Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 14

“How was training? I bet everyone was shocked when they saw you, right?”

“No, not at all.”

“Huh? No?”

“They weren’t even interested in me. No matter what I did, they just said it wasn’t right. I just got scolded.”

“Hmm… really?”

Johan returned home after his first training session.

Ban Seok-ho was shocked by Johan’s appearance, which he had never seen before.

It was the first time Johan had come home with such an angry expression.

No matter what happened, he usually just went with the flow, carefree.

He was usually so easygoing.

So, to see him stomping home like that was surprising.

But that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

“I don’t understand. If I’m wrong, they should tell me what’s wrong. But they don’t explain, they just say I’m wrong, so I can’t accept it.”

“Hmm…”

“But as far as I can tell, there’s nothing wrong. I wasn’t wrong.”

Johan didn’t even take off his clothes and started talking about what happened at the training ground today.

It was truly surprising.

Wasn’t Johan the one who was bringing up soccer first?

Ban Seok-ho rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was confusing Rohan with Johan.

However,

even after rubbing his eyes, it was definitely Johan in front of him, venting his frustrations.

“Hmm. I see.”

From what he heard,

Johan seemed to have been scolded a lot by the coaches during his first training session today.

No matter what he did, they kept saying it wasn’t the right way, that he was wrong.

They even told him he was wrong without explaining what was wrong.

“You must have felt wronged.”

Having been treated so unfairly, it was understandable that he was venting like this.

Ban Seok-ho hadn’t expected this either.

Johan getting scolded.

It was the same during the tryouts, and after joining the academy.

Even further back, since he was a little kid.

Johan had always surprised everyone.

He didn’t do it often, but once he got the ball, everyone was busy admiring Johan’s skills.

So, Ban Seok-ho had expected that even in West Ham’s first team, it wouldn’t be any different.

He believed that Johan’s talent was good enough to work even in the Premier League right away, so he had expected him to surprise everyone again today.

But,

the reality was the complete opposite, which was quite surprising.

However,

strangely enough, Ban Seok-ho wasn’t disappointed at all.

Rather, seeing Johan so frustrated made him feel a surge of endorphins.

Whether he got scolded or not,

Johan was bringing up soccer first.

How much had he longed for this?

To talk about soccer with Johan like this.

It felt like a dream to Ban Seok-ho.

“Maybe it’s because I was late. Even though it was only 20 minutes.”

“Then, how about preparing a little earlier tomorrow?”

“Yes, I will.”

“…!”

No, is this really a dream?

He cautiously suggested not being late tomorrow, and Johan actually replied that he was planning to do so?

Johan wasn’t the type to just say okay without meaning it.

He was so honest, almost brazen, and didn’t say things he didn’t mean.

Until he joined the academy and went to the training ground, Johan always complained about not wanting to go.

But,

now Johan was saying that he needed to go early tomorrow.

He wasn’t forced to, but he was showing his own motivation.

‘What kind of magic did you use, Coach…’

Ban Seok-ho couldn’t help but admire.

Michael Schmidt, the coach.

Ban Seok-ho knew him well too.

When the official announcement came that he would be taking over West Ham a year ago, Schmidt was such a capable figure that it gave hope that West Ham, which had been hovering in the mid-tier, could reach the Europa League [a prestigious European football competition].

He also knew that he was an expert in managing players.

That’s why he was so happy when he heard that Johan had been called up to the first team.

He thought that Schmidt could definitely hold onto Johan.

But he never imagined that he would change him so much in just one day.

What kind of magic did he use?

Perhaps, Johan being severely scolded from the first training session was all part of the plan.

Schmidt’s training had begun.

In fact, Johan was responding.

Ban Seok-ho had never seen Johan show such competitiveness.

“I’m going in. There’s a practice match tomorrow.”

“Okay. Brush your teeth before you go in.”

Watching Johan go into his room, Ban Seok-ho, who had always worried about how to wake him up tomorrow,

felt like tomorrow morning would be peaceful.

“…Rohan’s mom, are you asleep?”

Feeling good, Ban Seok-ho cautiously approaches the master bedroom.

Then, he listens at the closed door, and after confirming that he doesn’t hear any sound, he heads to the kitchen.

“If I don’t have a drink on a day like today, when will I ever drink?”

Ban Seok-ho opens the cupboard and reaches deep inside.

He must have hidden it around here.

Ban Seok-ho was rummaging around in the back of the cupboard, making a clattering sound,

“Honey, what are you doing now?”

“…Huh?”

He turned pale at the cold voice he heard from behind.

* * *

“Wow, he’s changed in just one day? He’s here 10 minutes early.”

Jamie, the coach, saw Johan warming up at the training ground early and tapped Schmidt on the shoulder, and Schmidt snorted.

Well, even if he came early, it was only 10 minutes.

Most other players come 30 minutes or even an hour early, so if you think about it, it’s not really that early.

However,

according to Maxwell, the U-18 team manager, Johan is usually 30 minutes late as a matter of course.

For him, coming 10 minutes early was like a miracle.

Clearly,

Schmidt’s plan is working.

“If I hadn’t told him there was a practice match today, he probably would have been late again. But, he must want to show us what he’s got.”

As he wrapped up training yesterday,

Schmidt announced that there would be a practice match today.

As the season was coming to an end, West Ham’s schedule was quite relaxed.

Because they had been eliminated from all the cup competitions, the only remaining matches were in the league.

And since the league standings were almost finalized, there wasn’t much pressure.

That’s why they planned an internal practice match,

and Schmidt didn’t miss the change in Johan’s eyes when he heard about it.

“Heh, as expected, the coach’s predictions are never wrong.”

It was as expected.

He must have thought of this practice match as a good opportunity.

A chance to prove that he wasn’t wrong.

A guy who wants to prove himself won’t play the game half-heartedly.

He’ll work hard to show all his abilities.

He was doing it himself, even though he wouldn’t do it even if he was told to work hard.

He didn’t even tell him to come early,

but he showed up 10 minutes early.

“The coach always has a plan.”

“What, did you think I was a mayfly living day to day like you?”

“I’m the youngest head coach in West Ham history, you know?”

“That’s just proof that you were a terrible player. And why is such a young guy always talking back?”

“The more conversation between the coach and the head coach, the better. If there’s no communication, the team won’t work.”

“All talk and no action. Just talk.”

Jamie, the coach, chuckled, and Schmidt sighed.

“Anyway, what kind of performance will he show? I’m looking forward to it.”

“Hmm.”

Schmidt crossed his arms.

Today’s practice match would be Johan’s first experience playing with the first team players.

No matter how talented he is, it’ll be hard for him to make a noticeable impact from the first game.

He gave him a chance to prove himself,

but he didn’t really give him the chance hoping he would prove himself.

It was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to prove himself.

No matter how talented a sixteen-year-old is, what can he do among players who have been in the Premier League [the highest level of the English football league system] for a long time?

It was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to show anything.

But,

that’s what Schmidt wanted.

“He’s not the type to give up his stubbornness anyway.”

Schmidt thought that even if Johan didn’t show anything today, he wouldn’t give up his stubbornness.

Rather,

he would keep running until he proved himself.

Until he proved that he was right, he would keep going.

Then, he would already be saying goodbye to laziness,

and he would get used to it without even realizing it.

That thing called effort.

“But, Coach.”

“Yeah?”

“What if he does well? What if he scores three or four goals today? What are you going to do then?”

Schmidt smirked at Jamie, the coach’s question.

Well.

That wasn’t in the plan.

Because it wasn’t going to happen.

“Enough. Call the players together. Let’s get started.”

“Yes, sir! Piiiii-! Gather around, gather around!”

*

“Hey, kid. Which foot is your dominant foot?”

“Huh? My dominant foot?”

“Yeah. Which foot do you use well? We need to know that so we can give you nice passes. Is it your left foot or your right foot?”

Before the practice match, a scary-looking player came to Johan while he was putting on his vest and asked.

It was Tim Gordon, West Ham’s captain and midfielder, who would be playing on the same team in today’s practice match.

“The foot I use well… I don’t really know.”

“…You don’t know?”

He doesn’t even know his own dominant foot?

Gordon frowned, thinking, ‘What kind of idiot is this?’ and Johan continued.

“Both sides are the same, so I don’t think there’s really a dominant foot.”

“Oh.”

Look at this guy?

Gordon raised one corner of his mouth at Johan’s answer.

What a cheeky rookie.

Gordon liked these kinds of rookies.

Of course, what he liked the most was a rookie who was good, but

the next thing he liked was a rookie who was so confident that he felt arrogant.

These guys are more likely to do well than the ones who are just polite.

Because ignorance is bliss.

How high the wall of the Premier League is.

The guys who know that get scared and can’t show their skills.

But,

the guys who don’t know anything are not afraid and show their skills.

Of course,

I’ve never seen a guy who can get over that wall from the beginning, though.

“Okay. It’s just a practice match anyway, so don’t be nervous. Show off your skills as much as you want.”

“Yes.”

Gordon patted Johan on the shoulder.

Gordon’s favorite thing to do was to show these rookies who didn’t know anything what the Premier League was like.

There was nothing more fun than seeing the dumbfounded face of a guy who was facing a wall he had never felt before.

Because of that,

‘After the game, you’ll be even more confused, kid. Whether my dominant foot was left or right. It’ll feel like neither of them are my feet.’

Gordon was already looking forward to the moment when the guy’s face, which seemed so determined to show something, would turn into a dumbfounded face like a fool.

Well, everyone’s like that at first, so I’ll have to comfort him so he doesn’t get too shocked.

“Piiiii-!”

With the whistle, Johan’s first first-team practice match began.