West Ham United (1)
Two names appear in the history of football under the moniker Daniel James.
One is Daniel Owen James — the Welsh international who debuted at Swansea City and transferred to Manchester United in 2019.
The other is Daniel Carrick James, currently of West Ham United's U-19 side, a player destined to represent England one day.
They shared a name, but from position to specialty, their abilities could not have been more different.
Daniel Owen James possessed blistering pace and operated as a winger or central striker. Daniel Carrick James, by contrast, was a defensive midfielder — a player of formidable defensive steel and an uncanny ability to read the flow of a match.
And that ability was already fully present, even now, before he had ever set foot in a senior squad.
"This kid is going to be the toughest one of all."
The manager pointed his baton at Daniel James.
"He's about a hundred and eighty-two centimeters — not particularly tall — but his defending is outstanding. Especially that knack for nicking the ball clean off a player without fouling, the way he organizes the line, and how readily he absorbs whatever the coach asks of him. You could call him the complete defensive midfielder."
The manager set the baton down, folded his arms, and continued.
"That doesn't mean we can't beat him. As I said — how tall is he again?"
"A hundred and eighty-two centimeters."
"Right. And that's where the problem lies. When he contests aerial balls against taller players, he loses possession nine times out of ten."
Of course, that weakness would be completely erased once he grew another six centimeters into adulthood — but that was neither here nor there.
"So… what we're targeting is the aerial duel, then?"
"Exactly."
The manager nodded.
There was one problem, though. Both of West Ham United U-19's centre-backs stood over a hundred and ninety centimeters — absolute giants.
The manager's tactic might not land. But I had another idea.
Because West Ham United U-19 had one more weakness.
"Are these actual soap bubbles?"
"You didn't know? Peak football-illiterate energy right there."
"What? Come on — I've watched Vinícius play live, okay?!"
"Sure~ I watched that on video too~"
Bubbles had drifted even into the tunnel leading onto the pitch.
The boys stared at them with open wonder.
Well… soap bubbles at a football ground would be pretty unfamiliar to most people.
But here, at least — at London Stadium, West Ham's home ground — they were an everyday sight.
West Ham's emblem was, of course, the hammer, just as their crest showed. But they had another symbol as well: the soap bubble.
If you asked how something as mismatched as soap bubbles — so far removed from labourers and the hammers they swung — became their symbol, the answer was simple.
It was because of West Ham United's anthem: I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.
Formally adopted as the club's song in the 1920s, the fans would sing it while blowing bubbles, and eventually the club itself began releasing countless of them, creating a spectacle.
West Ham had produced the bubbles before kickoff without anyone even asking, and a few of them had drifted all the way into this tunnel.
"…Looking at these, it really does feel like we're about to face West Ham."
"Yeah… no kidding."
We exchanged greetings with the West Ham United U-19 players filing in behind us, then walked out onto the field together.
"Looking forward to it."
"…Yeah. Same."
I shook hands with Daniel James himself, exchanged a brief greeting, and returned to my position.
West Ham's formation was a 4-2-3-1.
They prioritized the long ball and built up primarily through their full-backs. At times the attacking midfielder would push up to form a dual striker pairing, shifting the shape into a 4-2-2-2.
We came out in a 4-3-3, with a lineup similar to the previous match.
Lee Won-jun, however — who had received a red card last time — would not be featuring today. It wasn't a program-level suspension; it was the manager's call. After that incident, Won-jun had been complaining of trauma and playing even more passively, so fielding him would have been a clear liability on paper.
Someone else filled Won-jun's vacant spot, and the 4-3-3 took proper shape.
First things first… I need to harass the right-back.
As I'd said, West Ham built their play through the full-backs.
And that was exactly where the crack showed.
If the buildup ran through the full-backs, then simply marking those full-backs made the whole process difficult. Launch a counterattack through a defensive line that hadn't built properly, and our attacking work became far easier by default.
Moreover, for a West Ham side that switched play and developed through long balls, their attacking sequences would grow increasingly unstable.
The referee's whistle cut the air, and the match was underway. Players from both sides sprinted hard, and the ball belonged to West Ham.
"Hey!"
West Ham's second- and third-line players knocked the ball between themselves before feeding it back to the defenders.
Just as expected, the buildup progressed through the full-backs.
I surged forward and pressed West Ham's right-back hard.
"Ugh…!"
Under the fierce pressure, the opposing full-back received the ball and immediately returned it. Even with only one full-back sealed off, a small fracture had opened in the defensive buildup.
The centre-backs and left-back had all pushed forward, but the right-back — unable to escape my press — remained stuck in the rear.
"Get out of the way!"
"Don't feel like it."
"Fuck!"
Then, midfield — one of ours intercepted the ball as West Ham tried to attack.
I raised my hand at once and made a penetrating run.
Seeing me drive into space, midfielder Lee Jeong-min delivered a long, lofted through-ball into the centre.
The centre-backs had pushed their line high, so recovering defensively would take time.
Because I'd sprinted centrally in a flash, West Ham's right-back was a step late tracking me, and near the ball's landing point there was only me — and the goalkeeper rushing out.
The one who got there first was—
Me.
The ball arced toward goal, but it sailed just over the crossbar.
I collided with the keeper and tumbled across the turf afterward, but the referee waved play on without a call.
"What are you doing?! The line was way too high!"
West Ham's goalkeeper roared at his defensive line.
"So close!"
"That was a great run."
My teammates clapped encouragement my way.
I pushed myself up and moved to prepare for the opposing keeper's goal kick.
I should have scored that one…
Honestly, there wouldn't be another chance like this. West Ham would reorganize their defensive line and mark my runs carefully from here on. What remained was genuine set-piece opportunities, and little else.
West Ham's goalkeeper took the kick. The ball glanced off two West Ham heads before finally dropping to the ground.
West Ham's attacking midfielder collected it and played it back.
Daniel James…
Daniel James glanced around, then sent a long pass out to the left.
"Mike!"
The left midfielder sprinted out urgently. The striker up front, sandwiched between the centre-backs, prepared for an aerial contest.
Having just barely beaten our right-back Baek Nam-gi with a step-over, he whipped in a cross — but the ball was too long, sailing past the striker's head.
"Loose ball!"
"Win it!"
Left-back Seo Jin-yeong claimed the spilled ball and worked it into midfield. The three midfielders recycled possession among themselves.
I can't see an angle at all.
When the opposition's lines weren't organized, gaps appeared — and feeding those gaps let someone receive and attack. But their line was locked in properly.
My earlier penetrating run and shot had forced them to tighten the line, yes — but the real issue was Daniel James's organizing ability. Stationed in midfield, he had complete control of the centre, which meant every critical midfield movement was being thoroughly marked.
At this rate, all we can do is midfield-deletion football.
Whether we changed formation or not, we had to shake that line.
"Kang Seung-wook! Get in among the centre-backs!"
At the manager's shout, Seung-wook nodded and slipped between the towering centre-backs.
"Woo-jun, mark the left-back for me. Ian — run wherever you want!"
Run wherever I wanted.
A free role — liberating, but vague. Even before the regression, I'd never played as a pure free role.
Still, moving freely would certainly make it easier to disrupt their lines.
"Hey!"
I dropped slightly from my position, collected the ball from midfield, and drove forward.
Daniel James stepped up instantly to mark me, but I stopped with the ball at my feet right in front of him.
He watched my feet and body, trying to read which way I'd go.
I decided on a different kind of breakthrough.
First I planted my left foot firmly into the ground, then flicked the ball left with my right. The ball bounced up off my left foot — and I slammed it hard from above with my right, driving it downward.
The ball hit the turf and sprang skyward in an instant, sailing clean over Daniel James's head.
And break left.
Timing it to the ball's descent, I cut through on James's left side.
Distracted by the ball floating above him, he couldn't stop me.
I knocked the ball long and sprinted clear.
Into the box, I played it to Seung-wook between the centre-backs.
Rather than shoot himself, Seung-wook laid it off to Woo-jun arriving from the right.
Woo-jun curled it with his left foot. The ball struck the crossbar and rebounded — and standing right there was Kang Seung-wook.
The centre-backs, having tracked Woo-jun after the layoff, had left Seung-wook unmarked. A costly mistake.
The net bulged.