Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 113

< 113. A Sluggish Genius Striker >

It’s quite rare for a player of a certain caliber, one who receives offers from various clubs even if they remain inactive, to actively seek out a transfer.

Especially if they are a national team-level player, a key member of a Euro-winning team.

Shay Bellamy, a Chelsea defender who returned to his club after the Euro tournament, had a lot weighing on his mind.

It was an unavoidable situation.

First, there was the situation of his club, Chelsea.

Chelsea was overtaken by Arsenal at the end of last season, missing out on a Champions League qualification.

Chelsea had consistently managed to secure a Champions League spot, regardless of the challenges they faced.

But they failed to qualify for the Champions League, something that had been taken for granted.

That alone was enough to spark rumors of players delaying their contract renewals.

Bellamy was one of those players who was hesitant to renew his contract.

Bellamy, who began his professional career at Southampton, had joined Chelsea on a 5-year contract.

And Bellamy, in his 4th year at Chelsea in the 2027/28 season, was gradually approaching the time for contract renewal.

Chelsea had been continuously urging Bellamy to renew his contract.

However, Bellamy had been passively delaying the contract renewal with the club.

There wasn’t really any particular reason.

He simply wanted a bit more recognition for his worth.

Many experts and fans believed that the core of Chelsea was the three-man defense formed by three of the league’s top defenders.

And Bellamy, as one of the pillars of that defense, wanted to be acknowledged more as a key component of the team.

Well, as a professional, he considered both salary and contract length.

What Bellamy desired was a long-term contract.

He wanted the club to offer a contract period of at least 4 years or more, acknowledging his importance to the team.

However, the club’s offer was 2+1 years.

That was the result of him rejecting a 1+1 year contract.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Bellamy’s heart was a little 떠 [tteo – wavering or uncertain in Korean].

In that situation, the team even failed to qualify for the Champions League.

But these were all just background factors.

It was because of one decisive reason added to this background that Bellamy made a reverse offer.

Bellamy wasn’t just some mediocre player; he was a player who had been attracting attention from many teams even before delaying his contract renewal.

For such a player to actively seek a transfer, it couldn’t be for just an ordinary reason.

It was, after all, due to the impression he had formed during the last season and the Euros.

He had faced Johan from West Ham and played with Johan from England on the same team, and that’s what solidified his feelings.

He was truly exceptional.

No, that single word isn’t sufficient to describe him.

It’s not just about being good.

At least among the players he had directly encountered, there was no one with that level of talent.

By far the greatest talent.

Perhaps, even in history, it might be a talent the world had never witnessed before.

What was remarkable was that this talent was even more apparent when playing on the same team rather than against him.

When he was at the front, it felt like they were invincible.

Wasn’t that the reality?

Since he was selected for the national team, since he wore the England uniform and played in the game, they had never lost even once.

Even in the Euro finals, England achieved an undefeated victory, didn’t they?

Without even going to extra time once.

So, it wasn’t solely because he didn’t want to face a monster like him.

To be honest, it’s true that Bellamy often hears that he is ‘sly’ because of his unique playing style.

But that doesn’t mean he has avoided strong opponents.

Rather, it was the desire to win, wanting to win at all costs.

It was because of the pleasure he felt when he beat an opponent he thought he could never beat that the current Shay Bellamy was formed as a player.

But Johan was a little different.

Rather than wanting to defeat him, he was a player he wanted to play alongside.

He was a guy he wanted to win with.

Bellamy liked him as a person.

That’s why Bellamy was sad that the Euros were ending.

This was the first time he was sad to return to his club after finishing the national team schedule.

There were times when he was annoyed to go to the national team, but this was the first time he was sad that it was ending.

That was all because of Johan.

Even though he jokingly said it after the tournament, he was also serious when he suggested playing a futsal game.

It was fun to play games with him on the same team.

With him, he felt like he could lift more trophies.

So, Bellamy inquired with West Ham instead of sitting at the negotiating table with Chelsea.

He asked if they had any plans to negotiate with him.

“Bellamy.”

“Yes.”

“The answer has come.”

“What did they say?”

“They said they were looking for a defender like you.”

“Hmph. Then they should have contacted me first.”

“They said they couldn’t help but hesitate to contact a top-class player like you first.”

“…Is that so?”

Bellamy, who heard from his agent that West Ham had contacted him to arrange a meeting immediately, smiled while pretending to grumble.

They sure know how to sweet-talk.

The Chelsea front office only talked about money, asking if money was the problem.

“Set a date.”

“Then what, should I set it for tomorrow?”

“Hey. Then it would seem like I’ve been waiting too eagerly. About… 3 days later.”

“Okay.”

Bellamy nodded.

***

The atmosphere of West Ham preparing for the new season was bound to be completely different than before.

First of all, the team qualified for the Champions League.

The Champions League, which only the strongest teams from each European league participate in.

A super tournament where the strongest teams from each league meet to compete for which league is the best.

West Ham was going to participate in that tournament representing the Premier League.

At the very least, they shouldn’t put on a performance that would tarnish the reputation of the league.

“Anyway, we must at least advance to the knockout stage.”

West Ham’s training ground, where pre-season training is in full swing.

It looks a little empty because the players who participated in the Euros haven’t joined yet.

Today, after finishing intense training to the point where 단내 [dandae – the smell of sweat and exertion in Korean] was coming out of their mouths, coach Schmidt gathered the players and spoke.

First, coach Schmidt revealed that the primary goal of this season was to advance to the Champions League knockout stage, that is, to be in the top 16 at least.

“Some people may be thinking that we should aim for at least the quarterfinals. But it’s not easy for us. No matter how the draw goes, we have no choice but to fight against strong teams.”

As coach Schmidt said, breaking through the group stage will not be easy for West Ham.

In the pot allocated by club ranking, the pot that West Ham is likely to enter is pot 3.

In other words, no matter which group they enter, there will inevitably be at least 2 objectively strong teams.

Since the top 2 teams in the group advance to the knockout stage, they have to eliminate one of those two.

That won’t be easy.

So, it was a task that was ambitious enough to aim for.

“And, secondly. A much more important goal than the first. It’s winning the league.”

The players swallow their saliva.

The most important goal of this season is to win the league.

Of course, since they finished runner-up in the league last season, it is natural that the goal of this season is to win the championship.

However, the players still can’t help but feel that the goal of winning the league is unrealistic.

The fact that they were runners-up themselves feels like a dream.

However,

“As you all know, the goal I presented around this time last year was to advance to the Europa League. And you were runners-up.”

The players all knew.

That coach Schmidt is a very conservative person.

That he is not simply a person who sets high goals.

Coach Schmidt is a person who considers it very important whether it is realistic when setting goals.

That means that winning the league is also possible enough.

In fact, there is nothing they can’t do.

Aside from everything else, there is ‘Johan who was only runner-up’ Johan, isn’t there?

Johan’s only unachieved goal, despite achieving everything else he wanted, is winning the league.

Johan’s mindset as he faces the new season is bound to be different.

With that alone, winning the league was not an impossible goal.

“It’s a more important pre-season than ever. Watching the training, I think you all know that. But it will be even more difficult in the future. So, let’s always think about moving forward without being complacent.”

“Yes!”

The players answer, covered in sweat, to coach Schmidt’s words.

The opening day of this season is August 14th.

It’s already less than 2 weeks away.

It felt like time was a bit tight.

After all, there is the aftermath of the Euros.

The players who participated in the Euros inevitably have a lot of accumulated fatigue compared to the players who did not participate.

In fact, it was like there was no break.

In West Ham, Scotland’s Jacob Buckley, Norway’s Jeff Huericel, etc. also played until the group stage.

Serbia’s Petrovic and Denmark’s Jenkinson played until the round of 16 tournament.

And Italy’s Capello played 6 games until the semi-finals, and Johan played a whopping 7 games until the final.

All of these players with accumulated fatigue were currently given a break.

The point at which they join team training is next week.

In other words, the period to prepare for the opening as a complete team is only one week.

But even if they join the training, it will be difficult to send them to the game.

At least for the month of August, they should be managed to only do light training.

They have to rest a little at the beginning of the season, otherwise there is no answer if they 퍼지면 [peojimyeon – become exhausted or collapse in Korean] in the second half.

So, the players who remained at the training ground have to do well.

The players knew that, so they were sweating every day.

It won’t be an easy season.

However, there was something to look forward to.

West Ham is traditionally a 명가 [myeongga – prestigious family or renowned name in Korean] of academies.

In this pre-season, quite a few youth players were called up and were training with the first team players.

There was one player who stood out among them.

17-year-old Joshua Bailey.

That Joshua Bailey who had a 1-on-1 match when Johan briefly passed through the academy.

Bailey was a player who was considered the best talent in the academy until Johan, a prodigy, appeared.

However, after Johan appeared, his skill development was even more noticeable.

According to academy coach Brian Maxwell, Bailey was receiving strong stimulation from seeing Johan’s 모습 [moseup – figure or appearance in Korean].

In fact, it can’t be helped.

From the beginning of joining the West Ham Academy, Bailey’s goal was one.

To become the best output that the academy has produced.

In other words, to become a player who surpasses John Terry, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, etc.

In fact, Bailey had been evaluated as being capable of that.

But, what is it like now?

An output that seems difficult to approach, Johan Ban, has been produced.

Of course, it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that the academy produced Johan.

Anyway, it’s true that he went through the academy.

In the meantime, Bailey couldn’t help but feel that he was becoming ordinary.

So Bailey devoted himself to training even more, 평정 [pyeongjeong – dominating or conquering in Korean] the youth league last season, and made his first team debut in the League Cup.

In a way, it was thanks to Johan that Bailey was able to grow so quickly.

Anyway, the skill that Bailey showed during this pre-season had risen to the point where coach Schmidt was quite satisfied.

And coach Schmidt thought that it would play a very important key role this season.

While the players were playing in the Euros, coach Schmidt and the coaches had meetings every day and 고민 [gomin – worrying or contemplating in Korean] together.

This season will be a completely different season than before, so there was a lot to prepare for.

The tactics that worked well last season will be countered, so the number of tactics that can be used had to be increased, and the number of games to be played had increased, so they had to think about how to manage the players.

In that respect, Bailey’s call-up would be very helpful in many ways.

What coach Schmidt 고민 [gomin – worrying or contemplating in Korean] the most during the pre-season was, of course, Johan.

The increased attention and marking that will be focused on him even more than last season.

It’s about 고민 [gomin – worrying or contemplating in Korean] how to solve that tactically.

After much 고민 [gomin – worrying or contemplating in Korean], coach Schmidt was able to come up with one answer.

But, what’s important there is Bailey’s existence.

Bailey, whose main position is left wing forward.

Bailey’s existence, who has good individual skills and scoring ability, will greatly reduce Johan’s burden.

Because the keyword of that tactic that coach Schmidt came up with is ‘isolation’.

You will know what this means when the new season starts.

“As it was last season, many teams will have a hard time with us this season. So, let’s all have confidence and be able to face the new season.”

“Yes!” “I understand!”