Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 76

76. Blooming Spring

[Goal! It’s a goal!]

[This time, it’s Wout Weghorst! Burnley’s center forward scores a header from the corner kick!]

[2-0! It’s 2-0! Who would have predicted this outcome before the game started?!]

The commentator and analyst shouted, thoroughly excited while watching the game.

[Ah, in the technical area, manager Pep Guardiola is covering his face with both hands.]

[Manchester City players, who were fiercely chasing, look dejected. Today, Burnley is showing high-quality finishing with 2 goals from 3 shots on target. It’s truly a textbook example of a counterattack!]

Looking at the replay screen again, the analyst analyzed the situation.

[Hannibal Mejbri’s corner kick curved sharply towards Manchester City’s goal. Burnley’s center forward, Wout Weghorst, shakes off the marking from Manchester City’s central defense duo, John Stones and Rúben Dias, and scores a powerful header.]

[Ah… it seems impossible to stop Wout Weghorst in set-piece situations with a normal approach. Manchester City put two central defenders on him, but he still pushed through. There seems to be no answer.]

[Maybe only someone like Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk would be able to physically mark him 1-on-1 in set-piece situations. Now, all Premier League managers facing Burnley have one more headache to worry about.]

The commentator and analyst, having confirmed Burnley’s powerful set-piece option added in the second half, continued their analysis of the overall game situation.

[It seems Pep Guardiola was outmaneuvered in the battle of wits between the managers in the second half.]

[Yes. After the counterattack in the middle of the first half, Manchester City completely controlled the game with tiki-taka [a style of play characterized by short passing and movement]. I don’t think Burnley’s Manager Kim thought they would ignore that and come out the same way in the second half.]

[Manager Kim has shown a lot of tactical flexibility in the second half of the season. The addition of the option, Nico Gonzalez, has also been significant.]

The analyst nodded at the commentator’s point, pointing out the two teams’ formations in the second half on the screen.

[Pep Guardiola, anticipating Burnley’s tactical changes, replaced Serge Gnabry, who started as a right winger, with Jack Grealish. While the technical perfection has increased, the speed has decreased, making both Burnley’s defense and attack more comfortable.]

[In addition, Burnley’s midfield is flying today. Josh Brownhill, who is in charge of the attack from the center, and Hannibal Mejbri, who assisted the opening goal, were also excellent, but…]

A replay screen appeared with the commentator’s words.

Burnley’s young defensive midfielder lightly bumped Manchester City’s central midfielder, Bernardo Silva, who was trying to turn with the ball, with his shoulder while sprinting through the midfield.

Before Bernardo Silva could fall onto the grass, Manchester City’s defensive midfielder, Fernandinho, who received the pass, was tackled again before he could properly control the ball.

After cleverly touching the ball first to take it away, he deliberately didn’t kill the sliding speed and collided with the veteran midfielder with his knees slightly bent, which was almost intentional.

The veteran midfielder, who was slammed onto the grass, raised his arms as if appealing to the referee, but with it clear that he touched the ball first, the referee raised his arms to continue the game.

Burnley’s young defensive midfielder, who knocked down two Manchester City players onto the field like a wrestler, was already bouncing up and running forward to join the counterattack.

[That’s right. The master of the midfield in today’s game is Nicolas Seiwald! Burnley’s young midfielder is single-handedly breaking down Manchester City’s tiki-taka in the second half.]

[Ah, in this case, Manchester City, who preemptively made substitutions at halftime, seems to have no way out.]

[That’s right. Rather, Burnley’s Manager Kim has the choice of whether to continue pressing high or retreat to defend. The expression on Manager Kim’s face on the bench looks very relaxed.]

[Manchester City is in danger of being eliminated in the FA Cup semi-final, following their defeat in the Carabao Cup final. There are 30 minutes left in the second half. It seems that there is not enough time or energy to break through Burnley’s solid defense and close the 2-goal gap.]

As the analyst evaluated.

Manchester City, down 2-0, failed to break through Burnley’s defense, which maintained intense pressure with repeated high pressing and counterattacks, and weakly finished the game without a threatening attack.

***

“It’s difficult.”

“It is difficult.”

Arthur shrugged at Hyungmin’s complaint.

Burnley, who succeeded in a giant-killing that shocked the football world, defeated Manchester City 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final and advanced to the FA Cup final.

However, they failed to manage their overall points, drawing two consecutive Premier League games before the end of April, and were looking forward to the start of May.

Drawing 0-0 in an away game against Leicester, who traditionally maintained a strong force while aiming from the mid-table to the upper ranks of the Premier League, was not a bad result.

However, it was painful to finish with a 2-2 draw after a fierce battle against Watford, who were desperate to escape relegation and had newly appointed manager Quique Setién, after taking the lead twice and conceding an equalizer twice.

Overall, if the draw against Leicester was acceptable, the game against Watford was closer to a game where they had to win 3 points unconditionally.

Thanks to drawing two games in a row, Burnley is barely maintaining 6th place with 60 points after the 34th round of the Premier League.

In the meantime, Tottenham, who had been rapidly accumulating points under the leadership of manager Antonio Conte, skipped over the sluggish Burnley and climbed to 5th place.

Chelsea, whose performance continued to falter due to the aftermath of sanctions against the club and concerns about the change of ownership, played one more game than Burnley but repeated unexpected defeats and draws, falling to 7th place with 59 points.

However, Chelsea’s 59 points are enough to take 6th place, which guarantees a ticket to a European competition, and is only 1 point behind Burnley.

If they had won against Watford, they could have added 2 points and shaken off Chelsea’s pursuit with a little more leeway.

In addition, while it is worth celebrating the FA Cup final appearance, it is also true that the May schedule has been completely messed up.

Now, Burnley’s schedule for the last month of the 2021/22 season has been confirmed with an away game against Brighton on May 7, a home game against Liverpool on May 11, the FA Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on May 14, then a home game against Aston Villa again on May 17, and a home game against Manchester City on May 22.

They have to play as many as 5 games in just 15 days.

It is a harsh schedule to face Liverpool and Manchester City, who are fiercely competing for the lead in the league with only 1 point difference, and to play a cup final in between.

However, Aston Villa, who are gaining momentum by advancing to the FA Cup final after replacing their manager with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, and Brighton, led by manager Graham Potter, who is also considered a potential future England national team manager, are not easy opponents.

Moreover, Chelsea, who are currently in 7th place, have a big advantage in goal difference, so they can push Burnley out of the European competition race simply by recording the same points as Burnley.

It would be a miserable decline for Chelsea, the previous year’s Champions League winner, but Burnley, who are being chased, have no room to consider the other side’s position.

Aiming for a ticket to European competition, there is not a single easy opponent in the remaining 4 Premier League games.

A painful moment of choice: focus on the FA Cup against Aston Villa and give up on Europe? But it is too disappointing to give up what they have built up so far.

“What are you going to do?”

“…Arthur, what do you want to do?”

Arthur looked at the young manager, who was making a sad face.

Like a memory from a very distant past.

The young youth team manager, who suddenly had to lead the opening game as an interim manager, looked at him with the same expression as then, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Hey, what’s so funny?”

Arthur chuckled at Hyungmin’s annoyed question.

“Because I can see that you’ve already decided.”

“Oh…is that so?”

Arthur chuckled at Hyungmin’s bewildered expression.

“Yeah. You’re going to aim for both. Because you’re greedy.”

“…I see. I am greedy.”

Hyungmin muttered as if it was a new realization.

“Well, Tottenham in 5th place has already widened the gap by 5 points with 65 points, so there is almost no chance of catching up. It would be nice if they self-destructed on their own, but I don’t think manager Antonio Conte would let that happen. So, you just have to accumulate more points than Chelsea anyway.”

“What is Chelsea’s May schedule like?”

At Hyungmin’s question, coach Paulo Morao, who was sitting next to him, checked the schedule.

“It’s much better than ours. They’ve been eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League. 3 games in May. Watford, who have been confirmed to be relegated in 19th place. Manchester City in 2nd place. And Leeds United in 9th place.”

“Ugh… I have to assume that Chelsea will win against Watford unconditionally. Then they will get 3 points there.”

Hyungmin pondered.

“Chelsea lost 3-1 to Manchester City in the first half of the season… But for Manchester City, it’s a game they have to win unconditionally to win the league, so they will be more aggressive.”

While the other two nodded, Hyungmin let his imagination run wild.

“Leeds also announced a manager change in the summer, but manager [Marcelo] Bielsa hasn’t lost his influence at all, so it’s stable… Let’s just comfortably assume that Chelsea will get 3 points by combining Manchester City and Leeds. It would be too hopeless for us if Chelsea won both.”

Arthur shrugged at Hyungmin’s absurdly illogical, but not particularly answerable even if logically considered, prediction.

“So Chelsea will add 6 points? We just have to add more than 6 points. 7 points for stability? Let’s see… If we win against Brighton and Aston Villa, and draw against one team between Manchester City and Liverpool, it would be very neat.”

This time, Hyungmin shrugged at Arthur’s words.

“The Premier League 37th round against Aston Villa will be held 2 days after the FA Cup final, but I think it’s fair because we both play 2 games in 3 days. Then, shall we make a list of players to play?”