Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 146

“I hope everyone isn’t getting unnecessarily nervous. After all, winning every game in the first half of the season is, when you think about it, a meaningless record. It’s fine if we do it, fine if we don’t. In the end, all that matters is winning the championship.”

“That’s right. But, it’s okay. You can be nervous. We have Johan anyway.”

“That’s true.”

For the League’s 19th round, Rohan and Ban Seok-ho visited London Stadium to watch the Southampton game.

Today was potentially a very important day in the club’s history.

If they won today’s game, they would set an unprecedented record of winning every game in the first half of the season.

However, looking at it differently, it was also a day that didn’t need to be given much significance.

The record of winning every game in the first half could be a great achievement, but it could also become a laughingstock.

Depending on the performance in the second half, and the final result of the season.

If West Ham won the league, winning every game in the first half would be praised as a great accomplishment.

But what if they failed to win the league?

They would be met with cynicism and ridicule, seen as a team that couldn’t win the league even after winning every game in the first half, a team with no luck when it comes to winning championships.

The conclusion was simple.

Instead of focusing on records, they just needed to concentrate on the essence.

The goal shouldn’t be to win today’s game for the sake of winning every game in the first half, but rather to simply try to win because there was a game to be played.

“Johan is best at that. Ignoring everything except what he needs.”

“He’s the kind of guy who would try to get the Ballon d’Or delivered by 택배 [pronounced taek-bae, meaning delivery service], after all.”

But, honestly, the West Ham players couldn’t prepare for today’s game with the same mindset as usual.

To win every game in the first half, they had to win the first round, the fifth round, and the 19th round.

There was no difference in importance between each game.

Winning every game in the first half was determined by the result of the 19th round game, but that didn’t mean the 19th round game was more important than the other games.

Nevertheless, the players’ mindsets were bound to be different.

“Are we really going to win every game like this?”

There was more excitement than usual, and

“If we slip up here, it’s going to be so unfair.”

There was also greater anxiety.

That was only natural for humans, not machines.

“You’re not human. No human could be this carefree.”

“?”

Johan was the only one free from those emotions.

Because winning every game in the first half wasn’t important to Johan.

What was important to Johan was just how many attack points he could record in the game, so he could skip training next week.

Thanks to Johan, West Ham was very fortunate.

Imagine a man who has just gotten on the bus to go home from work.

But suddenly, he feels a slight pain in his stomach.

The situation is serious.

It’s a 30-minute ride to the bus stop near his house, and he has to walk another 10 minutes after getting off.

He can’t even get off in the middle, and there are no places with restrooms on the way from the bus stop to his house.

So, when is the most dangerous moment for this man?

When the bus starts? When it roughly goes over a speed bump? When he gets off the bus? When he walks home?

None of those.

It’s when he arrives home and opens the bathroom door.

The biggest crisis always comes at the last moment.

That was the case with West Ham’s performance in the game against Southampton that day.

In the early stages of the game, most of the players showed unusual play, making the fans uneasy.

They missed easy passes, their ball touches in relaxed situations were too long, and they missed marking, creating dangerous scenes.

Of course, Southampton wasn’t an easy opponent. Like last season, Southampton was a tricky team that always gave a difficult impression.

But Southampton wasn’t stronger than teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, or Manchester United, was it?

If it was the usual West Ham, they could have overwhelmed Southampton.

But the fact that they couldn’t meant that everyone was distracted by things outside the game.

In the midst of that, Johan was the only one fully focused on the game.

If we win today’s game, we’ll win every game in the first half?

Who cares.

That’s not important, I need to score goals.

More than last season.

All I need now are more goals.

Seeing West Ham looking out of sorts, Southampton seized the opportunity and increased the intensity of their pressure.

Strong pressure is the best way to induce mistakes from the opponent.

West Ham had to pull themselves together, and fortunately, Bellamy was the first to regain his composure.

“Capello! Come down!”

“…!”

When the opponent started pressing high, Bellamy called Capello back to the rear.

Capello was the only resource who could break through the press on his own.

Bellamy’s idea was that Capello should deal with Southampton’s high press.

Paah-!

The ball was entrusted to Capello, who had come down.

And, spinning around to avoid the opponent’s pressure, Capello simply cleared the ball.

Long to the front.

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

The quality of the pass wasn’t very Capello-like.

After all, it wasn’t a long pass that he had accurately seen and struck in a relaxed situation.

But it didn’t matter.

Because the player who would receive that pass was actively moving.

It wasn’t a very fitting scene, but Johan ran towards the falling ball.

Paah-!

Near the penalty arc, in the right half-space, Johan received the ball with his chest.

It wasn’t without a contest.

Southampton’s center-back, Jay Bentley, ran with him, but Johan still received the ball with his chest with ease.

His chest, not his head.

That’s how much of a height difference there was.

Tuwoong-!

After trapping and landing, Johan flicked the ball with his thigh before it hit the ground.

He felt someone rushing past behind him. Since it was impossible to stop in mid-air, Bentley couldn’t overcome his momentum and passed behind Johan.

That was why Johan flicked the ball back up with his thigh.

He judged that the shooting angle was already open.

Shweeik-

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

Should it be called a mid-range turning volley shot?

Johan nimbly twisted his body and volleyed with his left foot.

A feeling like a powerful middle kick.

From the bottom left to the top right.

Thanks to the swing of that diagonal kick, the shot floated quite high and had a strong spin.

Naturally, the arc of the ball in the opposite direction was bound to be beautiful.

Shwoooooooooong-!

The ball floated high towards the front of the goalkeeper, then suddenly curved and dropped into the left corner of the goal.

The keeper, who was slightly forward, took a step back and threw his body back, reaching out his hand.

But that hand was nowhere near touching the ball.

Cheolseok-!

As the commentator said, a fantastic, amazing, and incredible goal was scored.

But to Johan, it was just another goal, no matter how it went in.

So Johan didn’t particularly rejoice.

Because there were still many goals to score.

“Heo!”

“What, what did I just see!”

Only his teammates and the home fans were amazed, shaking their heads in admiration.

*

Whether the team is shaken or not, Johan scores goals.

To be honest, there are many reasons why West Ham has been able to win every game in the league so far.

But the most important reason is ultimately that.

Johan scored more goals than the opposing team.

Unless that fact changes, West Ham’s winning formula will always produce the same answer.

That was the case in the game against Southampton that day as well.

The fact that other teammates were slightly shaken wasn’t very important.

Johan alone scored more goals than Southampton, and thanks to that, West Ham won.

Well, of course, it might have been different if the opponent was Juventus instead of Southampton.

Anyway.

Johan scored 3 goals, and West Ham won 3-1 against Southampton.

Winning every game in the first half.

West Ham recorded a crazy record of winning all 19 games in the league.

And, at the center of it, as always.

There was Johan.

*

“Good job. But today is not a special day. Don’t get carried away and stray off course. Everyone, go straight home and get plenty of rest.”

“Yes!”

After the game.

As he did every game, Coach Schmidt briefly encouraged the players for their hard work.

Today was quite a special victory, and a special day.

But in some ways, it was also a day that was not special.

The players probably knew that too.

So instead of celebrating the victory boisterously, they showered as usual, loosened their muscles, and quietly packed their equipment.

“…”

“…”

However, everyone seemed reluctant to pass by without any celebration.

The players glanced at Coach Schmidt, as if asking if he had anything more to say.

“Hmm.”

Coach Schmidt pursed his lips.

Yes.

To be honest, he wasn’t happy with the content of today’s game.

But anyway, they achieved the result they were aiming for.

If the sense of accomplishment is bland when a goal is achieved with difficulty, it’s hard to take the next step vigorously.

At least, it would be good to say something that would give them strength.

Coach Schmidt clapped his hands briefly.

“It was a valuable victory. We’ve done something difficult. That’s right. Not an impossible task, but a difficult one. What you guys have done was really difficult, and it was something to be applauded. Everyone, shall we give each other a round of applause?”

“Waah-”

“Youhoo!”

Only then did the players exclaim and cheer.

In fact, they had been holding back a lot.

They wanted to turn the dressing room into a party, as if they had won the championship.

But they were refraining because they were aware of the coach’s mood.

“Ma! Should I sing a song!”

“Sit down, Buckley. Don’t overdo it.”

“…Ah, yes.”

After Buckley, who was trying to unleash his excitement, sat down awkwardly, Coach Schmidt continued.

Now that they had achieved one goal, it was time to present the next goal.

“We’ve already done something really difficult. So at this point, this old man thinks we might be able to win every game in the league, not just every game in the first half. Because that’s not an impossible task either. Just difficult.”

It was a story that would have made at least a few people chuckle.

Win every game in the league?

Hey, that’s ridiculous.

“…”

“…”

But no one in the dressing room laughed.

Rather, everyone nodded with determined expressions.

Because they had already done it.

Winning every game in the first half, that is, winning against all teams, an absurd feat.

All they had to do was do it one more time.

So, it didn’t feel like an impossible task.

Literally, just difficult.

“You can’t win every game. But, isn’t it possible to win 38 games? If all 38 games are league games, then it’s winning every game in the league. I’m not going to say let’s win every game. Instead, let’s just win 38 games. Everyone, understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ma, that’s nothing!”

“Let’s do it! Let’s do it!”

Everyone clenched their fists and stood up from their seats.

Hmm.

Except for Capello and Johan.

‘It’s already the second half, damn it. The number of MOMs…’

Capello was still unhappy about giving the MOM [Man of the Match award] to Johan today,

’38 plus 3… 41… Still 4 short?’

Johan was surprised that he hadn’t caught up with himself from last season.

According to his brother’s calculations, he had recorded 45 attack points by this time last season.

This season, he has 41, including the 3 goals he scored today.

Still 4 short.

Ha, I’m really living diligently this year.

Annoyingly.

How did I become such a diligent person?

‘This is not good.’

People should always be consistent.

What if I really become like my dad or brother?

That would be too terrible.

Johan sighed deeply.