Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 67

67: Just Push Forward

Without the ball, you can’t attack, and without attacking, you can’t score.

Chelsea perfectly executed this fundamental philosophy of tiki-taka [a style of play characterized by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels] on the field.

Originally, Chelsea’s formation at the start of the game was 4-4-2.

The goalkeeper was their main player, Édouard Mendy.

The defense, Chelsea’s pride and joy from their youth academy, consisted of Reece James starting on the right, followed by Antonio Rüdiger, Thiago Silva, and Ben Chilwell.

The midfield had Saúl Ñíguez, on loan from Atlético Madrid, on the far right, with N’Golo Kanté, Mason Mount, and Christian Pulisic in order.

The forwards were Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku.

However, after scoring the first goal, Chelsea’s formation shifted to 3-3-3-1.

The defensive midfielder, N’Golo Kanté, dropped back to form a back three between the central defenders Antonio Rüdiger and Thiago Silva.

The right defender, Reece James, and the left defender, Ben Chilwell, pushed up into more aggressive positions, lining up alongside the right midfielder Saúl Ñíguez, who cut inside, forming a line of three in midfield.

Ahead of them, the central midfielder Mason Mount positioned himself between the forward Kai Havertz, who drifted to the right, and the left midfielder Christian Pulisic, who pushed up from the left, creating a second line in midfield.

With Romelu Lukaku pinning down Burnley’s defense with his constant forward movement, Chelsea’s nine outfield players comfortably circulated the ball while maintaining a square formation in the larger scheme.

From Burnley’s perspective, they already had a long way to go, and Chelsea kept passing the ball back to goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, showing no urgency and forcing Burnley’s players to constantly expend energy.

“Tch.”

Hyeongmin, standing in the technical area with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue as he watched the game.

Just now, Burnley’s players attempted a full press with one-on-one marking, but with Burnley’s central defenders James Tarkowski and Ben Mee tied up by Chelsea’s central striker Romelu Lukaku, Burnley was short one player, making it 9 against 8.

On top of that, since Chelsea’s goalkeeper Édouard Mendy could also participate in the passing game, effectively two Chelsea players were always free from pressure.

Hyeongmin watched as Chelsea’s players smoothly escaped Burnley’s pressure by circulating the ball through goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and central defender Thiago Silva, and he rested his chin in his hand, deep in thought.

He wasn’t too concerned about conceding a goal after quickly receiving three yellow cards and giving away a penalty kick.

Of course, he needed to warn the players not to get too caught up in the opponent’s provocations.

Chelsea had struggled at the beginning of the season, falling to 10th place and dismissing coach Thomas Tuchel, but after Zinédine Zidane took over, they steadily climbed the ranks, and with Manchester United and Burnley drawing, they secured a victory and rose to 5th place.

Given their recent momentum, he never expected it to be easy against a strong team that had even won the European Champions League last season.

Moreover, with the club recently facing sanctions, there was a tendency for the players to become even more united internally.

Rather, the problem that troubled Hyeongmin was that Burnley currently didn’t have the means to disrupt the smooth passing game that Zinédine Zidane had instilled in the team.

He never imagined that the absence of Nicolas Seiwald, who usually covered the ground of two or three players with his overwhelming activity and defensive ability in pressing situations, would be so significant.

Nico Gonzalez, who started in his place today, wasn’t a bad defender, but he couldn’t compare to Nicolas Seiwald’s insane work rate.

Of all days, Chelsea had to come up with this tactic on the very day that Burnley’s midfield linchpin was out of position.

“Or did they plan this on purpose…?”

“What?”

Arthur asked, hearing Hyeongmin’s mutterings.

“Coach Zinédine Zidane, I mean. Do you think he knew that Niki was out injured today and came up with this tactic?”

“Hmm… maybe. If he’s a coach who’s won three consecutive European Champions League titles and two La Liga titles [the top Spanish professional football division], he’s practically a monster. He was the best as a player too, truly amazing.”

He was leading a strong team, but he didn’t let his guard down, and the moment the opposing team’s weakness was exposed, he exploited it with his strengths.

Hyeongmin felt a renewed sense of respect for the opposing team’s coach, who had achieved such great feats, yet didn’t hesitate to impose his tactical flexibility on the proud Chelsea players, regardless of his own pride.

Well, that doesn’t mean he could just lie down and take it.

After halftime.

Burnley’s players disregarded defense and charged at Chelsea’s players one-on-one.

The possession rate in the first half had finally tilted to 70 to 30, and with the existing method, Burnley’s energy consumption was faster, so the possibility of stealing the ball and launching a counterattack became increasingly slim over time.

Whether they lose 1-0 or 10-0, the result is the same!

Rather, regardless of the means or methods, steal the opposing team’s ball and launch a counterattack!

Burnley’s players received Hyeongmin’s clear instructions, who assured them that he would take responsibility for any goals conceded due to the counterattacks.

With captain Ben Mee single-handedly containing Chelsea’s central striker Romelu Lukaku, they engaged in one-on-one battles with Chelsea’s players all over the field.

Our coach always keeps his promises, no matter what.

Having shed the burden of defense, Burnley’s players threw themselves fiercely to score the equalizer within the first 15 minutes of the second half, as instructed by the coach.

To even skip the midfield development, Josh Brownhill was replaced with Hannibal Mejbri, who had better mobility and activity.

If they steal the ball, that person directly pokes it forward, and the remaining players penetrate!

Chelsea’s players were taken aback by the drastically changed tone of Burnley’s players after the first half, and Hyeongmin’s tactical changes bore fruit.

“Uwaaaa!!!”

59 minutes into the second half.

Chelsea conceded a corner kick while defending against Burnley’s fierce counterattack.

Óscar Mingueza, who succeeded in heading in the hard-earned corner kick, clenched both fists inside Chelsea’s penalty box and roared.

But he wasn’t just roaring; he deliberately ran towards Chelsea’s central striker Romelu Lukaku, the very person who had been the target of his penalty kick in the first half, and roared in his face.

“Hey! Hey! Get that bastard over here!”

Burnley’s captain Ben Mee, who had been blankly watching the situation with a sense of disbelief, shouted at Nico Gonzalez and Jacob Ramsey, who were standing next to Óscar Mingueza, looking bewildered, as cold sweat ran down his back.

What is that crazy bastard thinking, doing something like that when he already has a yellow card from the first half?!

Anxious that the referee might be watching this spectacle, captain Ben Mee looked around, and his eyes met those of their young coach, who was watching the field with a cold, expressionless face, arms crossed, despite the equalizing goal.

If they collect yellow cards like that in the second half, he might line up all the water bottles they have after the game and make them kick them.

“Hey! Get him over here! Quickly!”

One of the two players standing next to him simply hugged Óscar Mingueza from behind and pulled his teammate back.

The other squeezed between Óscar Mingueza and Romelu Lukaku, who was making an absurd expression, and pushed his still-roaring teammate back. Burnley’s captain let out a short sigh of relief as he confirmed the scene.

Now, it’s more scary to be seen by our coach than by the referee.

It was a sunny spring day in England, but Ben Mee muttered inwardly as he wiped the cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

***

[Ah, this game was really enjoyable.]

Late at night.

The broadcast, after all the news, was reviewing each of the Premier League [the highest level of the English football league system] games that had taken place that day.

When the game between Chelsea and Burnley came on, the panelists all participated in the conversation with delighted expressions.

[Chelsea’s coach Zinédine Zidane properly exploited Burnley’s weaknesses after confirming that Burnley’s defensive midfielder Nicolas Seiwald was out.]

[Especially after the first goal, Chelsea played tiki-taka throughout the first half… For a moment, I got goosebumps all over my body, wondering if Pep Guardiola had been appointed as Chelsea’s coach.]

As they watched the highlights of the game, one of the panelists pointed out, and another panelist from Manchester City joked.

Joyful laughter flowed among the panelists.

[On the other hand, Burnley’s coach Kim also responded brilliantly in the second half. Look, as soon as the second half starts, they give up on defense and go all-in on pressing.]

[It was really a courageous decision from coach Kim’s perspective. I could feel his determination to aim for an equalizer, even at the risk of conceding 10 goals rather than losing by a 1-goal difference.]

All the panelists with coaching experience nodded their heads.

[Frankly, from a coach’s perspective, you can’t help but worry about your position in that situation. If you lose by a 1-goal difference against a strong team, you might even receive praise for putting up a good fight, but if you suffer a heavy defeat, the pressure from the fans will intensify, and you’ll have no choice but to be mindful of the board and management.]

[Thinking about it that way, Burnley’s coach Kim doesn’t seem to care about such things. Honestly, even in his first game as interim coach, against Everton, wasn’t it? He didn’t need to change coach Sean Dyche’s tactics, but he pushed forward with the way he thought, and he achieved good results.]

The panelists, who had been watching the highlights, all sighed in unison as they saw the scene where Chelsea scored again.

[This must have been very disappointing for Burnley’s coach Kim. Although they managed to score the equalizer, they couldn’t maintain that intensity of pressing throughout the second half, so they reorganized their defense, but it wasn’t enough to stop Chelsea.]

[Objectively, Burnley’s strength is far below Chelsea’s. Chelsea was also in good form recently, and it seems they would have been disappointed to draw at home. In the end, Zinédine Zidane, who could continue to bring in players to strengthen the attack from his deep bench, took the victory.]

[Certainly, the three yellow cards that Burnley collected in the second half were unavoidable in defensive situations, but even so, they failed to draw the game.]

As the panelists’ discussion came to an end, the host displayed the standings on the screen.

[Anyway, Burnley has shattered all expectations from the beginning of the season and is currently in 6th place in the league. Today’s defeat against Chelsea is also their first defeat in 2022. With this, I’m really curious if we’ll be able to see Burnley in European competitions next season.]