GOAT: All Football Talents Are Mine

169. The upcoming decisive day (2)

Bernd Schuster's technical team has been closely observing Barcelona's tactics as if dissecting them over the past three months.

It is impossible to keep an eye on every team in the first division, but Barcelona was an exception.

He examines the flow and attack route of each game and finds loopholes in the defenders.

El Clásico begins from there.

No matter how new and excellent a tactic is, it is bound to break down at some point.

Because there is no perfect strategy in this world.

It was clear that Barcelona's strategy of playing cartoon-like soccer would also have loopholes.

The technical team has already come up with a few countermeasures, and after running a simulation, we managed to get some decent results.

All we had to do was change the details of our existing tactics.

But the problem did not end there.

No matter how many countermeasures are created, if the players cannot perform them perfectly in practice, it is a waste of time.

To be able to face Barcelona, you have to show perfect movement according to the tactics implemented by the computer.

Barcelona's tactics were that close to perfection.

At least that's what Schuster thought.

So I had a lot of concerns.

I studied frantically day and night to find out how to achieve the best efficiency, whether there were any weaknesses of the enemy that I had not yet discovered, and whether there were any further shortcomings.

Because El Clásico was important.

Especially this year, its importance was much higher than usual.

Since we were fighting for three points in the league, we could never lose.

The realistic goal was a draw.

It was such a difficult and difficult task to get a point from Barcelona's magical castle called Camp Nou.

But in the meantime, unexpected news arrived.

From Woo Ho-young.

"You know their soccer?"

"There are a few things I felt while watching the video."

"You want to tell me those things."

"yes."

"Great. Because conversation is good."

Schuster had consulted the opinions of Raul, Zidane Cannavaro and Salgado Guti over the past few days.

However, Hoyoung was the first to come.

Schuster liked that and invited Hoyoung to sit down.

"Relax. "I want to hear what you have to say."

"No problem. "But I don't know if my thoughts will help."

"Of course it will. I received a lot of help from you in the last Numancia match. And we need more diverse perspectives and a broader perspective."

"All right."

Hoyoung expressed his thoughts without hesitation.

"Before that, we need to think about Coach Guardiola's football philosophy. "What do you feel when you watch him play soccer?"

"haha. Soccer philosophy… Pep plays breathtaking yet smooth soccer. "His perfectionist personality comes through well."

"I think so too. He wants to give meaning to every action. We need to understand it. I felt like he had his own very unique world view. "Can we first hear the response plan proposed by the technical team?"

"No problem."

Schuster displayed a video of the simulation operation on his laptop.

"Pep's Barcelona increases possession through accurate and quick passes. So we plan to train with that in mind. "We take the market share first and don't hand it over."

"It's not possible."

"hmm?"

"I don't think we should focus on market share."

Hoyoung continued speaking without delay.

"Guardiola's football is not possession football, but very strict attacking football."

"When you say Guardiola's soccer, do you mean tiki-taka?"

"yes. But Guardiola's tiki-taka is different from the traditional method. I think the tactic we need to fight against is a 'fluid tactic' based on passing, movement, positioning, and pressure. "Can I see a video of Barcelona now?"

From then on, Hoyoung began to give magnificent explanations.

After about a couple of hours of conversation, Schuster looked bewildered.

I couldn't speak for a while, like a mute who had been starved of honey.

I opened my mouth after I had gathered my thoughts.

"It definitely seems like that…. We were stuck in possession football and couldn't see the reality. Although it was something that was only briefly mentioned in the technical team, we focused more on passing for possession. But I missed that part… I feel like I got hit on the head with a hammer."

The time I spent talking with Hoyoung was full of admiration.

After watching Guardiola's soccer philosophy and Barcelona's play video, Hoyoung's opinion seemed to agree.

"I feel like I've found another breakthrough. "But I'm not sure this is a perfect solution."

"Everything is something you have to try to know."

Just because we understood the true nature of the enemy did not mean we could defeat it.

Barcelona had the power to stop even if they knew it.

"But… what's certain is that in theory, it's worth a try. But how did you come up with that?"

"I studied him while watching him play. And it's a thought I've had for a long time since playing against Guardiola's Barcelona B team last year."

"Amazing. "It's genius."

"Haha… thank you."

Hoyoung, who was embarrassed, answered briefly.

I couldn't say that I knew everything from reading 'Guardiola's Book Exhibition', which will be published in the distant future.

Hoyoung, who was interested in soccer even before returning, liked reading the autobiographies of soccer officials.

I read a lot, but the book that impressed me the most was Guardiola's autobiography.

This is because we were able to take a closer look at Guardiola's football philosophy and his tactics.

Although I didn't remember everything, I vaguely remembered how Guardiola prepared for El Clásico and what tactics he used in 2008/09 when he won his 6th crown.

Because it was a book I had read several times.

Isn't there a saying that if you get tired, you'll lose everything?

Tiki Taka is the core of Guardiola's tactics.

I knew some good tactics to combat it.

A representative example is Gegen-pressing.

However, the current Real Madrid could not use that tactic.

'Basically, I lack stamina. It takes a long time to develop organizational skills.'

Therefore, we had to come up with a tactic that best suited the current team.

Knowing the future wouldn't mean we could beat Barcelona, but it would help at least a little.

'If only I could increase the winning rate by just 1%.'

That's it.

There's only so much Hoyoung can do.

All that was left was to deliver results on the pitch.

Schuster said.

"good night. "Let me talk to the technical team."

"yes. "Then I'll just leave."

When Hoyoung went out, Schuster stroked his mustache and was lost in thought.

December 10th.

About 50,000 people flocked to Santiago Bernabeu.

It was because of the 6th match of the Champions League group stage against Zenit.

What was interesting was that it was a Korean match.

Woo Ho-young played for Real Madrid, which ranked first in the group, and Ki Dong-jin and Lee Ho-seong played for Zenit, which had already been confirmed to be eliminated.

[It's surprising that there is only one person, but there are three Koreans walking around the Bernabeu. Doesn't that mean that the status of Asian soccer has increased that much?]

[That's right. In particular, it is said that in Korea, the number of players going overseas has increased since the 2002 World Cup. Woo Ho-young also revealed in an interview that he was inspired by the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.]

[I see. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of game will unfold.]

Real Madrid unilaterally took the lead.

Zenit's players, who had flown in from far away Russia, were already in poor condition and had little fighting spirit as elimination had already been confirmed.

This could be seen just by looking at the fact that second-tier players were hired to focus on the league.

Real Madrid also sent out mostly second-tier players, but Schuster used a variety of tactics that had not been shown before.

This is because it was clear that Barcelona's power analyst would be watching today's game.

In other words, a smokescreen operation for El Clásico.

[Today is Real Madrid, playing by increasing possession. Zenit is very stuck.]

[Lee Ho-seong tries to steal the ball, but Woo Ho-young easily protects the ball.]

Ho-young, who is deployed as an attacking midfielder, is assigned the task of a 'classic playmaker' who rarely runs to conserve stamina. received.

His role was to hold the ball for a long time and gradually tighten the opponent's breath at a slow tempo.

[This looks reminiscent of Riquelme, who left Villarreal this season. Besides that, the players are in good condition and their performance is also good. The team chemistry is great.]

[That's right. After Real Madrid took the lead in possession, they were aggressive and aggressive. Is this a tactic in preparation for El Clásico, which will take place three days later?]

[Maybe so. Barcelona clearly believes in possession football.]

The commentators did not understand Schuster's true intentions.

Still, one thing they say is true is that the players have good team chemistry.

Tebar, Callejon, and Marcos Alonso, who had worked together in Castile for a year, were devouring Zenit by spreading the attack under Woo Young's command.

The decisive chance came only in the 15th minute of the first half.

[Woo Ho-young, who received the ball with fantastic chest trapping, made a one-touch pass aimed at Callejon in front!]

[Gooooool! Callejon scores! Woo Ho-young's direct pass was properly delivered to Callejon's instep!]

[Woo Ho-young knows how to play soccer without moving. But was that player's ball trapping originally that neat? Thanks to this, the one-touch pass was very clean and concise.]

Zidane's ball trapping talent.

He had the talent to receive the ball and quickly control it as if handling soft tofu.

He was able to handle the ball not only from his chest, but also from various areas such as his shins, thighs and feet.

If you develop further here, you will be able to quickly take the next connection action by freely controlling the ball's landing point, speed, and direction of progress.

Then, as soon as you receive the pass, you will be able to shoot within 0.5 seconds.

For example, like 'Dennis Bergkamp', the god of first touch.

'Someday, I can be like that too.'

Hoyoung believed in himself and handled the ball.

Then, the more the possession rate improved, which soon led to the team's goal feast.

2 to 0.

3 to 0.

4 to 0.

Goals continued to be scored, and Hoyoung's performance, which achieved 3 assists, was widely spread around the world through radio waves.

Koreans who were watching the game in real time were astonished.

[There are three Koreans playing on the field right now, right? Where are the other kids besides Woo Ho-young? Why can't I see Ki Dong-jin and Lee Ho-seong? ㅠㅠ]

└ㄷㄷStill, it's his first time playing in the Champions League and he can't catch the ball even once. I feel sorry for everything I see. Real Madrid's market share is already over 80%.

└When playing with Barça, do you think you will compete with possession football?

└I don't know about that, but he's really good at it. I think I'll fall in love with it.

└Woo Ho-young hahaha But he's a senior and all, so I just dump him. I don't think I'd be as cheesy as usual.

└It's strange to see seniors and juniors being judged over there. Look at Park Ji-seok and Lee Hyung-pyo. If we meet, it's war. That's called professionalism, you idiot

. Real Madrid dominated the game even after Hoyoung was substituted in the second half, and by the end of the game, the score of 6-0 filled the electronic display board.

As a result, Real advanced to the Champions League round of 16 tournament at the top of the group with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.

For Hoyoung, there was no news more welcome than this.

[Currently, the talent bowl is full. Perfectly balanced feet (12 days) and explosive kicking power (6 days) created by hard work are waiting.] [

Select the talent you want in advance after 18 days.]

– Amazing stamina (S +3)

-Destructive mid-range shooting (S+3)

-(More)

Nedved's talent.

Hoyoung's choice was, of course, physical strength.

As the body grows, a tremendous synergy is exerted, and by the end of the growth period, one can have truly amazing physical strength.

By the time I passed the photo line after the game, I was flooded with interview requests.

Among them, Hoyoung chose Marca Media and gave an interview about the game.

And at the end, this question came up.

"It's El Clásico in three days, are you confident?"

Hoyoung spoke briefly and boldly.

"I will show it in the game."