression.

“It’s going to be quite difficult for a while.”

***

Pep Guardiola, the manager who leads Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola, who grew up in Barcelona’s youth system, one of the absolute top two in the Spanish Primera Liga [Spanish top division football league], was appointed by the Dutch master Johan Cruyff, who took the helm of Barcelona, and established himself as a key player in the ‘Dream Team’ that achieved three consecutive Primera Liga titles at the young age of 19.

After ending his playing career as a legend, Guardiola began his path as a manager, gaining experience while leading Barcelona’s reserve team. In the summer of 2008, at the age of 37, he was suddenly appointed as the manager of Barcelona’s first team.

In his first year as the first team manager, Guardiola won the treble [winning three major trophies in a single season], including the Primera Liga, Copa del Rey [Spanish domestic cup competition], and Champions League. During his four seasons leading Barcelona, he won a total of 14 titles, including four consecutive Primera Liga titles and two Champions League titles.

Afterwards, he won three consecutive German Bundesliga [German top division football league] titles with Bayern Munich and then confirmed his status as a master manager by winning the Premier League three times in the past five seasons with Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s symbol is the so-called ‘tiki-taka’ style, which overwhelms opponents by maintaining an overwhelmingly high possession rate with short passes.

He was praised for perfecting the tiki-taka style, represented by the expression, “If the opponent doesn’t have the ball, they can’t attack, and if the opponent can’t attack, they can’t lose.”

However, what many people misunderstand is that Manchester City, led by Pep Guardiola, only plays well with ‘passes’.

To be precise, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is good at both passing and pressing.

It’s just that they are ‘better’ at passing.

And Hyungmin and Burnley’s players were properly experiencing Manchester City’s passing and pressing.

‘Tiki-taka,’ which is said to have originated from the Spanish onomatopoeia expressing the sound of a table tennis ball going back and forth.

Over the past few months, Burnley’s players have also improved their passing skills by focusing on short passes, but they were no match for Manchester City, who had collected the best players in the world by mobilizing the unlimited financial power of the Abu Dhabi Group.

If they lost the ball, they immediately went into full-frontal pressure, blocking the passing lanes and retaking the ball from Burnley’s players.

After retaking it, rather than quickly launching an attack, they leisurely passed the ball around, exploring the weaknesses in the opposing team’s formation, creating cracks, and then gently putting it into the goal as if they were passing.

6 minutes into the first half.

Burnley’s left winger, Dwight McNeil, attempted to break through with a dribble on the left sideline, but Manchester City’s right defender, Kyle Walker, easily cut him off.

In the brief moment when Burnley’s players couldn’t press or retreat, Kyle Walker exchanged the ball with Manchester City’s right winger, Riyad Mahrez, and defensive midfielder, Fernandinho, who had come down to support him, and leisurely began to develop the attack.

“Phil!”

Manchester City’s Phil Foden, a central striker who also plays as a false nine [a centre forward who drops deep to create chances], received the ball and sprinted along the right sideline.

Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez penetrated into the position of the center forward vacated by Phil Foden.

Up to this point, it was the same as the switching play between Burnley’s central striker Chris Wood and right winger Karim Adeyemi.

“Jack!”

However, Manchester City went one step further.

Phil Foden, who had penetrated the right sideline, sent in a strong cross.

While Burnley’s players, who had gathered in the penalty box to defend, were bewildered, the ball, which had completely crossed the penalty box, was delivered to the feet of Manchester City’s left winger, Jack Grealish, who was waiting on the opposite sideline.

“Julian!”

While Burnley’s players, scattered in all directions to defend the penalty box, were flustered, Jack Grealish crossed again to Manchester City’s defensive midfielder, Julian Weigl, who was positioned in front of the penalty box.

The German Manchester City defensive midfielder, who received the ball, took a shot that gently curved to the right with all the leisure in the world in a no man’s land.

The ball, flying in an elegant curve, passed the fingertips of Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope, who desperately stretched out his hand, and even passed the goal post before falling into the stands.

“Ah!!!”

With the groans of disappointment from the home fans at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium [Manchester City’s home stadium] as background music, Arthur stroked his chest.

“Whew! That took 10 years off my life.”

However, Hyungmin’s face was stiff as he watched Manchester City’s players, who were teasing their young teammate for missing the shot as if they were playing a practice game, return to their own half.

“Today’s game… is going to be incredibly painful.”

The crisis came sooner than Hyungmin had feared.

10 minutes into the first half, Manchester City leisurely entered Burnley’s half and passed the ball around as if they were playing a practice game, occasionally taking shots when they felt like it.

Burnley’s players were quickly tiring from the outstanding ability of the opposing team’s players, who could turn around and escape even in tight spaces or somehow continue the pass.

Not missing the moment when Burnley’s defense briefly lost focus, Manchester City’s ace Kevin De Bruyne, who was passing the ball back and forth inside and outside the penalty box as if it were his own territory, suddenly took a shot.

The spectators, anticipating a goal, stood up all at once, but Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope quickly deflected the ball out with his quick reflexes.

“Ooh!!!”

While the home fans were disappointed, Manchester City was awarded a corner.

Hyungmin muttered as he watched Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez trudging to take the corner kick.

“Guys… let’s defend well!”