Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 177

< Magic Number >

West Ham’s opponent for the 31st round of the season was Wolverhampton.

Wolverhampton, currently ranked 9th in the league, was always going to be a challenge.

The match between the two teams in the previous 17th round ended with West Ham’s victory at 3-1, with Johann contributing 2 goals and 1 assist.

However, Wolverhampton is a subtly tricky team to face anytime.

We can’t afford to be careless.

In particular, a variable was the mental state of the players.

The game right after securing a spot in the Champions League final.

Reaching the Champions League final isn’t just any ordinary thing; it’s a tremendous achievement for the players.

Especially since, except for Harry Kane, it’s the first final for everyone.

That alone is enough to give them a sense of ‘accomplishment.’

So, the atmosphere might become a bit lax.

Perhaps that’s only natural.

Moreover, aren’t we in a fairly comfortable situation in the league?

The league table alone shows that.

<2028/29 Premier League Standings>

1st West Ham 28 wins 2 draws 0 losses 86 points

2nd Manchester Utd 25 wins 2 draws 3 losses 77 points

3rd Manchester City 23 wins 4 draws 3 losses 73 points

4th Liverpool FC 21 wins 5 draws 4 losses 69 points

5th Arsenal FC 17 wins 8 draws 5 losses 59 points

6th Chelsea FC 17 wins 5 draws 8 losses 56 points

7th Tottenham Hotspur 16 wins 7 draws 7 losses 55 points

The point difference with 2nd place Man U is 9 points.

Mathematically, it’s an insurmountable gap unless we suffer four consecutive losses.

That’s assuming Man U wins all their remaining games.

Including the Wolverhampton game, there are 8 league games left this season.

In the remaining 8 games, West Ham can secure the championship on their own, regardless of Man U’s performance, by winning just 5 more games.

In other words, the magic number to the championship is 5.

Of course, winning 5 out of 8 games isn’t necessarily an easy task.

However, considering the performance West Ham has shown so far, and considering the record they’ve built up.

It’s not an easy task, but it can’t be said to be a difficult one either.

Moreover, this is all based on the assumption that the competitor, Man U, wins all their remaining games.

In reality, the situation might be even easier.

Anyway, given this situation.

The state of West Ham’s mental preparation for the Wolverhampton game was bound to be much more relaxed than before…

That was Wolverhampton’s wishful thinking.

But as with most wishful thinking, the reality was different.

West Ham was actually focusing more on the league games and bracing themselves mentally.

Firstly, there was the reason to maintain a good team atmosphere until the Champions League final, which was still a long way off.

Having gone undefeated up to this point.

It would be strange not to want to continue the undefeated streak until the end.

Above all, as long as Johann was there, West Ham couldn’t afford to lose focus on the league.

Because for Johann, winning the league was a much more important goal than winning the Champions League.

In the game against Wolverhampton, Johann was even more focused than in the game against Atletico Madrid.

Which meant that Wolverhampton couldn’t handle it.

< First goal of the game in just 11 minutes!>

Starting with the first goal in the 11th minute of the first half.

< Again!>

The second goal in the 24th minute,

< Hat-trick! Johann finishes Capello's pass with a wonderful turning shot! This marks his 11th hat-trick this season! In the league alone!>

And Johann completed a hat-trick in the 41st minute.

His 11th hat-trick in the league this season.

Even scoring 11 goals in the league is considered decent scoring ability, but to have 11 hat-tricks…

His scoring ability is truly monstrous.

< With the start of the second half, there's a change in West Ham's lineup. Johann has been replaced by Harry Kane. It seems they're managing Johann's stamina.>

Johann was substituted after playing only 45 minutes.

As a result, many fans couldn’t help but express their disappointment.

Magic Number 5.

Usually, the magic number refers to the number of wins needed to win the championship, but for West Ham fans, it was a bit different.

For them, Magic Number 5 meant the number of games left to see Johann.

Therefore, while the original magic number is always better the faster it decreases, it wasn’t the case for the Hammers [nickname for West Ham fans].

They were happy on one hand, and sad on the other.

“Tch. That’s too bad.”

“Still, playing only 45 minutes today means he’ll be out for the next game, right? It’s better to think that way.”

The Wolverhampton game ended with West Ham winning 4-2.

With this victory, West Ham recorded their 29th win of the season and reduced the magic number from 5 to 4.

Now, only four wins remain until the championship.

If they win just four more times, West Ham will win their first-ever Premier League title.

At the same time,

Johann’s long-cherished wish will be fulfilled.

“Johann, we really don’t have much left now.”

“We’ll do our best to help you until the end. Trust us, your brothers.”

“What are you talking about? We’re the ones trusting you, Johann.”

After the victory, Johann nodded as his teammates said with a smile in the locker room.

There really isn’t much left now.

However, Johann had mixed feelings about these words.

It was like…

Knowing that you’ve almost finished a mountain of things you really didn’t want to do, one by one.

It felt like saying it with a sigh.

But on the one hand, there was a slight, very slight sense of regret.

Like saying it while eating something delicious without realizing it.

No, to be exact, it might be closer to worry.

Honestly, he had no regrets about soccer at all, but now he wondered if there would be days when his family would laugh and be happy because of him, like they had been for the past two years.

Well.

I don’t know.

When he started playing soccer, he had longed for this moment more than anything else.

But now that the time has come, he doesn’t feel completely relieved.

“Anyway, let’s do our best until the end since there isn’t much left.”

“Yeah. There isn’t much left this season, but Johann’s retirement might still be a long way off. You know what I mean, right?”

“The captain is right. It’s not over. We haven’t lifted any trophies yet.”

“Let’s go all the way, all the way!”

Yeah.

That’s right.

Nothing has been decided yet.

So, isn’t it too early to worry?

For now, it wouldn’t be too late to worry after winning the championship.

…

Among West Ham’s remaining schedule, there were only two hurdles that could be considered the biggest.

One was the game against Manchester City, and the other was the game against Chelsea.

In fact, West Ham had never lost to Chelsea since Johann joined.

Moreover, although Chelsea’s strength was weaker than last season.

Anyway, Chelsea was not a team to be taken lightly.

Despite various difficult situations, Chelsea was marking 6th place this season, and they succeeded in narrowing the point difference with 5th place Arsenal to 1 point through the 31st round.

That’s how much potential Chelsea has.

In fact, if Chelsea puts their mind to it, they can play defense at the level of Atletico Madrid.

A team with good defense, regardless of the fun fans feel, will inevitably have good results.

Even though Bellamy was gone, Chelsea still had Matthias Gustavo and Niklas Ginter, and other players also contributed decent defense.

Therefore, regardless of their previous head-to-head record, Chelsea was definitely a tricky opponent to face anytime.

So, if they overcome this hurdle, West Ham would be one step closer to winning the championship.

< The game has started with West Ham's kickoff.>

Johann still had those words lingering in his head.

That there wasn’t much time left now.

That there wasn’t much opportunity left to give happiness to his family.

And with each game, that opportunity would decrease one by one.

As he pondered that thought, Johann came to one conclusion.

Since there isn’t much left, let’s do our best to give joy in the remaining games.

I thought I could do that much.

< Capello, opens it wide to the opposite side. The ball connects to Johann. Johann actively attempts to break through!>

< Johann looks to be in good condition today! He's raising the tempo quite quickly!>

Of course, Johann’s standard of ‘doing his best’ was very generous compared to the usual standard.

Moving so that a teammate can pass to him, and actively attempting to break through or shoot when he receives the ball.

It’s hard to express this as doing his best.

Because it’s just natural.

It would be strange if he didn’t do this.

But even this much was enough for Johann to do his best.

And,

That alone was enough for Chelsea to show their displeasure.

Niklas Ginter was the one whose face turned pale again today because of Johann, who was moving ‘actively according to his standards.’

“Oh, you poor thing. The coach is so heartless. Right? You should have faked an illness.”

“…”

Former teammate Bellamy offered a word of sympathy, Ginter was burdened by the match against Johann.

Niklas Ginter, who is a tyrant when facing other teams.

Why does he shrink when he stands in front of Johann?

< Gustavo is sticking to him! Johann quickly charges in! He can't be stopped at all!>

< Shoot! Goal! Johann scores the opening goal in just 8 minutes! His 57th goal in the league!>

Chelsea tried to cover their weakness by having Gustavo face Johann instead of Ginter as much as possible, but Gustavo wasn’t any less burdened to face Johann.

Johann scored a goal in just 8 minutes of the first half, even faster than in the previous game against Wolverhampton, making the fans happy.

And it wasn’t just the fans who were happy with Johann’s second goal.

This time it was Capello.

“Hey-!”

“…!”

15 minutes into the first half.

Capello, who had the ball in the center and was looking for a place to pass, doubted his eyes.

Because Johann was running into the space behind the opponent’s defense, demanding a pass.

It was absurd.

Johann was doing something called ‘penetration’ [making a run behind the defensive line].

On this day when the sun might rise from the west, Chelsea’s defense was bound to collapse in an instant.

Capello was also flustered, but he managed to thread a through pass at a not-too-late timing.

Whoosh-!

Swish-!

Boom-!

The through pass was accurate as if measured with a ruler, and Johann was able to shoot without having to take a separate first touch.

A perfect collaboration between Capello and Johann.

Of course, in terms of records, the two had already collaborated on dozens of attack points.

But the goal created by the perfect harmony between the two was perhaps the first of its kind.

So, it was only natural that Capello felt joy and even a bit of emotion.

Finally, at last.

Not just a forced assist obtained by simply passing to Johann for the last time.

But perfectly fulfilling his role, making each other’s contributions 50-50.

He had recorded an honest assist.

‘Cough, damn it!’

The goal of making Johann run to match his pass, rather than himself adjusting to Johann, someday.

Capello was very happy that he seemed to have approached that goal to some extent.

Therefore, the moment the goal net shook, Capello roared and ran to Johann,

“You bastard! Finally!”

He hugged Johann.

Of course, he then thought that he was too happy and it looked bad,

“But it was a bit too fast! If it weren’t for this body, you would have been caught offside. You need to practice penetration more.”

“…”

Capello just shrugged his shoulders as Capello grumbled for no reason as he turned around.

Well, the truth is the truth.

If it weren’t for Capello, there was a high probability that he wouldn’t have been able to thread such an accurate pass at that unexpected timing.

“Capello!”

“?”

“Nice pass.”

“…!”

Johann called Capello and raised his thumb, and Capello couldn’t help but continue to doubt his eyes today.

*

After the game between West Ham and Chelsea ended.

The most elated were, unexpectedly, Arsenal fans.

When Chelsea was closely chasing Arsenal by a point, raising their momentum to take the 5th place spot.

Arsenal fans had said that the reason Chelsea was able to chase them was simply because they hadn’t met Johann yet.

In the end, that was right.

Chelsea eventually failed to earn points because of Johann, and had to face the result of increasing the gap with Arsenal to 4 points.

< It was a really great game. Johann! It's amazing that we can still feel surprised by this player. He's a really great player.>

< To be able to improve even more from last season, this player. How far will he go.>

Johann scored 4 goals throughout the first and second halves.

And with those 4 goals, he completed the record of 60 goals in the league this season.

60 goals in the league at a point when the season hasn’t even ended yet.

He had surpassed his own record of 59 goals from last season.

It was said that it was a record that would never be broken again.

The record of 59 goals in the league.

A record that seemed like it might not come out again even after 100 years.

However, that record had become a mere 2nd place in just one season.

By Johann.

In the end, the only one who could beat Johann was Johann.