Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 48

< 047. The Need for Variety >

West Ham’s second-line attack mainly consists of the left and right wingers, Jonathan Naison and Jacob Buckley, and the central midfielder, Gordon.

However, unlike the second lines of other teams, these players didn’t make any movements aimed at scoring directly during attacks.

When Johann had the ball in the center, Naison and Buckley moved to support him from behind rather than spreading out to the sides.

Gordon also had some shooting ability, but all he did was pass the ball back to Johann if it came his way; he wasn’t the type to attempt shots frequently.

According to the data Rohan provided, Naison and Buckley attempted lateral penetrations less than five times in an entire game.

Of course, the coaching staff knew it was low.

They just didn’t know it was *that* low.

Perhaps because everyone’s attention was focused on Johann when he had the ball, they didn’t realize how reluctant Naison and Buckley were to penetrate.

At this point, Coach Schmidt and Coach Jamie cursed the power analyst once again.

No matter how close the coaching staff was to the players, and no matter how expert they were.

Seeing from the inside and seeing from the outside are different.

Sometimes, taking a step back provides a much broader view than seeing from up close.

That’s why they have a power analyst, but they only received this data now.

Anyway,

West Ham definitely needed to increase the frequency of their second-line attacks.

“It’s not about whether you score or not. What’s important is the attempt itself.”

Coach Jamie said, gathering Naison, Buckley, and Gordon.

As he said, the important thing was to increase the frequency.

There’s a term called Dummy Run [a deceptive move off the ball to confuse defenders].

Simply put, it means a fake movement, where a player who isn’t receiving the ball moves as if they are.

That’s to distract the defense’s attention.

Naison, Buckley, and Gordon lacked that.

Maybe it was because their faith in Johann was too great.

Once the ball went to Johann, the three of them just let him handle it.

They figured that even if they tried to help, it wouldn’t be as good as Johann solving it alone.

However, regardless of that, they still needed to attempt penetrations into open spaces.

That was how they could help Johann.

“Anyway, even if you penetrate, no one’s going to stop you, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s true, but it’s strangely upsetting.”

“That’s why your role is important. Since no one will stop you, you’ll get big chances. And if you can convert those, we can easily win the game.”

Strong teams like Manchester City would do the same, but.

Teams like Burnley would be even more wary of Johann when they played against them.

They might abandon everything else for the sake of focus, and have their entire defense mark only Johann.

That’s why these players would get many opportunities, and it was important for them to finish those chances.

“But, will the kid even pass to us?”

“I think he’d rather just shoot himself.”

“If I were him, I wouldn’t pass to me either.”

Coach Jamie shrugged at their words.

Instead of answering, Coach Jamie called Johann over.

He had prepared something knowing this would happen.

A double event [a training incentive or reward].

“Alright, let’s start training.”

A special training session began to create diverse attacking options for West Ham.

“Coach, we had a player with the best passes in the league.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s just that he was stuck at the front.”

Coach Jamie said, watching the players training.

It was true. He had been thinking that if they had just one midfielder with top-notch passing skills, they would combine well with Johann.

It turned out that the top-notch passer was already on the team. The problem was that it was Johann.

It was a moment when he felt so sorry that there was only one Johann in the world.

Johann, along with Naison and Buckley on the left and right.

And Gordon in the center.

A pattern training where all four moved to their respective positions at once, aiming for the goal.

“Hey!” “Center!” “Man!”

Naison penetrates the left side, and Buckley penetrates the right side.

Gordon goes up to the box like a shadow striker [a forward who plays close behind the main striker], penetrating the center.

And Johann leads the defenders down to the bottom of the box, distributing passes to one of the three options.

Whoosh-!

“Nice pass!”

Johann’s pass quality was considerably high quality. Anyone would think he was originally a midfielder, not a striker.

No, most midfielders couldn’t show that level of pass quality.

Of course, this wasn’t a real game, but training.

Rather, because it was training, they had created extreme situations.

They had assigned two defenders to Johann, and instructed them to follow and block whatever movement Johann made.

Even so, Johann continued to deliver insane passes.

Once, a ground through pass that pierced through the defense.

Once, a lobbing through pass that went over the defenders’ heads.

Once, even a pass that scooped the ball up with his forefoot and dropped it.

His passing skills were top-notch, and his accuracy and vision were perfect.

“Seriously, if there were two Johanns, we would have won the championship.”

“But one of them can’t be lazy.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Once again, it was a pity that there was only one Johann.

If there was one in the midfield and one in the box, the destructive power of those two alone would have conquered Europe.

Then, even if they filled the rest of the squad with rugby players, they would have at least won the league.

That’s how ideally Johann was distributing passes, as if that position was originally his.

“He looks like he’s having fun. It’s the first time I’ve seen him training so focused.”

“His eyes are wide open. His eyes went crazy when you mentioned the double.”

Coach Jamie and Coach Schmidt gave bewildered smiles as they watched Johann, who was more focused on training than ever before.

The effect of the double event was amazing.

To make him concentrate on training like that.

They were also worried that he might hit the jackpot and never be seen outside the training ground again.

“Looking at those guys, I don’t think we need to worry about that.”

Looking at what Naison, Buckley, and Gordon were doing, it seemed like they didn’t need to worry about that.

“Are those guys wingers?”

“We knew it when we brought them, but it’s still funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

Gordon was one thing,

The finishing ability of the other two was a sight to behold.

Even when Johann spoon-fed them perfect passes, they spat them all out.

They knew these guys were practically useless on attack, but wow. This was a bit much?

No, how bad was it?

“Ah, seriously…”

Johann even let out a sigh.

For that nonchalant, old-man-like guy to sigh.

It was truly remarkable in many ways.

“Well, that’s why we’re training.”

Anyway, well.

If they trained intensively, wouldn’t they get better?

If they were good, they wouldn’t be training separately.

Looking at it this way, he could understand why Johann was usually so half-assed in training.

Training was something you did because it was necessary, but he was so perfect that he didn’t feel the need for it.

“Ah, seriously. That Buckley.”

“Calm down, Coach. You need to manage your blood pressure.”

“Agh.”

It seemed like there would be many more times he’d clutch the back of his neck.

But there was nothing he could do.

In the long run, it was definitely necessary.

Johann’s passing was already at a completed level, and he could only hope that their scoring ability would improve as soon as possible.

…

October 16, 2027, London Stadium.

West Ham welcomed Burnley to their home.

This season, Burnley had a decent record of 2 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses in 8 games.

The secret was, of course, their defense. It was in their defense.

Burnley, who had been seeing success with their so-called ten-at-the-back formation since last season, no, even before that.

No matter which team they faced, the game became sluggish regardless of the result, so Burnley, nicknamed swamp soccer or sleeping pills, had been a public enemy for several seasons already.

No matter how important it was to get results, Burnley wasn’t coming out to play soccer, but to defend, to the point where they were criticized as anti-football.

“If you feel wronged, break through us.”

No matter what criticism they received, Burnley’s attitude was firm.

If you don’t like it, break through us.

They couldn’t break through, so why were they blaming us?

The coach and players all had that attitude, and when you thought about it, they weren’t wrong.

If Manchester City was a public enemy because they were too good, Burnley was a public enemy in a slightly different sense.

Of course, Burnley was also a target that Johann had to crush.

“You’re dead.”

“Hey, the kid’s scary today.”

“If I were the opposing team, I would have peed my pants.”

“Oh, pissed off Johann.”

He had bad memories because of those Burnley guys who only played mindless defense.

He was planning to beat them up today.

Besides, he had a secret weapon prepared.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Crush them!”

West Ham and Burnley’s Round 9 game of the season began.

“Ah, it’s boring.”

“They’re playing soccer like shit.”

The game was proceeding as expected.

Burnley pulled back and defended.

West Ham was looking for opportunities to break through that thick defense.

It was much more interesting to watch when they faced strong teams like Manchester City.

The sight of Burnley players huddled in front of the goal was a suffocating sight even from the stands.

It was a relief that Johann was there, but he was worried about whether the ball would even reach Johann.

Because of this, the spectators who came to the stadium weren’t expecting a spectacular game in the first place.

Most big clubs struggled and eked out wins when they faced Burnley.

West Ham was also watching the game, hoping to win, no matter how the game went.

“Beep-!”

Then, in the 12th minute of the first half.

A free kick was awarded to West Ham in a very good position.

“Oh, yes! This is it!”

“Hey! Let’s take this opportunity!”

The spectators cheered at the free kick decision.

These set pieces were the antithesis of anti-football.

Besides, they had Johann, who was good at taking kicks, and the position was quite good.

Front of the arc. The distance to the goal was about 20 meters.

They had to take advantage of this opportunity.

However,

“What are they doing?”

“Fucking hell, how many people are they putting in the wall?”

The spectators cursed as Burnley set up their defensive wall.

It was literally plastered.

Basically, 7 people set up the wall in front of the ball.

And,

“What’s that bastard doing?”

One person was lying down behind the wall, stretching his body horizontally. The purpose was to prevent a free kick that was kicked low, aiming for the wall to jump.

Not only that, but the rest of the players were also in the box.

That meant all 11 players, including the goalkeeper, were in the box.

“Crazy bastards. Ugh, disgusting.”

“Burnley! Just break through!”

“Or just shoot it! So anyone gets hit and dies!”

“Yeah, that would be more satisfying than a goal!”

The sight of just shooting at the wall and hoping someone gets hit and dies would be more satisfying.

In that sight,

Johann, who was standing with the ball, was whispering to Buckley.

“Are you ready?”

“Haa. Just a moment. Let me prepare myself a little.”

“What is there to prepare?”

“Man, put yourself in my shoes. Hoo. Okay. I’m going.”

Buckley took a deep breath and headed into the box.

In fact, since the day before.

Buckley had a pattern that he had prepared separately with Johann.

A pattern that he had prepared to use in a free kick situation just like this.

“Do we really have to do this? Can’t you just put it in yourself?”

“The coach told us to create diverse scoring opportunities.”

“But do we have to go this far?”

“Don’t you want to score a goal?”

“Ha, man. Okay. I just have to stand still, right?”

“Yes.”

He felt a bit uneasy.

But Johann was enthusiastically asking him to do it together, so he couldn’t refuse.

“Hoo.”

While Buckley in the box had a nervous expression, Johann began to step back, one step at a time.

One step, one step.

Johann retreated to a fairly distant position.

At that sight,

“…”

Burnley’s goalkeeper tensed his body and rubbed his hands together.

Retreating that far meant that there was a high possibility of a kick that would hit hard to the side of the wall rather than over the wall. The distance was also close.

Therefore, he would abandon the space behind the wall for now.

The keeper positioned himself on the side where the ball was visible.

There was a large opponent standing in front of him, but he didn’t seem to need to pay much attention to him.

Alright, come.

“Beep beep-!”

Soon, the whistle blew,

Thud-!

Johann ran straight towards the ball.

It looked like he was going to hit the right corner hard, straight as an arrow.

That’s exactly what he did.

Whoooooosh-!

However, Johann’s target was not the corner of the goal.