The Debut That Shook Selhurst Park
There was a time when people thought that if you just gathered all the best players the way you would in a football video game, you'd have the strongest team in the world.
And Real Madrid actually tried to make that a reality.
Their transfer policy, dubbed the Galacticos, was exactly what it sounded like: a plan to assemble a galaxy of ultra-elite superstars from around the world. In the process, Real Madrid captured the attention of football fans everywhere, and they even set a record for the highest kit sales of any club. But if you asked whether it actually succeeded... well.
The public consensus was that the Galacticos were a half-success. For all the individual star power, Real Madrid's actual results were disappointing.
Maybe that was inevitable. If football were a sport you could win on individual ability alone, I would have swept every tournament there was back when I was Kim Chan-ki.
My gaze turned toward the pitch.
Crystal Palace had signed a flood of superstars all at once, enough to call the Galacticos to mind — and the drawbacks were already showing in their play.
Players the world calls World Class all have their pride. When you've got several of them on one team, tactics mean someone has to sacrifice and someone else gets the spotlight... can they actually stomach that?
From my experience, they wouldn't. Not even for the sake of their own pride.
No matter how much it looks like an individual can overwhelm a team now and then, in the end, the team always wins.
"Castillo, drop back!"
People watching sometimes get frustrated when players only pass backward. But that's a planned operation too — a build-up from the back, designed to pull the opposition's defense out and create attacking opportunities.
Now.
Our team's movement began to blend into one, and Crystal Palace's defense started to shake. Individual quality matters, of course. But the true beauty of football shines when a team moves as one.
"I TOLD you I was the best!!"
Guerrero's roar rang out, and the match went on, but Crystal Palace still couldn't let go of their greed, and they kept sputtering.
Even when they occasionally punched through the defense and got a shot off at goal...
If they all push up without even passing, of course there's going to be space.
Of course, I can't just charge all the way up like I did at the Olympics, so I'll have to pass...
I could see Guerrero making a run into the space behind. He really is good. That was an exquisitely timed line-breaking run.
That guy's a trophy-mad lunatic, and he's the worst of our four newcomers, but he scored twenty-six goals before transferring, so his finishing instinct is ridiculous.
I should get back to my spot. Just in case he misses.
I moved quickly toward the goal.
I shook my head and muttered.
"Sheesh. A lunatic's a lunatic, all right."
"What a sensational debut. Guerrero, how does it feel to score a brace in your first match?"
Unfortunately, Man of the Match went to Guerrero. In a match that ended 3–0, with two of those goals his, he deserved it, but...
Wasn't that the kind of chance anyone could have scored?
I knew better than anyone — as someone who'd won MOM as a striker — that it was only fair. Now that I was a goalkeeper, though, it just made me petty.
Ugh. He's going to come back and brag so much.
"Hahaha, how do I feel? Crazy, obviously. Honestly I'm a little disappointed. I wanted a debut hat-trick, but hey, there'll be another chance."
"That's some serious confidence. Is there anything you'd like to say to the other players who debuted with you today?"
"Hmm..."
Guerrero thought for a moment, then said with a mischievous grin,
"Before the match, Tae-woo, Sanchez, and Castillo came up to me and said, 'Hey Guerrero, today's the day we beat you.'"
"Hahaha, really?"
"Sounds like a lie, but it's the truth. I've got a serious competitive streak. So I told them, 'Hey friends, I know how you feel. But before you try to climb a wall as huge as me, start with the little walls first, bro.'"
"Oh, and then?"
Watching Guerrero get more and more carried away as the reporter played along, I was speechless.
"I mean, the three of them saying 'we're going to beat you in our debut' was just so cute. I told them, 'Okay bro, give it a shot.' Of course, looking at the result, I won, since I got MOM."
Watching Guerrero's interview, I locked eyes with Castillo beside me. We didn't say a word, but we understood each other perfectly.
Let's drag that bastard out right now.
Yeah. Let's drag him out and make him crawl off the pitch on all fours.
We nodded at each other and walked over to Guerrero.
"Ah, don't be too discouraged... uh, what's going on, friends?"
Guerrero asked, startled, but there was no need for words. I grabbed Guerrero's arms, Castillo grabbed his legs, and we hoisted him straight up.
I smiled at the reporters.
"Haha, hello. This friend here has been going around telling lies, so we thought we'd punish him a little."
Sanchez followed up.
"Sorry, but we need to have a word with him. If you'll excuse us."
City's press pack was friendly enough that they seemed to take it as an amusing little incident.
"Oh, lying's no good. Take him away!"
Guerrero thrashed and shouted as we hauled him off.
"AAAAH! SAVE ME!"
"Glad to see the new boys getting along."
The reporters just treated it as friends messing around and found it adorable. We carried Guerrero straight out of the interview area.
"Aagh, I was wrong, let me go—"
This is what teamwork is. Sometimes it includes correcting a teammate's mistakes, too.