Chapter 48: Pre-Season (2)

Is this what it feels like?
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High school competitions and the Olympics had a decent number of spectators, but this…
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55,097 seats in the stands. On top of that, it was a home game, so most were City fans wearing blue.
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But I didn’t feel anything in particular.

Rather, it felt like I was really starting to play football?

‘Well, it’s not an official debut, just a preseason match.’

If there was a problem, it was that guy…

When I turned my head to the side, I saw a pale-faced Sanchez.

Belying his reputation as “the sniper” from Peñarol, he seemed frozen by the heat of the large crowd.

The only saving grace was that the other guys didn’t seem so nervous.

Well, compared to Castillo, Guerrero was a concern for a different reason…

“Hey~ I’m gonna score a hat-trick today, so just pass to me! If you don’t, we’ll lose, man~”

Even his teammates don’t bother responding to him anymore.

In a short amount of time, everyone had realized that Guerrero was just a psycho who was satisfied talking to himself.

Anyway, it meant that neither Guerrero nor Castillo were nervous.

‘Will he be okay?’

I thought about it for a moment but decided to just leave him be.

‘Well, Sanchez is a professional who came from another league, so he’ll figure it out.’

Looking back on it now, I should have tried to ease Sanchez’s tension a little bit.

If I was going to suffer this much in the first half…

***

Tiki-taka is a style of play that maintains high ball possession through short, quick passes, creating and utilizing space with the constant movement of all players.

The goal of this tactic is to tire out the opposing team and create scoring opportunities by finding gaps in their defense.

Why am I talking about this?

As explained earlier, tiki-taka creates gaps in the defense with short, quick passes.

But if you interpret this differently, a single misplaced pass, improper positioning, or a momentary lapse in concentration can give the opposing team a decisive opportunity.

It’s a tactic that requires all parts to fit together perfectly, like an intricate watch.

And if one of those parts isn’t working properly…

[Preston’s Lucy with the shot! Ah, Jeong Taewoo manages to block it!]

It also means that the goalkeeper has the toughest job.

Manager Peter Guardian’s tactic is basically a 4-3-3, but it organically changes to a 3-4-3 or sometimes a 2-4-5 depending on the situation.

In this fluid tactic, it can only be effective if every player perfectly performs their role.

The difficult part of this tactic is that the players have to constantly think.

Where should I pass the ball, how should I move even without the ball.

Peter Guardian divided this into three “plans” and instilled them in the players, and Sanchez, of course, learned them.

Even if not perfect, he fit into the team.

But was it because he was too nervous?

Sanchez’s creative passing ability was nowhere to be seen, and he was holding onto the ball for too long, losing it several times and making misplaced passes, becoming a stumbling block that broke the perfect flow of the tiki-taka.

‘I can’t pass it back to Sanchez. Then…’

I passed the ball to Castillo and slowly moved forward.

‘Well, if Sanchez can’t fulfill his role as a part, I’ll just have to be the lubricant.’

I played tiki-taka with the defenders and gradually moved the line up, and the opposing forwards rushed to block my path.

I was confident.

The reason they say you have to watch a promising forward for two years is that by then, all of that player’s habits and movements have been completely studied.

You have to overcome that to be recognized as a truly skilled player…

‘Sorry, but I don’t really have any habits.’

Even world-class players have at least one minor habit of their own.

Lifting a hand slightly when kicking hard with the right foot, or looking somewhere when feinting to the left, and so on.

These trivial yet important habits are usually ingrained in the body.

But strangely, I don’t have anything like that.

‘There’s no way a forward, not even a professional defender, can stop me, who has none of that.’

I beat the forward with just an upper-body feint and immediately sent a quick through pass to our team’s captain, Matias.

[I think this is the first time we’ve seen City’s link-up play start from the goalkeeper. Jeong Taewoo, a dribble and pass that you wouldn’t think came from a goalkeeper.]

Well, even if this play didn’t result in a goal, it’s not meaningless.

Any sport is heavily influenced by momentum, and in football, there’s nothing like a powerful shot to grab the momentum.

Thwack!!

Guerrero’s powerful shot, after receiving the captain’s pass, unfortunately hit the crossbar and went out.

But can’t you hear it?

The sound of City gradually gaining momentum…

[Larte’s penetration! The pass connects and he lays it off!]

Ha, I stand corrected.

I thought Sanchez would come to his senses if we got the momentum going, but instead of coming to his senses, he seems to have gotten worse.

‘No, but he’s a professional player who transferred here. Isn’t his mentality too weak?’

They are in the second division, but they’re not fools, so they knew that Sanchez was not in his right mind, and they persistently attacked only on Sanchez’s side.

Ah, please.

No matter how hard I try to coordinate the defense, if we get hit with a sudden counter-attack like this, I have no choice but to rely on my individual skills.

[The ball goes straight to Lucy. Lucy, Lucy!]

The only saving grace is that Castillo, true to his nickname ‘the iron wall,’ is blocking them so that it’s difficult for the opponent to shoot.

‘Alright, take a shot. It’s not an easy situation for you to shoot either, is it?’

[Lucy shoots high to the right!]

It wasn’t that fast of a shot.

He also couldn’t put proper power on the ball due to the sudden pressure.

I threw myself in an instant.

Before, I would have just relied on my reaction speed to block the ball, but after receiving more professional goalkeeper training at City, there was a huge difference between me then and me now at the Olympics.

The angle of my dive, the position of my hands, and even the ability to read the trajectory of the ball.

Everything was different from before.

Of course, no matter how much my skills have improved, I can’t block a shot that’s impossible to block, but with a shot like this…

Besides, even if it’s just a preseason match, I want to finish my first City game with a clean sheet.

[Shot! Go… oh? Waaaaaaaaah! It’s an unbelievable performance from Jeong Taewoo! He’s saying it. Age and experience don’t matter for a goalkeeper. He’s showing why he should be starting!]

[How is such a save possible? How does he catch a spinning ball so comfortably? He is truly amazing!]

I stood up, clutching the ball tightly.

The crowd went wild after seeing my save.

‘Hmph, of course. If it had been Ederson, it would have been a goal 100 percent of the time.’

Thanks to Sanchez, I was putting on a fantastic show for the fans in my first game.

‘Is it a good thing for a goalkeeper to have a fantastic performance?’

For a moment, I wondered, but I quickly erased it from my mind.

‘Ah, whatever. Let’s just enjoy it.’

***

SBS, which broadcasts the Premier League, was half excited and half worried.

It was a good story that he was recognized for his skills at the young age of 17 and advanced to the Premier League.

But his position was a goalkeeper.

It was common sense in the football world that experience was very important for a goalkeeper, and the opponents he had to face were not players of the same age, but the forwards of the Premier League, which is said to be the toughest in the world.

That’s why this preseason was so important.

It was a place to prove that he could also succeed in the Premier League.

But they were worried about what kind of reaction they should have if he were to concede a lot of goals while they were broadcasting him.

“Jeong Taewoo is still 17 years old. The Premier League is the best league in the world. He may need some time to adapt.”

“But with the skills he’s shown so far, I believe he can do it.”

That’s why the broadcasting team had prepared such comments in advance.

But as the game started, they soon realized that worrying about Jeong Taewoo was a luxury.

[Wow! Jeong Taewoo is doing a really great job. He’s blocking the ball calmly without getting nervous.]

Jeong Taewoo, he was dispelling the anxiety with his skills.

His talent and skills, which surpassed age and experience, were dominating the field.

– Wow, crazy.
– But why is that short kid so bad?
– I know, he holds onto the ball for too long.
– Hey, that’s why Jeong Taewoo gets a lot of time to shine.
– Is that a good thing?

And the moment that save scene from Jeong Taewoo came out…

[Jeong Taewoo! Jeong Taewoo!! Jeong Taewoo!!! Unbelievable! That’s a save that surpasses human ability!

A 17-year-old boy is knocking on the door of the Premier League! No, he has already kicked that door down and entered!

Jeong Taewoo, he is the future of Manchester City! A new era of goalkeepers has opened!]

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-This is really crazy, isn’t it?

The excited voices of the broadcasting team echoed throughout the country.