Chapter 57: Is Arsenal a Strong Team? (2)

When a mid-table team suddenly surges into the top ranks, it’s often dismissed as mere luck in the beginning.

But if you look closely, there’s always a reason.

One of the reasons City is currently holding onto the second spot in the Premier League is the stability at the back.

With my arrival, the defense became stable, allowing the attackers to push forward more aggressively.

That’s how we were able to achieve the remarkable result of four consecutive wins, even though it’s still early in the season.

But a person can’t always be on a winning streak.

Crises are bound to come, and the name of the crisis that comes during a winning streak is usually ‘complacency.’

[Ah, he’s open again. Lost with the shot! Ah, Tae-woo once again denies the City goal from being breached!]

[This is Tae-woo’s strength. He currently has a higher one-on-one save rate than any other goalkeeper. This is precisely why an 18-year-old can be a Premier League goalkeeper.]

[But apart from Tae-woo, the defenders seem to be shaking quite a bit, don’t they? There have already been six shots on target in the first 20 minutes.]

[Arsenal’s tactic is the so-called ‘kick and rush,’ but the defenders keep losing their men, so the Arsenal players are too free.]

[This can’t go on. No matter how confident Tae-woo is in one-on-ones, there’s no goalkeeper in the world who can block 100% of shots. He will concede eventually. The City defense needs to focus.]

Yes, after winning for almost a month, it’s easy to forget about losing and become complacent.

But that’s a story for when you’re not a professional.

A professional shouldn’t be like that.

In any situation, a professional must never lose their composure.

“Focus! What are you guys doing right now? If it wasn’t for me, it would be 6-0! It’s not even that difficult of a pattern, so why do you keep missing it!”

The defenders were startled by my voice.

Well, of course they would be.

I’ve never said anything to the defenders during a match or training until now.

But when it’s time, it’s time.

No matter how confident I am in one-on-one situations, it’s not like I’ll never concede a goal.

If this situation repeats, I will definitely concede at some point.

“If you lose focus and miss a defender one more time, I’m going to force-feed you a Castillo-style pie!”

At those words, the defenders’ faces turned pale.

Through Guerrero’s mouth, the entire team already knew about the ‘authentic’ British food that Castillo made.

And among them, there was no one with an abnormal enough palate to call a pie with a fish head sticking out of it ‘delicious.’

Of course, there were some who didn’t understand why I was using this as a threat…

“Huh? What’s wrong? It’s delicious, why do you guys have that look on your faces?”

Except for the clueless Castillo, all the defenders’ faces became determined.

“Tae-woo, I definitely won’t miss this time, so please stop with that horrible talk…”

“Are you trying to kill us?”

“No, the pie is really delicious, I’m telling you!”

“Hoo… just thinking about it makes me sick.”

Of course, they probably don’t think I’ll actually force-feed them Castillo’s pie.

They’ll likely take it as a joke meant to get them to focus.

‘Sorry, but if you take it as a joke and don’t focus this time, I’m really going to shove it in your mouths.’

I wasn’t joking.

If they really showed me a play I couldn’t understand, I would definitely make them eat Castillo’s pie.

This guy, who’s still defending his pie as delicious, genuinely believes his food is good.

So if I ask, he’ll gladly do it.

***

Fortunately, whether they thought it was a joke or not, they really didn’t want to eat Castillo’s pie.

The effect was immediate.

[Menchi! He gets to the ball first and clears it away from Arsenal. That’s right. This is it. No matter how much of a counter-attack it is, they should never easily allow space behind them. It seems like he had a word with Tae-woo, and since then, the defenders have snapped out of it and aren’t allowing easy space behind.]

[It’s truly amazing. Tae-woo is firmly pointing things out to players much older than him, yet he’s also leading the team well. He even has the charisma a goalkeeper needs. It’s unbelievable leadership for an 18-year-old!]

[Is there anything this player can’t do? An 18-year-old goalkeeper at this level is just insane!]

‘Ah, what is it? They’re doing well now, but why do I feel so uneasy?’

[Arsenal sends a long ball to the left… and he catches the ball at the end line!]

[There are many defenders in front of Arsenal. What will they do? Oh! A shot right away!]

[Huh? I think it just hit his hand? Why is he tackling with his hands up in the air? The shot hit his hand!]

‘F*cking hell, he was doing so well just a moment ago, why did he suddenly raise his hand and tackle!’

Menchi went in for a tackle to take the ball away, but he probably didn’t expect the opponent to shoot at that exact moment.

And he probably didn’t expect the ball to hit the hand he had raised.

Furthermore, he probably didn’t realize he was standing inside the penalty box.

‘Ha… f*ck.’

No, I mean, why would you do a ‘manse’ pose while tackling?

(TL note: ‘Manse’ is a Korean cheer, similar to ‘Hooray!’, where you raise both arms.)

It’s not like he’s trying to get noticed.

A penalty kick isn’t something I can block just because my reaction speed is cheat-level.

This is just leaving it up to luck, which is why I hate penalty kicks the most.

[Lost is preparing to take the penalty kick.]

‘I have to do something like this.’

[Huh? Why is Jeong Tae-woo standing on the left? And he’s pointing to the right with his hand! It’s as if he’s saying, ‘You’re going to kick it this way, right?’]

The only way to increase the probability of blocking it is to provoke the kicker.

Whether it’s to induce a mistake or to get him to actually kick it in the direction I want, just making him think more than before the provocation is a success.

Because no matter where the opponent kicks, the direction I’m going to dive is already decided.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

Moments like this make a goalkeeper feel the most alone.

Tens of thousands of eyes are on me, but in the end, this moment is a battle I fight alone.

‘The moment he kicks, I dive to the right.’

[Lost is about to take the penalty kick… shoooot!!!!]

[Tae-woo dived to the right as well! He was on the left, but the moment the kick was taken, he launched himself to the right like a lightning bolt!]

[An insane save! He punched the ball away with his right hand! But it’s still dangerous!]

There was no time to revel in the momentary success.

I couldn’t catch the ball and it didn’t go out of bounds, so I had to prepare for the next shot immediately.

[Ah, the deflected ball unfortunately goes to Arsenal’s Tony Jones!]

‘Please!’

My muscles screamed from the sudden turn, but I had to throw myself again.

[Tae-woo has flown again!]

[Aaaah! Tae-woo blocks it again! This time he’s caught the ball securely!]

I’ve never been physically exhausted during a match yet.

But in the face of this sweet sense of accomplishment, everything is a worthy price to pay.

In the sport of football, the striker always gets more of the spotlight than the goalkeeper.

But sometimes, very rarely, there’s a moment when the goalkeeper surpasses the striker and captures everyone’s attention.

That’s when they pull off a series of saves so insane that people’s jaws drop.

And I just did that.

Twice.

It was only natural for the home fans to go wild, and their cheers filled my ears.

Jung Tae Woo, wherever you may be,

You’re keeping clean sheets for Man City,

With an angel’s face and lightning saves,

The youngest keeper making waves,

He’s our Number One from Ko-re-a!

Tae Woo! Tae Woo!

Amidst the roar that seemed to shake the Etihad Stadium, Mathias ran up and hugged me.

“You madman! How on earth did you save that?”

The captain’s face was full of disbelief.

Soon, the other players started to gather one by one.

Alexander slapped my back hard.

Sanchez said, “That’s our Tae-woo!” and massaged my shoulders.

Even amidst their congratulations and cheers, there was only one thing I could say to them.

“If we lose after I’ve done all this, I won’t be able to stand it, Castillo.”

“Huh? Why?”

“If we lose this match… as a sign of unity, can all the starting players here have a team dinner at your place?”

The faces of the players who understood the meaning of my words hardened beautifully.

Mathias paused for a moment, then his eyes widened. Alexander coughed awkwardly and turned his head away.

Sanchez looked like he was watching a horror movie.

And Guerrero looked like he was ready to run away at any moment.

‘Hehe… Sanchez, Guerrero, you guys have actually eaten it, so you know. Those horrible foods…’

Of course, only this clueless, self-proclaimed chef Castillo was beaming and happy.

“Really? Tae-woo has finally realized the true taste of my cooking! Let’s eat together even if we win! I’ll make all the new dishes I’ve developed!”

“No, if we win, we each have to prepare for the next match.”

I continued with a serious expression.

“But if we lose… if we lose even after I’ve done all this, it’s definitely a problem of unity. That’s when your food is needed.”

“Haha, is that so? Alright! If we lose, I’ll do my best for our unity!”

‘Hehe… if we lose, we all die together, you guys.’

“That madman…”

I heard Guerrero mutter, but I pretended not to.

He’s the craziest one of all, who is he calling a madman?