Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 68

68: Let’s Just Push Forward

“That just seems like you’re looking too far ahead.”

Could Burnley compete in European competitions next season?

Hyeongmin shook his head as he answered Helena, who was relaying the question that all the media and newspapers had been asking recently.

The two of them, having met at the Banfield Training Center’s cafeteria, were finishing their meal and drinking coffee by a sunny window where the warm spring sunlight streamed in.

“Well, I don’t want to pop the champagne too early either, but I can’t completely ignore thinking about next season.”

Hyeongmin nodded, acknowledging the club’s CEO and financial director’s point.

“What I’m saying is, 6th place is a very precarious position. If we were securely in 4th, even if we slipped a bit, we’d only drop from the Champions League to the Europa League. And if we were in 8th, we could say we wouldn’t make it unless those above us made mistakes.”

Hyeongmin took a sip of his coffee and continued explaining to Helena.

“But 6th place means we have to do well, and no team below us can do better than us. It’s a very unpredictable spot. Considering the current standings, if we lose or draw even one game we should win, we could immediately be pushed down.”

As of the end of the 29th round of the Premier League.

The league table around 6th place, where European competition qualification is at stake, is a battleground.

Burnley, having played 29 Premier League games, is in 6th place with 52 points.

From 1st to 3rd place, as expected before the season, Manchester City and Liverpool are competing fiercely, with Arsenal unexpectedly joining the fray, creating a tight three-way battle for the top spot. Manchester United, having played 29 games, is in 4th place with 61 points.

Below them, Chelsea, who had a miserable first half of the season, is in 5th place with 55 points.

Tottenham, with Antonio Conte as their manager, is in 7th place with 51 points.

Leicester, a traditionally strong team in the mid-table, is in 8th place with 49 points.

Chelsea is somewhat more stable with 55 points, but Burnley, Tottenham, and Leicester are only separated by 1-2 points.

Only one team will survive the thrilling competition for 6th place, where rankings can change in an instant.

Helena, having been briefed on the situation, chuckled and said.

“Then how about just winning all the remaining games?”

Hyeongmin also laughed at the club CEO’s radical suggestion.

“If you give me about 200 million pounds in transfer funds, I’ll give it a try.”

“Ah, unfortunately, that’s not possible. We still haven’t paid off the 10 million pounds in debt.”

The CEO and manager of a small club located in a remote corner of the English countryside, who were considered top candidates for relegation before the season started, chuckled at their shared predicament.

***

While the club’s CEO, financial director, and the manager might be able to laugh at their situation, Jonathan Landris, who is in charge of player recruitment and sales, felt like he was walking on thin ice every moment.

Of course, he chose this job willingly, and if someone asked him if he was honestly enjoying it, he couldn’t readily say no.

And having the opportunity and privilege to completely overhaul a team’s composition according to his vision in a Premier League club is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Of course, the detailed composition needs to be discussed with the manager and the board, but since the broad framework was agreed upon before joining, there’s no need to worry too much.

In fact, everything else is fine, but there are moments when he realizes that the joy of discovering a rough gem and buying it cheaply also includes situations where the gem is judged to be just a stone, or when he can’t buy the desired gem for various reasons.

[…The work permit failed?]

Marcus Solbakken, a Norwegian national who was the top priority for midfield reinforcement in the last management meeting.

He is showing outstanding skills for Viking in the Norwegian first division, but he has not been consistently selected for the Norwegian national team, which boasts arguably its best squad ever.

The club’s administrative team contacted him to say that the work permit application, which he had been worried about, had been rejected as expected.

[…Damn it. When can I apply again next time?]

[…In 120 days? Just asking in case… Ah, right. You know very well there’s no such thing.]

[…Thanks. Good work.]

Jonathan sighed and turned his chair back after hanging up the phone.

On the whiteboard were numerous names and numbers written next to them.

This was the reason why even the cleaning staff couldn’t enter Jonathan’s room located in the Banfield Training Center.

Jonathan sighed and drew a line through the name at the top of the midfielder section on the whiteboard, which was categorized by position.

“Let’s see… who’s next in line…”

Damn it. This guy is more expensive…

Jonathan sighed again at the thought of having another discussion with the club’s board about finances.

***

The FA Cup quarter-final opponent drawn was West Ham, whom they had already faced twice in the Premier League this season.

The game was scheduled at West Ham’s home ground, the London Stadium, but with an aggregate score of 6-0 from the 2-0 in the first half of the season and the 4-0 in the second half, West Ham fans, who had been thoroughly beaten throughout the season, were in despair, and Burnley fans were already in a festive mood.

Subtle voices from inside and outside the club hoped that Burnley would put a little more effort into the FA Cup, but Hyeongmin firmly cut them off.

“The FA Cup? It would be nice to win. But to win the FA Cup, we have to play three more games, and all the teams that have reached the quarter-finals, except for Sheffield Wednesday, are Premier League teams. From our perspective, it’s more of a loss to go all-in on a cup competition where monsters like Manchester City are lurking and risk our Premier League ranking.”

Hyeongmin, who declared that at the club’s management meeting, formed the starting lineup mainly with reserve players as he had promised.

In goal, Wayne Hennessey, who is playing exclusively in cup competitions, replaced Nick Pope, the starting goalkeeper who is showing his best form this season.

The defense line consists of Matt Lowton, Nathan Collins, Ben Mee, and Oscar Mingueza from right to left.

In midfield, with Nicolas Seiwald still recovering from injury, Nico Gonzalez starts as a defensive midfielder, with Hannibal Mejbri and Josh Brownhill making rare starts ahead of him.

Finally, the attack is centered on veteran striker Jay Rodriguez, with Maxwel Cornet and Johann Berg Guðmundsson on the wings.

On the other hand, West Ham, who have fallen to 15th place in the Premier League and are achieving results that make it hard to believe they have secured a place in the Europa League quarter-finals this season, fielded their best possible lineup for this game.

Starting in goal was Łukasz Fabiański, with Ben Johnson, Issa Diop, Craig Dawson, and Levan Kurzawa forming the defense from right to left.

With Declan Rice out injured, Alex Král and Mark Noble, a one-club man and legend of the club who has spent his entire career at West Ham since his youth, are in central midfield.

Ahead of them, the attack consists of Martin Braithwaite, who was signed from Barcelona in the winter transfer market, at the forefront, with Adam Ounas, Pablo Fornals, and Jarrod Bowen forming the second line.

However, compared to West Ham, who were full of energy with their strongest lineup, there was one person on the Burnley side, who were generally calm without much pressure to win or lose, who was particularly burning with passion today.

“Hey, hey, take it easy today.”

Oscar Mingueza, who was standing next to Hannibal Mejbri, who was brimming with energy, said while waiting to greet each other between the two teams as they lined up on the field.

However, the young prospect, who had been given a rare starting opportunity and whose eyes were blazing, didn’t seem to hear his teammate’s words.

“I’m going to show the manager what I can do today. The power of this Hannibal Mejbri!”

“Uh… yeah. Just don’t get sent off.”

Oscar Mingueza, who remembered that he had been sent off in the game against Liverpool in the first half of the season, replied awkwardly, but Hannibal Mejbri pretended to throw an uppercut as if punching an imaginary enemy.

“I’m going to score one goal, no, two goals today!”

*Is he going to be okay today?*

Oscar Mingueza sent a look to veteran striker Jay Rodriguez, who was starting alongside them, over Hannibal Mejbri’s head, who was muttering while looking at the sky.

*Uh, won’t he be okay?*

Jay Rodriguez, who also had an awkward expression, replied to Oscar Mingueza with a look.

Shaking hands with the opposing team players.

Performing a flag ceremony to support Ukraine, which is fighting a war.

Throughout the players kneeling in the center circle as part of a campaign to raise awareness of discrimination.

Hannibal Mejbri’s spirit did not subside.

Then, after the game started, the two players realized.

Ah, no matter how much a person jumps around, they can’t beat what fate has in store.

[Goal! It’s a goal!]

The caster who was broadcasting the FA Cup quarter-final shouted as if he was slightly dumbfounded.

The commentator, who was watching the replay scene closely from the side, said with a hollow expression.

[Honestly, shouldn’t this be seen as a cross that went in wrong rather than a shot?]

[That’s right… but the referee, the assistant referee, and VAR [Video Assistant Referee] are all signaling that there is no problem with the goal.]

In any case, against the backdrop of Burnley players and away fans cheering for the opening goal that was scored and recognized, West Ham players and home fans were looking at each other with blank expressions.

7 minutes into the first half.

Before the full-fledged probing had even begun.

Burnley’s right winger Maxwel Cornet, who had penetrated to the side of West Ham’s penalty box, received a ball played by Burnley’s central midfielder Josh Brownhill from midfield.

Although he denied it vehemently later, it seems that he assessed the West Ham defense, which was densely packed inside the penalty box, and thought that it would be annoying and difficult to attempt a head-on breakthrough with a dribble.

He must have thought that aiming for the head of Burnley’s central striker Jay Rodriguez, who was positioned in the middle of the penalty box, would have a higher probability of success.

Thus, the French national striker, who had joined Burnley last summer transfer market after playing for the prestigious Olympique Lyonnais of the French Ligue 1 [French First Division], sent a high cross into the middle of the penalty box.

The problem is that Maxwel Cornet’s crossing ability, even if described in the most generous way, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Of course, it’s not as serious as Karim Adeyemi, who is completely excluded from both corner kicks and free kicks as a set-piece taker, but it’s more about the ball ending up somewhere near the targeted opponent in a general sense.

But today, he put even more power into it than usual, and the mis-hit ball passed straight through the middle of the penalty box, which was the original target, and flew directly towards the goal.

“Huh? Huh?! Huh?!!!”

While the West Ham defense and home fans, who were tracking the trajectory of the ball, changed their puzzled shouts to astonishment, West Ham goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański threw his whole body towards the upper right in the face of an unexpected sudden crisis.

But it was too late.

While the West Ham goalkeeper, who had a gloomy expression even as he launched himself, fell back to the ground without even touching the ball, the away team manager in the away team technical area was hugging and dancing with the away team head coach and fitness coach, cheering for the fortunate opening goal.

It was the moment when Burnley unexpectedly advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals.