Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 138

< Episode 138 – More Addictive Than Soda >

Probably no one drinks soda believing it’s good for their health.

People drink soda because the exhilarating refreshment they feel when drinking it is far greater than the guilt of drinking something unhealthy.

Capello felt the same way.

If he only made easy passes, no matter how many assists he racked up, it wouldn’t truly benefit him.

No matter how important stats are, they’re still secondary to the overall game.

They can’t overshadow the real skills displayed on the field.

No matter how reliable Johan is as a passing option, if he keeps making only easy passes.

He might start to perceive genuinely difficult passes as truly difficult in the future, hindering his growth.

But he can’t resist the temptation.

He wants to resist, but his foot instinctively makes the pass.

Because it’s exhilarating.

Because the assists that guy provides are so exhilarating.

He should reduce his reliance on Johan little by little, and eventually break the habit someday.

Rather, he should make that guy seek him out.

That was the original goal, after all.

But, not right now.

Just a little bit, let’s enjoy just one more taste.

*

The atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium, which had flared up intensely, quickly calmed down.

If Arsenal scoring the first goal was surprising, then Johan’s immediate equalizer felt like, ‘Well, of course.’

As expected, there’s no easy way to stop Johan, and there’s no easy way to beat West Ham.

No matter how good Arsenal’s recent form is.

Arsenal can’t quickly raise the tempo.

Having suffered a counterattack, they can’t easily commit to attacking either.

Wasn’t it not only in the equalizer situation, but also before that they gave up a chance that was no different from conceding a goal in a counterattack situation?

Arsenal continued to circulate the ball in the back, deliberately slowing the tempo.

They had no choice.

But, one thing is certain.

Arsenal’s strength doesn’t lie in a slow tempo.

A relatively slow tempo was rather advantageous for West Ham.

From the start, it was this tempo that Coach Schmidt had instructed Capello to adjust to.

Arsenal, due to the fear they felt towards Johan, began to fail to capitalize on their strengths.

And that resulted in giving the initiative back to West Ham.

Johan’s multi-goal came around the 30th minute of the first half.

This time as well, receiving a pass from Capello, he took a shot with a half-beat faster, with a defender in front, and it tore through the net.

The game was instantly reversed, and Capello easily picked up two assists.

Strong.

Too addictive.

So sweet that it rots your teeth, so sweet that you can’t quit.

*

‘What on earth should I do?’

Arsenal’s defender, Danny White, who had helplessly conceded two goals in the first half, had to keep worrying during halftime.

Danny White, an England international and a versatile player who can play both on the left and in the center, is an outstanding talent who was selected for the league’s best team last season.

Even White is not stopping Johan at all.

The problem is that there’s no way to deal with his play of holding his position with his back to the goal.

Because his power is so good, once that guy takes a position, there’s no way to take that position away.

And what about after that?

Dealing with that guy turning around with the ball is also a pain.

‘Which would be easier?’

It seemed like one of the two had to happen to stop Johan.

Either prevent the pass from being delivered in the first place, or prevent him from turning around after catching the ball.

Wouldn’t it be possible to stop him if one of those two things didn’t happen?

Which of those two is even remotely possible?

Still, wouldn’t the former be more likely?

Stopping Johan’s breakthrough is too difficult.

Speed, dribbling technique, the ability to shoot with both feet.

No matter how you look at it, it’s not easy to stop him in a one-on-one situation.

The only option seems to be to cut him off before that.

It wouldn’t be easy even that, but anyway.

West Ham, not satisfied with a 2-1 lead, continues to seize the flow of the attack.

Originally, whether it’s soda, cigarettes, or alcohol.

If you try to quit something and fail, the amount often increases compared to before.

A kind of compensation mentality.

Just like how people on a diet often end up binge eating after holding back for so long.

Capello was like that.

The sight of him checking Johan’s position as soon as he gets the ball, or even before he gets it.

And the sight of Arsenal’s defensive line reacting sensitively to just that gaze from Capello.

Especially Danny White.

Because of the thought that he has to intercept the pass in advance.

However, that was being conveyed to Johan as well.

‘Why is he bothering me so much?’

Johan thought, looking at Danny White, who kept hovering around him.

Now, Johan is also a player with quite a bit of experience.

Of course, his career itself is that of a rookie, not even two years old.

But hasn’t he had more experience than most mid-level players?

In a short and intense way.

Thanks to that, when he sees the movements of the defenders, he can see what they’re thinking in their heads.

Even now, Johan could read Danny White’s thoughts.

Seeing him keep trying to jump forward, he’s trying to intercept the pass in advance.

In that case, there’s a way.

It’s not like I’ve only faced these guys once or twice.

“Hey!”

Paah-!

Capello’s pass headed towards Johan.

At the same time,

Tatatat-!

Danny White tried to jump forward.

Johan also blocked White with his body and ran towards the ball.

“Iik!”

White couldn’t break through because of Johan blocking his path.

White had no choice but to throw himself to stretch out his leg.

In order to handle the ball first, he had no choice but to stretch out his leg with a slide.

However,

Puh-uhk-!

Johan even anticipated White’s tackle.

He stretched out his leg in advance towards the side where White’s foot was coming out, setting up a guard.

White’s foot bounced off that solid pillar,

Chwaaaaaa-

Johan turned around without touching the rolling ball.

A no-touch turn that preserved the flow of the ball.

Johan, who once again made the league’s best defender look like a fool,

Ppeooo-!

This time as well, he took a shot towards the corner of the goal,

Chwaaaaaaaaa-

That shot 꽂히면서 [pierced/stuck] in the corner of the goal, completing a hat trick [three goals in a single game].

The best league in Europe, the Premier League.

Even the best defender among the many defenders in that Premier League was just a scarecrow in front of Johan.

“으하하하 [laughing sound]! I told you, come with me!”

“…”

Shea Bellamy laughed and passed in front of Danny White, and White dropped his head and hit the ground with his fist.

*

West Ham, who solidified their victory with Johan’s hat trick, managed the remaining time well and ended the game as it was.

They extended their league winning streak to 12 games, and Arsenal, whose atmosphere was good this season, also failed to stop West Ham’s winning streak.

“Hey, Bailey.”

“Huh? What’s up, Capello?”

“Quickly improve your finishing ability.”

“…Yes? Why all of a sudden?”

“You have to do well.”

“Thanks for the words, but I can’t just be thankful because I think I know what’s behind them.”

The MOM [Man of the Match] of this game was naturally selected as Johan, who recorded a hat trick, and Capello 갈궜다 [nagged/teased] the innocent Bailey.

If Bailey had connected Capello’s pass to a goal, it would have been a game where Capello recorded 4 assists.

Not only that, but with Capello’s presence in the midfield being tremendous, he might have even surpassed Johan and taken the MOM.

Somehow, Bailey’s decisive miss ended up gifting the MOM to Johan.

“This 임마 [you, informally] is really funny. Anyway, if it wasn’t for Johan, you wouldn’t have even gotten 3 assists.”

“Get lost, 웨일즈 촌놈 [Welsh hick/country bumpkin].”

“마 [hey, informally], it’s Scotland, not Wales!”

“That’s the same thing.”

Capello doesn’t even 갈구 [nag/tease] Barkley because he doesn’t expect much from him in the first place.

Anyway.

Capello was thinking that he really had to quit from the next game.

That guy named Johan.

…

The reason why West Ham’s 12-game winning streak is amazing is, of course, because of the 12-game winning streak itself, but also because Johan didn’t play in 5 of those 12 games.

Johan is receiving special management this season.

Last season, he played in the FA Cup final and the Euro final, and this season he will be playing in the Champions League, so managing Johan is an inevitable task.

Therefore, what was more important than anything this season was the role of the remaining players.

West Ham has a big difference between the starters and non-starters, but what’s even bigger is whether Johan is there or not.

Looking at last season alone, West Ham missed out on the league title because of the 2 losses they suffered in games without Johan.

Of course, West Ham was in many ways different from then.

The skills of the existing players have grown further, and excellent players have newly joined the team.

West Ham, which has been reborn in that way, has not lost even though they have played five games without Johan this season.

Thanks to that, they were continuing their 12-game winning streak, and Coach Schmidt was able to manage Johan with peace of mind.

After winning 13 consecutive victories with Johan’s 1 goal and 1 assist in the league 13th round against Arsenal, which was held after the Arsenal game.

In the Champions League 5th leg against Malmö that followed, West Ham once again showed the potential of the changed team.

Since West Ham had already confirmed their advancement to the tournament, Johan was excluded from the starting lineup on this day.

Of course, Johan wanted to play.

For Johan, Malmö was like a piggy bank full of money.

Johan had recorded his most goals in a single game against Malmö in the previous Malmö game.

Thanks to that, Johan had gotten a long vacation.

So, he really wanted to play in the Malmö game this time as well, but Coach Schmidt had no choice but to let Johan rest because the game against Manchester City was scheduled for 3 days later.

Still, Johan sat on the bench, begging and begging, saying that you never know what might happen.

Receiving Coach Schmidt’s promise that he would be put into the game if the game didn’t go well.

Because of that,

Johan cheered for Malmö from the bench.

“That’s right… Ah, seriously. How can you kick a shot like that?”

“…? Who are you cheering for right now?”

“No. Nothing.”

“If Kyung wasn’t so 기가 막히게 [amazingly/spectacularly] good at soccer, 어후 [expression of frustration].”

But unfortunately, Johan’s cheering didn’t seem to be of much help to Malmö.

West Ham, who started to take the lead early with Bailey’s goal in the 12th minute of the first half, won a 3-0 victory with Harry Kane’s additional goal and Bailey’s multi-goal afterwards.

This day was definitely Bailey’s day.

Of course, the opponent, Malmö, is not a team with objectively strong power.

Anyway, a team that is the champion of one league.

However, against such Malmö, Bailey showed why he was a 주목 받던 [highly anticipated] prospect.

“That’s right, Bailey! That’s it!”

Capello was the happiest with Bailey’s performance.

These days, Capello is spending more and more time with Bailey at the training ground.

Bailey’s growth was necessary for Capello, who was trying to reduce his reliance on Johan.

Capello spared no coaching, sticking to Bailey like Bailey’s exclusive coach.

In fact, a genius can’t be a great teacher, and Capello didn’t seem to have a knack for coaching either.

But Bailey was also a talented player, so he seemed to absorb Capello’s coaching quite well.

He showed that result in the Malmö game.

Well, even if Capello’s intention was solely for himself.

Anyway, it was a positive thing for the team as well.

If Bailey explodes his talent, it can only be a good thing for the team and Johan.

Bailey’s performance will come to Johan with more scoring opportunities and rest opportunities.

“Tch.”

Well, it’s not like resting from the game is always a welcome thing.

“There’s no need to be disappointed. From now on, you won’t be able to rest even if you want to.”

After the Malmö game, Jamie Coach patted Johan’s shoulder, who was 다시는 [licking] his lips in disappointment.

As he said, from now on, there is a series of schedules where you can’t rest even if you want to.

The weather is getting chilly.

That is, the hellish winter is approaching.

And, the beginning was the league 14th round.

From the battle with Manchester City.