Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 49

Hyungmin, after glancing at Nicolas Seiwald and Hannibal Mejbri in the kitchen, wore a strange expression, declined the dinner invitation, and quickly left the accommodation.

The two new recruits tilted their heads in bewilderment at the manager’s hasty departure, who simply said he would see them the next day.

Nico Gonzalez and Oscar Mingueza, barely settled into their rooms, were invited to dinner by the other loanees before they even had a chance to unpack properly.

In a corner of the living room at the end of the long hallway, a large TV and game console sat beside an old sofa. Nearby, several birthday candles, seemingly scavenged from various places, illuminated the food on an antique-looking table.

Of course, the chairs were mismatched and haphazardly arranged.

Having heard stories about hazing, bullying, and initiation rituals from Barcelona’s first team veterans, the two young Spaniards arrived in the English countryside with considerable apprehension, only to be met with unexpected hospitality, leaving them both bewildered and relieved.

Then, as the meal began, a realization dawned:

“Ah, they’re just trying to poison us.”

The existing loanees, after tasting the unidentified dish cooked by Hannibal Mejbri, who insisted it was Southern European cuisine, actively yielded (read: coerced) the dish to the ‘new friends who had just arrived from distant Spain,’ while they themselves only ate Nicolas Seiwald’s half-burnt sausages and microwaved macaroni and cheese.

Jacob Ramsey, who had vowed internally never to eat anything cooked by Hannibal Mejbri again after just one bite, watched the newcomers’ pained expressions and asked Hannibal, who wore a proud look,

“Hey, that thing. Did you actually cook it properly?”

“Of course! It’s my mom’s special recipe!”

“Then, did you try eating it after you cooked it?”

“No? Do I have to eat what I cook?”

Was that innocent expression genuine, or a treacherous pretense hiding sinister intent?

Jacob Ramsey, watching Hannibal Mejbri happily cutting the least burnt part of Nicolas Seiwald’s sausage and eating it with a fork, pondered for a moment before deciding to simply offer his condolences to the newcomers in his heart.

***

Was it the new bed?

Was it the excitement and fear of joining a new club?

Or was it simply severe indigestion and stomach pain?

Nico Gonzalez and Oscar Mingueza, having barely slept, followed the existing loanees to Burnley Football Club’s 자랑스러운 [boastful/proud in Korean] Barnfield Training Centre with hazy minds the next morning.

Of course, there was no car provided by the club.

No, not even a single bicycle. The six young men walked together along the River Calder, which flowed beside the training ground.

The walk from the accommodation to the training ground took less than 10 minutes, but the fierce, biting wind blowing from the River Calder left the natives of southern Spain, accustomed to a mild Mediterranean climate even in winter, feeling mentally and physically battered by the time they arrived.

Fortunately, the Barnfield Training Centre, which they had approached bracing themselves for a disaster similar to their accommodation, was filled with state-of-the-art facilities.

There was even a full-size, regulation football field inside that was completely windproof and insulated!

The two loanees, sheltered from the cold wind and rain of northwest England, stood on the grass with underfloor heating and warm lighting, and as they placed the football at their feet, they smiled at each other with a sense of relief, as if they had finally found their place.

“Aish··· This time, it’s also a monster···,” Maxwel Cornet muttered in a thick French accent as he watched the new loanees mingling with the existing players during the morning training session.

Captain Ben Mee, standing next to him, sighed. “That bastard Jack··· There was a reason he ran away···. Experiencing football in another country, my ass. He just didn’t want to see this again!”

Barcelona is considered the best in the world when it comes to ball control.

The two youth academy players, carefully nurtured by Barcelona, immediately participated in Hyungmin’s short passing drills as if they were used to it.

Midfielder Nico Gonzalez was one thing.

The veterans could only sigh as they watched defender Oscar Mingueza, who passed even better than Burnley’s veteran midfielders, except for Josh Brownhill.

While Karim Adeyemi, Hannibal Mejbri, and Nicolas Seiwald had shocked the existing players with their outstanding abilities, Nico Gonzalez and Oscar Mingueza provided a different kind of shock simply by looking comfortable throughout the training session.

Whether the ball came from here or there.

Whether the ball was low or high.

Whether it arrived rolling on the grass or bouncing as if it had been rolled over a gravel field.

The two young Spanish players weren’t particularly surprised; receiving it was natural, and returning it was even more so.

Of course, maintaining the 5-meter distance set by Hyungmin was no problem at all.

“Hey, these guys will hardly ever have to pay fines, right?” Captain Ben Mee said, draping his arm over Jacob Ramsey’s shoulder as he watched the training.

Jacob Ramsey, who had to return about a month’s worth of wages to the club during the first half of the season due to fines, could only sigh.

***

Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had lost 0-2 at home in the first half of the season.

On New Year’s Day, Wolverhampton’s manager Bruno Lage came out with a firm resolve.

When they had faced Burnley in the first half of the season, Burnley had been on a perfect run of form, winning 7 and drawing 1 of their previous 8 games, but this time it would be different.

Wolverhampton was on a roll, with 4 wins and 1 draw in their last 5 games, while Burnley had received a dismal report card with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses in 8 games in December, and their momentum had waned.

The young Portuguese manager, who had raised his team’s performance to 8th in the league, arrived fully prepared to defeat 6th-placed Burnley at Turf Moor and rise to 7th, and Wolverhampton’s squad was determined to avenge their previous defeat.

“Goal! Wolverhampton’s number 11, Francisco Trincão, scores the first goal.”

The Burnley home team bench audibly clicked their tongues at the stadium announcer’s calm voice announcing Wolverhampton’s opening goal in the 22nd minute of the first half.

“Ah, he’s still good, as expected,” Nico Gonzalez muttered as he watched his teammate, who had been loaned from Barcelona to Wolverhampton, from the bench.

Jacob Ramsey, sitting next to him, asked, “Was he always this good? In Barcelona?”

Oscar Mingueza, sitting on the opposite side, tilted his head slightly. “He’s good, but···. He played quite a few games in the first team last year, but he didn’t get along well with the manager. I mean, not with Xavi [Barcelona’s current manager], but with our previous manager. Manager Koeman. Still, everyone was a bit surprised when he said he was going on loan. We definitely thought he would be an asset to the team.”

“Wasn’t it more of a financial issue than a matter of skill? All the veterans had their wages cut at the beginning of this season, and it was a mess,” Nico Gonzalez interjected.

“Maybe? Gerard – I mean, Pique [Barcelona defender] – was depressed for a while because his wages were cut so much.”

“Hey, even if they were cut, they still get paid a lot more than us,” one of the other young loanees listening to Nico Gonzalez’s words said, and even Nathan Collins, who was sitting at the end of the bench, nodded in agreement.

“You kids, focus on the game,” Veteran Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson said, without taking his eyes off the field, as he sat next to them with his arms crossed.

As the bench fell silent again at the veteran’s rebuke, Hyungmin, with his arms crossed, returned to the bench in the home team’s technical area and was sharing his opinions with assistant coach Arthur.

“It seems like manager Bruno Lage came out with a firm resolve, doesn’t it?”

“He has every reason to. He was completely defeated at home last time. They must be feeling good with their momentum. Our tactics have all been exposed too.”

“Hmm···.”

Now, Burnley’s tactics have been almost completely exposed!

This was the unanimous opinion of all the media, pundits, and self-proclaimed experts.

Depending on the team’s composition, they would either solidify their defensive posture and strike with a counterattack.

Or, if they were confident, they could engage in a head-on battle, clashing pressure against pressure, speed against speed, and then overwhelm the opponent.

In Burnley, the only players who can actually develop a proper attack with passes alone are center-back James Tarkowski, central midfielder Josh Brownhill, and Hannibal Mejbri.

James Tarkowski rarely advances directly into the attacking zone, and Hannibal Mejbri makes movements to penetrate into the penalty box, so Burnley’s attack can be mostly restricted by blocking Josh Brownhill in the center, which has already been fully exposed.

In fact, manager Bruno Lage, who came out with a 3-4-3 formation, assigned Diogo Gonçalves, the right wing-back among Rayan Aït-Nouri and Diogo Gonçalves, to exclusively defend Josh Brownhill, and central midfielders João Moutinho and Rúben Neves took turns cooperating to block Burnley’s attacking development.

In addition, with Chris Wood, who is negotiating personal terms with Newcastle, unable to play, veteran Ashley Barnes is starting as the central striker, reducing the weight of the attack more than usual.

Objectively, they are at a disadvantage in every aspect and have even conceded the first goal, but Hyungmin’s expression was calm.

“You’re getting good at managing your expressions now, aren’t you?” Arthur teased the young manager, and Hyungmin chuckled.

“It’s not that I’m managing my expression, it’s just that I feel reassured. Anyway, we have more cards that are difficult for the opponent to deal with, whether they know about them or not.”

“Well···. I don’t know about anything else, but their skills are definitely solid.”

The Burnley manager and assistant coach glanced at the home team bench at the same time.

Among the young players on the home team who had recently been signed on loan, a young, model student-like Spanish player with a gentle face was sitting there, unable to resist starting a conversation again.

“When are you going to bring him out?”

“In the second half. I have to let them enjoy the joy of being ahead until halftime.”

Arthur clicked his tongue at the manager’s calm tone, but he couldn’t hide the grin on his face either.

“You have a bad personality when you think about it. Hehehe.”

“Well, they’re the opposing team, why should I go easy on them? Hehehe.”

Nico Gonzalez, who was watching the manager and assistant coach sharing sinister smiles from the home team bench behind them, tilted his head in bewilderment at the sudden chill and pulled the zipper of his training suit up more securely.

Should I have worn another vest? The English winter is definitely cold.

Nico Gonzalez muttered to himself, completely unaware.