Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 51

51. The Beginning of a Leap

The afternoon after Burnley defeated Wolverhampton at home.

On a rare Sunday without a game, after the players and staff finished their morning recovery training, a welcome visitor came to find Hyungmin at Burnley’s quiet Barnfield Training Centre.

“Jesse! I didn’t expect you to come!”

“I’m unemployed, remember? Haha!”

Bursting into a hearty laugh, shaking hands and hugging Hyungmin was Jesse Marsch, the American coach who had previously managed RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig and was currently without a job.

“Where are Kim and the kids?”

“I told my wife and kids to go sightseeing and shopping in Manchester. According to Google Maps, there’s really nothing in Burnley.”

“We have a McDonald’s. And a Starbucks!”

“One each?”

“Hehe…”

Hyungmin chuckled at Jesse Marsch’s teasing, who was familiar with the situation of rural clubs.

The two of them took a brief tour of Burnley Football Club’s facilities and even had dinner together from the only restaurant that delivered to Barnfield, though the exact origin of the cuisine was unknown (it was called Asian fusion, so curry and rice noodles were understandable, but they also sold dumplings and fried rice of unknown origin). As the darkness of the northwest of England, where the sun sets early, fell over the training ground, Hyungmin and Jesse Marsch sat side by side on the sofa, sharing half a bottle of whiskey found somewhere in Hyungmin’s office, and watched the game on the large screen.

“Wow, that’s really amazing!”

Jesse Marsch exclaimed, watching the Leeds players running like crazy on the screen.

Hyungmin could see that his former boss was figuring out how to implement such insane pressing [a tactical approach where players aggressively pressure opponents to win back possession] in his own team, or how to respond in the opposite situation.

As the movements of the white figures moving tirelessly on the green grass for 90 minutes and the crimson figures responding to them finally stopped, Hyungmin turned off the screen and sighed.

“Yeah, well… to be honest, my response was clumsy.”

“No, this is great.”

Jesse Marsch shook his head, denying Hyungmin’s self-reproach.

“You took over the team without even having a pre-season together, right? You’re imposing a completely different style from the previous manager in the middle of the season, and you’ve reached this level in three months, which is amazing.”

Jesse Marsch took a sip of whiskey and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Hooah. This whiskey is really good. Anyway, it must have helped a little that there were guys like Nikki and Karim who were familiar with the system. And the response in the second half was excellent. You weren’t sure if the players could keep up if you changed it in the middle of the first half, were you?”

Hyungmin shrugged.

“Well, they’re already adapting to a new tactic and formation, so it was difficult to make such a big change while they were playing. Rather, after the first half, Nikki was replaced by Jack, I mean Jack Cork, due to the risk of injury, which reduced mobility in the center. It actually helped to switch to a passing game.”

“I see. Good response. The game definitely got more boring in the second half. Haha!”

Jesse Marsch hit Hyungmin on the back and burst into laughter.

Sipping the whiskey in his glass, Jesse Marsch asked playfully.

“By the way, how does it feel to face ‘that person’?”

“That person?”

“I mean Bielsa. We’re Bielsa-ism’s Rangnick faction believers! He’s practically our spiritual leader.”

Hyungmin chuckled at Jesse Marsch’s exaggerated expression.

“Well…”

“So how was it?”

“Really El Loco [Bielsa’s nickname, meaning ‘The Crazy One’]. All I can say is he’s crazy.”

“Right? He’s all-in on pressing. If you get caught up in it… you’re just screwed. Try to get out if you can, something like that.”

“But next time we meet, I won’t be defeated so helplessly.”

Jesse Marsch leaned back on the sofa, watching Hyungmin, who was determinedly vowing to himself in his drunken state, and smiled.

“Yeah. That’s what football is. The most important thing among unimportant things.”

Jesse Marsch, who emptied his whiskey glass and poured a new one, said.

“I envy you.”

“Me?”

“Ah, envy is not the right expression. Hmm… challenged, I guess? Anyway, unlike me, you were suddenly pushed into the manager position in the best league in the world, but you’re doing a great job.”

“Um…”

Jesse Marsch burst into laughter at Hyungmin’s apologetic expression.

“You don’t have to feel sorry for me! Leipzig just wasn’t the right fit for me. Next time, I have to do as well as you. Next time, let’s respond as well and flexibly as Kim, that’s all I’m thinking.”

Watching his former boss, who was speaking heartily and emptying his full glass in one go, Hyungmin checked the whiskey bottle, which was already showing its bottom.

He didn’t have much tolerance for alcohol, so it was clear that Jesse Marsch had drunk almost half the bottle of whiskey.

“Um… Jesse, I think you’re a little drunk?”

“…”

Hyungmin was horrified to see his former boss fall asleep in front of him.

We’re both dead to Kim now.

The night before, Hyungmin explained in detail to Jesse’s wife via text and phone, appeased her, and sweated profusely at her blatant implication that he would be in trouble the next time they met for ruining this family vacation plan.

The next morning, Hyungmin, who had heard Jesse Marsch kneeling and begging to his angry wife over the phone, had a haggard face as he finished breakfast with Jesse Marsch at the club restaurant.

Unlike Hyungmin, whose face was still pale, Jesse Marsch, as if he had already shaken off all the alcohol he had drunk the day before, had a healthy complexion as he finished his hearty breakfast.

“Your training ground food isn’t bad for England.”

“If the food here is bad, all the foreign players will run away. Helena usually tells them to pay attention.”

“Ah, that American owner?”

“Jesse, you’re American too, aren’t you?”

“Hehe. That’s right.”

Hyungmin asked Jesse Marsch, who was chuckling and pouring coffee.

“So what’s your next schedule?”

“Victor Orta found out I was in England and told me to come visit Leeds. I’ve always told him I wanted to meet Bielsa.”

Hyungmin was slightly surprised that Jesse Marsch knew Victor Orta, the football director of Leeds United.

“When did you meet Victor Orta?”

“I don’t remember exactly, but I think it’s been a few years? It was a little after Bielsa was appointed to Leeds.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jesse Marsch, who smiled and shook hands with Hyungmin in farewell, asked as if he suddenly remembered something as he was about to leave the training ground.

“So, how do I get from Burnley to Leeds?”

Hyungmin blinked at Jesse Marsch’s sudden question.

“Um… I just take the club bus. Actually, I haven’t even been to Manchester since I came to Burnley.”

“….?!”

Jesse Marsch, frustrated by the explanation of the young manager who had been in England for six months but could barely remember the location of the local bus stop, finally had to go to Arthur’s office, a native of Burnley, to get detailed directions before he could leave.

***

The English FA Cup is a tournament with the symbolism of being the oldest football competition in the world.

First held in the 1871/72 season, the tournament, now in its 151st year, is open to all clubs in England, even those in the 10th tier, and in the 2011/12 season, a record 763 clubs participated.

The entry point varies depending on the league, with clubs in the Premier League and Championship, the 1st and 2nd leagues respectively, entering at the 3rd round (but from the perspective of a 10th tier team, after playing eight tournament matches).

Basically, if a top league team plays a lower league team, the match is scheduled as a home game for the lower league team.

Therefore, for lower league teams, it is a good opportunity to see glamorous players that fans don’t normally see at their home stadium and to earn some extra revenue.

However, most top league clubs considered the cup competition a good opportunity to rotate promising and reserve players, and Hyungmin’s Burnley was no different.

So, although they had been a bit sluggish recently, the Cambridge home fans, from the 3rd tier, who were facing Burnley, who were causing a sensation in the Premier League and recording 6th place, filled the small 8,000-seat stadium and cheered for their club.

The Cambridge manager and players chose to put on a passionate attacking game for the home fans and die gloriously, rather than passively defending and suffering a miserable defeat in the overwhelming disadvantage, and Hyungmin and Burnley’s players properly met their expectations.

“Goal! In the 22nd minute of the first half, Burnley’s number 7, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, scores Burnley’s first goal!”

Although his team had conceded a goal, the stadium announcer, excited by the exciting game unfolding before his eyes, shouted loudly, and the stadium was buzzing with jeers at the Burnley players running to the corner flag to celebrate their goal and encouragement for the home team that had conceded.

“Johann is in great form these days?”

Arthur muttered, watching the veteran winger celebrating his goal with his teammates.

“He saved a lot of energy during the first half of the season. If Johann and Max can adjust their pace well in the second half, it will definitely make things a lot easier for us.”

For the FA Cup, Hyungmin formed a lineup centered on non-starters and reserve players.

The goalkeeper was Wayne Hennessey, who was fixed as a substitute, with Nick Pope, the fixed starter, given a vacation, and Will Norris, the third goalkeeper, was on the bench.

The defense was completely changed, from right to left, Connor Roberts, Nathan Collins, Ben Mee.

In particular, Oscar Mingueza, who had newly joined, was playing his debut game for Burnley as a left-back.

In the central midfield, Josh Brownhill, who had been overworked by playing in every game during the first half of the season, was finally given a rest, with Nico Gonzalez, Jacob Ramsey, and Hannibal Mejbri arranged in a reverse triangle.

In the attack, Ashley Barnes, who showed off his power in the last game against Wolverhampton, returned to the bench, with Jay Rodriguez, who had finally shaken off the minor injuries that had plagued him throughout the first half, in the center, and Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Maxwel Cornet on the left and right respectively.

Against a lower league team several levels below, Hyungmin did not care about the balance of the midfield and threw in a large number of offensive players, and Burnley’s players met his expectations and flocked to the opponent’s penalty box.