Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 184

< 183. Standing Tall >

“Their momentum is pretty scary…”

Lohan muttered, staring at his laptop with a serious expression.

About three weeks were left until the Champions League final.

Lohan was thoroughly analyzing their opponent, Real Madrid.

He hadn’t analyzed all of Real’s games yet, but he had watched all the recent and important matches, and he was roughly grasping the manager’s tendencies, tactics, and expected variables, writing them down in a document.

The content was already over several pages.

“It doesn’t look like it’ll end trivially.”

The more he analyzed, the more he felt that Real was not an easy opponent.

On the day West Ham secured the league title, Real coincidentally also secured the La Liga title.

Their record was 28 wins, 5 draws, and 1 loss, with 89 points.

The record itself wasn’t as good as West Ham’s, but Real secured the title early in the 34th round, one round earlier than West Ham.

In the end, it meant that they both boasted overwhelming power within their respective leagues.

Not only within their leagues.

Real had smoothly advanced to the Champions League final without any major crises.

Of course, the draw was easier than West Ham’s.

Real, who advanced to the knockout stage as the top of Group A, met Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16, winning with a total score of 6 to 3 and advancing to the quarterfinals.

Then, in the quarterfinals, they defeated Manchester City, and in the semifinals, they defeated Villarreal to reach the final.

Compared to West Ham, who faced Paris and Barcelona in the group stage, and Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Atletico Madrid from the round of 16, it was definitely an easier draw.

But what was clear was that even if Real had a more difficult draw, they would have had no major difficulties in reaching the final.

Of course, there is no ‘what if’ in football, and nothing can be definitively stated.

Looking only at objective power, Real is a team with the top two powerhouses in Europe.

So, it doesn’t mean that Real advanced to the final simply because of luck with the draw.

“In the end, it revolves around Viega…”

In some ways, Real is a similar team to West Ham.

In that they have a clear ace, and the tactics revolve around him.

Real’s ace is Fernando Viega.

His position is central midfielder, and his style is similar to Capello’s.

However, Viega’s range of activity is wider.

If Capello moves like an attacking midfielder, Viega moves almost like a box-to-box midfielder [a midfielder who contributes both defensively and offensively].

That means he’s an all-around midfielder with attacking talent, stamina, activity, and toughness.

Yohan had already met him at the Euros [European Championship, a major international football tournament].

They met in the final then, and they’re meeting in the final again this time.

Coincidentally, their second meeting is only in the final.

Thanks to that, he’s probably burning with revenge from the Euros in this final, but on this side, we can face him with confidence because we have experience of winning once.

The fact that Bellamy, who won the Euros together with Yohan, is also a great strength.

Anyway, Viega is definitely a great player.

No, it might not be enough to simply describe him as great.

From the fact that he is the unrivaled ace of a mega-club like Real Madrid at such a young age, it’s an extraordinary thing.

If it weren’t for Yohan, Viega would have been the best star to lead the next generation.

“Ah, no.”

He’ll be like that again from next year.

Yohan won’t be here next year.

When there is no lion, the fox is the king.

Not that Viega is fox-level.

“Nathan and Buckley are important, of course…”

Anyway, Viega is a player who needs intensive marking.

Gordon and Capello, who are bound to face him in the formation during defense, will have to put pressure on him well.

However, that may not be enough.

It’s not enough to expect strong defense from Capello.

Then, in the end, Nathan and Buckley will have to give a lot of help, as usual.

But if that happens, the burden on Nathan and Buckley is too great.

Of course, the amount of activity of the two is enormous, but Viega is not an ordinary player.

Viega is the type to use his teammates well.

“Then, should we remove Bailey and go with 4-5-1?”

How about removing the withdrawn striker Bailey and going with a two-defensive midfielder formation?

By placing Lucas Simone, who is from center back, as Gordon’s partner in the defensive midfielder, we can go in a way that exclusively marks Viega.

After all, wouldn’t it be enough for Capello and Yohan to attack?

“The problem is, we’ve never played a game like this before.”

It looks like a good method, but the problem is that we’ve never played a game with this tactic.

Trying a method that you’ve never done before in the Champions League final?

Umm.

If we lose like that, what will the manager hear?

“They’ll say he’s got a famous coach disease.”

Lohan scratched his head roughly.

It’s not easy.

Because it’s such an important game, there are many worries.

If you do this, that’s uneasy, and if you do that, this is uneasy.

It would be better if it was home and away, but it’s even more so because it’s a single game.

Besides, it’s the first time preparing for the final directly.

“Certainly, experience is…”

If there is a part where West Ham is overwhelmingly inferior to Real, not only himself, it will be experience.

Real’s experience is rich.

Since when has Real been a big club?

Long before Rohan was born, Real was a big club, no, a mega-club.

Real was also the king of the Champions League.

The club with the most wins, boasting an overwhelming number of wins with more than twice the difference from second place.

Real also won the Champions League last year.

And the members of that glory are still protecting Real this season, and are challenging the feat of winning two consecutive European titles.

“Honestly, Manchester City played better in that final.”

Experience is really an element that cannot be ignored.

I felt that for sure while watching last year’s Champions League final.

Last year, like this year, it was a match between the Premier League champion and the La Liga champion.

Manchester City and Real.

Honestly, in Rohan’s opinion, Manchester City played much better that day.

Samir Rishard’s form, who returned in the second half, was so good, and Manchester City showed a much more organized performance.

But the result was Real’s victory.

I could feel it even from the viewer’s point of view.

What should I say.

Real felt solid.

Even if they were being dominated in the game, it felt like they wouldn’t lose.

On the other hand, Manchester City had a hasty impression somewhere, even though they were dominating the game.

In fact, Manchester City made mistakes by missing good chances absurdly, and Real eventually lifted the Big Ear [nickname for the Champions League trophy] by making the most of all the few chances they had.

Real was such a scary team.

That will eventually be the power that comes from experience.

Real is a team with a good harmony of old and new.

Fernando Viega, a young player, is playing the role of an ace, but Juan Gonzalez, the core of the defense, is a veteran enough to be the captain of the Spanish national team, and Real’s creator, Killian Mbappe, is also an experienced player.

Not only direct experience is experience.

Indirect experience is also a good experience.

Juan Gonzalez would have trained with seniors who achieved the unprecedented feat of winning three consecutive Champions League titles during his youth days and heard many stories.

Gonzalez became a senior, and that story would have been passed down to the young players through Gonzalez.

History continues in that way, and that is the greatest strength Real has.

“On the other hand, we’re definitely rookies.”

Compared to such Real, West Ham can be said to have no experience at all.

Of course, Kane is there, so it’s not like there is no Champions League final experience at all, but Kane doesn’t have any winning experience either.

Almost all of the players are in the state of being the first time for the Champions League itself, let alone the final.

They can’t be compared in experience.

“But, what, did we have league title experience?”

Still, is experience everything?

They are the players who won the league title for the first time.

What’s there that they can’t win the Champions League?

“We’re just trusting Yohan and going.”

To be honest, wouldn’t having Yohan be more reassuring than having experience of winning the Champions League 10 times?

Moreover, that experience that Real boasts.

Among those many experiences, there is also the experience of being beaten by Yohan.

In the last Euro final.

Unfortunately, most of the main players of the Spanish national team belonged to Real.

“I hope that experience becomes poison.”

Rohan smiled and began to immerse himself in data analysis again.

ㆍㆍㆍ

After winning the league against Manchester City.

West Ham entered Champions League final preparation mode.

Coach Schmidt first worried about how to rotate until the final game so that all the players’ conditions could be at their best on the day of the final, and he had all the outlines in place.

The remaining three league games were to be thought of as evaluation matches.

Evaluation matches for the final.

It was important to give the players a break, but it was also important to keep their sense of the game going.

Of course, I also wanted to achieve an undefeated victory if possible.

In particular, Yohan had to be managed more carefully than ever.

As the team won the league title, his goal was achieved.

In other words, the motivation has disappeared.

I had to make sure that Yohan could maintain his concentration until the end of the season.

Fortunately, Yohan was definitely aware of it.

Although it has been decided that he will retire at the end of this season, it does not mean that he is retired now.

He came to training, and he didn’t seem to have let go of all the diet management and such.

In that regard, I have to believe that my father is managing well.

Anyway, the league 36th round held on May 11th.

In the game against AFC Bournemouth, West Ham was resting some of the key players, including Yohan.

And,

The MOM [Man of the Match] of the day was Harry Kane.

Kane! Shows the class that hasn’t died! Multi-goal in today’s game!

Kane’s condition looked better than ever.

Kane, who flew around as if he had returned to his prime, recorded 2 goals and 1 assist in the game, leading the team to a 3-1 victory.

The reason why Kane’s condition is at its best was obvious.

Didn’t he get to write the league title in his career?

Following last season’s FA Cup win, Kane has secured another winning career.

It was natural for Kane to feel like he was walking in the sky, as he had won the Premier League, which he had longed for the most.

That soon led to good condition.

This was also the case in the 37th round.

The game against Southampton held on May 17th.

More key players than in the Bournemouth game took a break in this game.

Almost all of the starting players were on the bench or excluded from the list.

Yohan also sat on the bench.

Coach Schmidt put Yohan on the bench instead of excluding him from the list in case the game became difficult, but Yohan had no chance to warm up.

12 minutes into the first half, West Ham’s PK [Penalty Kick]. The kicker is Harry Kane. Kane, shoot! Easily succeeds!

West Ham, who started to lead with Kane’s PK in just 12 minutes, finished the first half 1-0, and then scored a clean 2-0 victory with Kane’s header goal again in the 19th minute of the second half.

35 wins and 2 draws! West Ham leaves only one game to win the undefeated title!

West Ham, who recorded an overwhelming record of 35 wins and 2 draws in this game.

Now, if they don’t lose in the last round, West Ham will be able to write a literally unprecedented record of winning the first title with an undefeated victory.

Also,

The last game of the league was important even if it wasn’t for that record.

The last game before the Champions League final.

Coach Schmidt thought this game would be the final check.

The players who will play in this game will also play in the Champions League final.

Therefore, Coach Schmidt carefully considered the starting lineup for the day as if he was worried about the Champions League final starting lineup.

He had close discussions with club staff including Jamie Coach and Rohan, and repeated his worries while staying up all night.

There were various tactics and lineups presented by the staff, but the choice was his.

Feeling infinite responsibility, Coach Schmidt couldn’t easily make a choice and suddenly had such a thought.

‘I hope there are no regrets left.’

Instead of focusing on how to beat Real Madrid.

How can I have no regrets when the final is over?

Coach Schmidt decided to focus on that.

And,

He easily wrote the starting lineup of the players who will play in the last game of the league.

I will send you the 2028/29 season Premier League, the last round. This season’s winning team, West Ham, will face Fulham.

Let’s take a look at West Ham’s starting lineup first. It’s the best eleven that will be operated for the first time in three weeks. It’s the best eleven that has been operated the most this season.

Let’s do what we do best.

That power that allowed West Ham to come this far, let’s have a head-on match with Real as it is.

Then,

Whether we win or lose, there will be no regrets left.

The formation is 4-4-2. Jeff Hurrichel wears the goalkeeper gloves, and the back four line consists of Martin Petrovic, Shay Bellamy, Danny Guimarães, and Michael Jenkinson from the left. Tim Gordon and Daniele Capello are in the middle of the midfield, and Jonathan Nathan and Jacob Buckley are on both wings. Joshua Bailey and Yohan Ban will be at the forefront of the attack!