Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 66

“Nico!”

Hyungmin called out toward Burnley’s bench, where Nico was watching the conceded goal with a gloomy expression.

“Yes!”

“Get ready to come on quickly! It’s a substitution!”

As Burnley’s bench became chaotic, Arthur quickly confirmed the substitution target with Hyungmin.

“Jacob?”

“Yes. Quickly, make the substitution before the kickoff.”

While Arthur ran to the fourth official and Nico Gonzalez, with the help of his teammates, threw off his training suit and hurriedly warmed up, Hyungmin moved toward the young Spanish player.

“What should I do?”

“Now that we’ve seized the advantage, Manchester United will solidify their defense and focus on counterattacks.”

As Hyungmin explained, the Manchester United bench could be seen bustling over Nico’s shoulder.

Sure enough, Marcus Rashford, the young English national team striker that Manchester United boasts, was warming up.

The substitution target is probably Edinson Cavani, who started as the central striker.

It’s a move to increase the speed of counterattacks by using the speed and stamina of a young striker rather than the excellent movement of an experienced striker.

Nico Gonzalez, who also glanced back to check the movements of the Manchester United bench, looked at Hyungmin again.

“If they solidify their defense, it will be difficult to break through or penetrate. First of all, there are four players who can play as central defenders, and Fred and Fausto Vera will also drop back to defend.”

The situation is similar to the match against Manchester United in the first half, but this time, Burnley is at a greater disadvantage because they have the upper hand and the offense and defense are separated.

Manchester United only needs to defend, while Burnley needs to avoid conceding any more goals and succeed in scoring an additional goal.

“Don’t penetrate into the penalty box, but supply the ball outside and look for opportunities. It’s also okay to take long-range shots to draw out their defense.”

“Any other instructions?”

“I’ll talk to him again, but tell Wout not to come out of their penalty box at all, except when he’s pushed out to the offside line. It’ll be easier to attack if Wout holds one or two defenders.”

“Yes, I’ll tell him. Are there any other instructions?”

Hyungmin shook his head at the young player who was waiting for his instructions with a serious expression.

He’s still young, but he has a good physique, good skills, and even an excellent understanding of tactics.

As soon as the manager’s instructions were finished, the head coach Arthur called him from next to the fourth official, and the young Barcelona youth academy graduate ran to the sidelines for the substitution.

The substitution board was raised, and Jacob Ramsey ran toward the sidelines at full speed to replace Nico Gonzalez.

Hyungmin, who patted Jacob Ramsey on the shoulder with encouragement for his hard work, stood in the technical area again and muttered while watching the game resume.

“I’m jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Of Nico.”

Perhaps sensing something from Hyungmin’s tone.

Burnley’s experienced head coach looked at the manager, who was starting to be considered the best young manager in the Premier League at the moment, and asked.

“Are you speaking as a manager, or as a player?”

Hyungmin didn’t answer the head coach’s sharp question and looked at the stadium.

***

In October 2021, Russia claimed its territorial rights and deployed troops to the border, creating tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Eventually, on February 24, 2022, at dawn, Russia invaded Ukraine, and war broke out.

At first, this situation only had an indirect impact on the football world.

Each club and fan issued statements condemning the war and Russia, which triggered the war, comforted Ukrainian players, or publicly expressed support for Ukrainians invaded by Russia.

The impact of the war, which had less impact on the football world than the COVID-19 situation, where dozens of games had to be played without spectators, began to intensify in the British football world as the British government began to sanction various tycoons and figures related to Russia.

Initially, Alisher Usmanov, the co-owner of Everton, and the sponsorship of Russian companies for several football teams were rejected or withdrawn. Finally, on Thursday, March 10, 2022, the turning point that people had cautiously predicted was reached.

As part of comprehensive sanctions against Russian political and business figures, sanctions were imposed on Chelsea Football Club, owned by Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea.

Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch known to be close to Russian President Putin, had already tried to transfer the management rights of the club to the board of directors of the Chelsea Foundation on February 26, immediately after the outbreak of the war, but was rejected for legal reasons.

In early March, a week later, he took measures to forgive the £1.5 billion debt he had lent to Chelsea Football Club without interest and sell the club, but the British government’s position was even more firm.

If the sale is not completed by May 31, 2022, Chelsea Football Club’s license will be revoked or corresponding sanctions will be imposed.

Eventually, as owner Roman Abramovich declared that he would donate all of the proceeds from the sale of the club to victims of the war in Ukraine, a dark shadow was cast over Chelsea, who had built the most enviable squad in the Premier League and lifted 17 major trophies, including five Premier League titles, over the past 18 seasons.

Nevertheless, Chelsea Football Club manager Zinedine Zidane and the squad declared their commitment to do their best in every game for the fans.

***

A week after the game against Manchester United, in which they scored two equalizing goals and drew dramatically.

Burnley visited Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home stadium, for the Premier League 29th round game, with the atmosphere in disarray due to sanctions against the owner.

The game played at Turf Moor [Burnley’s home stadium] in the first half was a game in which as many as 10 yellow cards were handed out, and both teams were disciplined by the Premier League Secretariat.

With Nicolas Seiwald, who had finally collapsed due to the accumulation of appearances and fatigue, out injured, Hyungmin, who had lost the shield of the midfield, looked around at his players waiting for the start of the game in the locker room with a solemn face.

“I’ll say it again, be prepared if you get provoked by Chelsea again.”

At the manager’s serious threat, the players subtly checked to see if there were any water bottles or other objects rolling around on the floor and listened with attentive expressions.

“Since it’s Stamford Bridge, I don’t think the other team will engage in such childish provocations, but since Nicky isn’t here today, the defense line may be looser than usual. Nico will defend well, but I want Brownie and Jacob to pay more attention to defense than usual.”

Nico Gonzalez, Josh Brownhill, and Jacob Ramsey, who were starting, all nodded.

Hyungmin looked around at the players and sighed inwardly.

Even if the game interval has become more relaxed, Burnley’s thin squad will not be solved immediately.

In addition to Nicolas Seiwald, who is out due to injury due to accumulated fatigue, left-back Charlie Taylor is also unable to play today due to minor injuries.

Hyungmin was considering two central defenders who could play as left-backs, but after much deliberation, he decided to start Oscar Mingueza, who had joined at the end of January and had worked with the team members for at least a month, as the left-back rather than Abdou Diallo.

Looking back after everything was over, it was a meaningless worry.

Beep!

“What?! Why?!”

Oscar Mingueza, who was making a bewildered expression at the referee’s whistle, expressed fierce anger at the referee’s gesture pointing at him and then pointing at the penalty mark.

“F***! Does that make sense?! That big guy being pushed over by me?!”

Oscar Mingueza started running toward the referee and protesting fiercely.

Right before that moment.

Oscar Mingueza, who started as Burnley’s left-back, was competing with Chelsea’s central striker Romelu Lukaku, who had penetrated into the penalty box, to stop him, when Lukaku fell.

Oscar Mingueza fiercely protested, saying that it didn’t make sense for a huge man of 191 cm and 101 kg to be pushed over by him, who was only 180 cm tall, while the Chelsea players who had won a penalty kick against a formidable opponent were gleeful.

Whether to protest with the referee or to stop Oscar Mingueza, who was protesting as if he was about to grab the referee’s collar.

While Burnley’s captain Ben Mee and the rest of the Burnley players hesitated, the referee presented a yellow card to Oscar Mingueza, who was protesting fiercely.

24th minute of the first half.

Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku succeeded in scoring the penalty kick he had won, and Chelsea took the lead by one goal. Unlike the first half, ‘that’ game, which provided the opportunity for only one team to be disciplined by the Premier League Secretariat after the game and for Burnley to fall to the bottom of the Premier League Fair Play award list, began.

Beep!

“What the F***! Did these X eat anything before coming out here?!”

Burnley’s central defender James Tarkowski spat out a mixture of anger and helplessness as he looked at Nico Gonzalez, who was making an absurd expression next to Chelsea’s striker Kai Havertz, who was lying on the ground.

Oscar Mingueza in the 24th minute of the first half.

James Tarkowski in the 26th minute of the first half.

Nico Gonzalez in the 27th minute of the first half.

Having grasped the tendency of the referee, who blew the whistle as soon as any rough defensive behavior came out, as if he had received a word from the Premier League Secretariat, the Chelsea players were choosing to throw themselves onto the ground whenever there was contact without competing.

These days, if you dive recklessly because of VAR [Video Assistant Referee], you can be caught in the game or even be disciplined after the game.

Therefore, Chelsea players only fall down when there is actual contact, and thanks to this, the Burnley players, who have already had a long way to go, started to feel frustrated as they collected three yellow cards in three minutes in an attempt to steal the ball.

In addition, Chelsea, led by the famous French manager Zinedine Zidane, were hammering Burnley while possessing the ball with an overwhelming possession rate of 60 to 40.

No, the accurate expression may be closer to not hammering but mocking.

Except for central striker Romelu Lukaku, who continued to make threatening movements at the forefront, the rest of the Chelsea players were smoothly passing the ball based on their excellent skills, not giving the Burnley players a chance to counterattack.