Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 69

< 068. A Cozy Winter >

The feeling was truly strange.

It felt like crossing with my eyes closed.

Like crossing without looking into the box, focusing solely on the ball.

Of course, it’s not a good habit.

A cross is a pass, and a pass is an interaction that connects two or more players.

It can’t be a one-sided action.

Therefore, players passing the ball should always check each other’s positions.

Especially the one giving the pass.

However, that’s only in general cases.

Here, with West Ham, it’s different.

It’s different when Johann is in the box.

There’s no need to check Johann’s position.

He’s always standing in his place.

So, don’t look and cross.

Just cross it.

Like taking a shot.

Just like strikers who look at the ball when shooting because the goalposts don’t move.

Thwack-!

“Nice, see? This way, it won’t get caught by the defense.”

“It’s faster.”

“At that speed, it would have reached his head. Let’s refine it a bit more.”

By eliminating the looking time, Jenkinson’s crosses became much simpler and faster.

The accuracy of the kick also improved.

Since he’s kicking with the thought of sending it to only one place, the kick goes out consistently.

However,

‘Is this kind of kick really enough?’

Jenkinson still couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

It was too easy, which made him even more doubtful.

Petrovic says this kind of cross will connect with Johann, but Jenkinson, still lacking confidence in his kick, found it hard to believe.

“Thanks for the help. I’ll do a bit more and go in.”

So, there’s no other way but to train more.

Thanks to Petrovic, he seems to have grasped the direction, but he’s still very uneasy.

To resolve this anxiety, he has no choice but to kick the ball even once more.

It might not completely resolve it, but he’s too impatient to just stand still.

The cold winter is approaching.

“Me too.”

“Let’s do more together. I don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

“···Are you all okay with that?”

“Hey. If you do well, it’ll make things easier for me too.”

“Same here.”

Jenkinson nodded, looking at Petrovic and Hurrichel, who were staying behind at the training ground to train more with him.

They are grateful teammates.

Not just them.

All the teammates, and the coaching staff.

They are all grateful beings.

The only way to repay them is to play his role wonderfully.

“Then, I’ll try again.”

“Okay.”

That day, dozens of balls continued to pile up in front of the goalposts on the training ground.

To spend the cold winter a little more warmly, there was no choice but to keep kicking the ball.

ㆍㆍㆍ

December 17, 2027.

West Ham welcomed Everton as their opponent for the 19th round of the league.

The last game of the first half [of the season].

It was West Ham after taking a 4-day break after returning from the away game against Liverpool.

A 4-day break, it certainly wasn’t enough.

Especially after the Anfield expedition [referring to the difficult away game at Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield].

The time spent traveling back and forth couldn’t be ignored, and the game was quite tough.

All the starters played in the game.

And most of them played the full time.

It was a game won with a last-minute dramatic goal, so there was no time to rest until the end.

Therefore, rotation was essential for today’s game.

First, Jonathan Neeson, who played full time in the Liverpool game and ran a total of 12.1 kilometers, was out [of the starting lineup].

Also, defensive midfielder Drew Mackenzie and captain Tim Gordon will start the game on the bench today.

If it were a team with a deep squad like Manchester City, even if about 3 of the starters were missing, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But West Ham is different.

If three key players are missing at once, it’s like becoming a completely different team.

“Buckley, your role is big today.”

“Leave it to me, I’ll run 20 kilometers, so don’t worry!”

Buckley, who has become a quasi-ace due to the absence of his teammates, seems to be in a good mood, but that’s not really the case.

The only positive factor is that Johann is playing in good shape.

Especially since today’s opponent, Everton, was not an easy team.

They are currently 8th in the league.

West Ham is at the top, and the Big 6 [the top six traditionally dominant teams in the English Premier League] are lined up below, so 8th place is not a low ranking.

Excluding the big clubs, they are currently in 1st place.

So, they were by no means an easy opponent.

Early in the first half.

Away team Everton seems to be taking a defensive stance.

Everton seemed to be planning to play the game by acknowledging the difference in rankings.

Moreover, it’s the opponent’s home.

They are thinking of securing the defense first and catching the game with a counterattack.

Everton’s idea seemed to be working quite effectively.

Everton’s defense was working quite well.

No, it was effectively blocking West Ham to the point of frustration.

It’s easy in the first place.

The center and the left.

The right can be abandoned, so it’s too easy to concentrate the defense.

They seem to have perfectly analyzed West Ham’s pattern.

However, there’s no need for complex analysis in the first place.

West Ham’s pattern is simple.

So, there was no difficult response.

“Right··· Hmm.”

Coach Jamie, who was watching the game, tried to give an order but stopped.

Until the early and mid-season, coach Schmidt and coach Jamie had ordered to have as many diverse attack patterns as possible.

However, from some point on, they had a slight sense of giving up.

First of all, Johann was doing so well on his own, but more than that, no matter how much they talked, the right attack didn’t come alive.

Michael Jenkinson.

It was because this friend’s growth was slow.

Of course, the primary responsibility lies with Jacob Buckley.

Buckley lacks the destructive power to break through the side in on-the-ball situations, but Buckley is a winger in an attacking position anyway.

It’s right to pick Buckley as the primary reason for the dull right-wing attack.

However, Buckley has a more important role than that, and he’s doing his part in that area, so that aspect has to be taken into account.

Instead, Jenkinson has to play that role.

So, he had been emphasizing this and training him since the pre-season.

However, in fact, crossing is not an easy skill, even though it looks simple.

It’s not a part that can be increased quickly in a short period of time.

If that were possible, many wingers or fullbacks wouldn’t be racking their brains because of just that one cross.

“Umm···”

Coach Schmidt, watching the game with a complicated expression.

In fact, coach Schmidt felt a bit sorry for Jenkinson.

Jenkinson was a quite promising young player.

His physique is decent, he’s fast, and his defensive ability is good. Considering that he’s still young at 24 years old, he’s already playing well enough.

Above all, he’s a sincere and mature friend.

Jenkinson was the type to constantly look for problems in himself without blaming others or the environment.

That’s why coach Schmidt liked Jenkinson from the first time he saw him, and he consistently used him even when he was criticized for being insufficient.

However, there were parts where the team’s current situation didn’t match Jenkinson.

The role that Jenkinson has to play is a role where his weaknesses are bound to be highlighted.

That’s why, even while the team is doing well, he’s been receiving quite a bit of criticism from the media.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was also true.

The center of West Ham right now is Johann.

There’s no doubt about this.

Therefore, all focus must be on Johann. All positions must run for Johann and be made to help Johann.

Even if everything else is good, if that part is lacking, the shortcomings are bound to be revealed.

If Jenkinson played in a team with an outstanding right winger in attacking power, the evaluation would be clearly different from now.

So, he was a painful finger [a source of frustration] for coach Schmidt.

He’s a good friend, but he doesn’t fit in with the current team.

He wants to use him somehow, but he can’t do anything about it if things continue like this.

Coach Schmidt had already thought that the time given to him since the summer was not long.

This winter.

If the crosses don’t come up as much as he wants by winter, he has no choice but to find a new person.

As much as he likes him, it’s too bad, but he has no choice but to do so for the team.

When there was no space on the left, a long pass was connected to the right.

The one who received the ball was Jenkinson.

Jenkinson’s side, that is, the left space from Everton’s point of view, is quite wide.

Of course, there’s a reason for that.

Because no matter how much Jenkinson catches the ball, there’s nothing threatening about it.

Tatat-

One defender slowly comes out.

Jenkinson slowly dribbles the ball in front of him.

Usually, in this situation, Jenkinson’s choice mostly led to a back pass.

It’s because he lacks confidence.

He thought to himself that even if he went in himself, he wouldn’t be able to create a threatening scene anyway.

‘Simply··· Simply···’

But, something is different today.

From the moment the ball came towards him, Jenkinson was repeating it in his mind.

Let’s do it.

Let’s do as Petrovic said, as we trained.

It’s uneasy, but we have to overcome it.

That’s how you can survive here.

Jenkinson liked this place.

He liked his colleagues, and he didn’t want to leave the London Stadium.

To do that, he had to overcome himself.

Tatat-

Paah-!

Jenkinson kicked the ball long and started running.

Jenkinson is digging towards the corner flag.

The speed is definitely fast.

However, even so, the appearance of the opposing defender following behind doesn’t look urgent.

It seems they know that it takes a long time to cross anyway.

But,

Jenkinson was running, looking only at the ball.

‘Keuk···’

I want to turn my head.

I want to check the situation inside the box.

I want to grasp the positions of my colleagues.

A strong desire arose, but Jenkinson gritted his teeth and didn’t take his eyes off the ball.

It’s uneasy.

It feels like kicking the ball with my eyes closed.

However, I have to believe that that is the way to a more accurate cross.

Anyway, he’s in that spot.

Rain or shine, he’ll be in that spot.

So,

Let’s believe and upload it [cross it].

Like this!

Thwaaaaaack-!

Jenkinson’s right-footed cross went up simply to the goal.

It was something everyone didn’t expect.

That Jenkinson would cross so lightly.

But,

‘···Ah.’

Jenkinson’s brow furrowed as he looked at the cross that had left his foot.

Ah, damn it.

It’s a little high.

Why is it like this?

Even though I trained so much, why doesn’t it fly accurately?

Why doesn’t this damn right foot improve no matter how much I practice?

Jenkinson resented his right foot.

However, it was that moment.

Swoosh-!

From the gaps between the opposing defenders, Johann’s face popped out.

Johann jumped towards the ball that looked a little high.

It was at a point when the other defenders hadn’t even taken their feet off the ground.

Anyway, it was a ball that would flow backwards or be handled by the keeper.

But,

That wasn’t the case for Johann.

Paah-!

Thud-!

Johann’s forehead slammed down on Jenkinson’s cross. And that header cleanly split Everton’s goal net.

The London Stadium cheers.

In it, Jenkinson was dumbfounded.

‘This··· it actually works?’

On the one hand, it’s absurd.

That feeling came first.

But,

“Hyung [Korean term for older brother or senior, used to show respect], that was good.”

The moment he saw Johann approaching, pointing at himself.

Jenkinson is overwhelmed with an unknown emotion.

Thank you.

He’s so grateful to him.

“Th··· Thank you!”

“···Yes?”

Jenkinson hugs Johann tightly.

It’s a strange sight.

That the player who made the assist is thanking the player who scored the goal.

But,

Jenkinson was sincerely grateful to Johann.

Because he made him think that maybe this winter might be a little warmer.