Chapter 120: 17-18 Season (1)
After Eloya's equalizing goal, Valencia didn't seem to want to show the image of being beaten by the home fans and losing, so they started attacking aggressively by pushing up their line once more.
Even as intense exchanges continued, both teams, being top teams in the league, maintained the 1:1 score without conceding a goal.
Throughout this, I created about two shooting chances, but both were blocked by the keeper's beast-like saves, and unfortunately, I couldn't shake the net.
Valencia's keeper was indeed at that level; they were higher than the keepers I'd faced so far.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
After a fierce battle where the combined effective shots reached 9, the whistle blew to signal the end of the first half, maintaining the 1:1 score difference.
It was quite a good result for the league's second-place team to secure a 1-1 draw away against the third-place team, but since our team wasn't just a second-place team, the players' expressions weren't that bright.
But I didn't have the luxury to look at those players' expressions.
"Well then, I'll head out."
This was because no matter how same the team, I couldn't let the other players rest comfortably with me around. After greeting the players, following the staff, the shower room provided for me by Valencia welcomed me.
'Still, it's fortunate that there's a shower room here. At Reggane's place, there was none, so I had to wait outside.'
Honestly, I didn't want to blame anyone, but the reason I didn't score more in the Reggane match was related to this.
Reggane's home ground wasn't that great, and since there were no special facilities prepared for me, I couldn't properly recover from the fatigue of the first half and had to play the second half without it, so I couldn't show the same performance in the second half as in the first.
But Valencia's home ground had a spare shower room, so after quickly rinsing off, I headed to the locker room where my teammates were waiting.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, okay. Since Ryu is here now, I'll briefly explain the points to watch in the second half."
When I arrived, Coach Diana started giving tactical instructions to the players. Honestly, there was nothing particularly special about Diana's tactical instructions, but I had no choice but to listen attentively to her words.
There were many players around me, naked from the waist up, fully enjoying their rest. And among them, there were even players wearing only panties. No matter how much I was, when I faced the strong-willed eyes below their faces, my body would freeze for a moment. This was the second time after the Reggane match.
Of course, I wasn't embarrassed now after going through everything. It wasn't like some kid who would change just from seeing a chest. I just knew that if I stared too long, strange rumors might spread and my life would become difficult, so I couldn't look.
Anyway, since it was the first team and there were rumors about teammates, I denied it from my side too.
Eventually, dipping my legs in the ice water provided by the club, listening to Diana, the half-time passed quite quickly.
What Diana emphasized was simple.
Since the opponent was getting desperate, when possessing the ball, build up calmly as much as possible, conserve energy, and aim for the second half of the game.
As Diana said, since this was Valencia's home, after tying the score, the Valencia players were running more and seemed excited, so her words were correct. It also suited our style well.
And the second half began. The game started with our kick-off, flowing at the slowest tempo as Diana said. In the meantime, the Valencia players were busy running to apply pressure.
Actually, the so-called 'tiki-taka' tactic of playing mainly through passing was gradually going out of style. Because they were weak against Gegenpressing or the iron football of setting up a bus by pressing hard from the front.
But my thoughts and the experts' evaluations that tiki-taka is being replaced by such counter-tactics were different.
The reason tiki-taka faded in my previous life or here was simple.
It was because there were no players capable of executing the tactic.
Actually, tiki-taka was more like a fantasy to begin with. It was just that exceptional players were leading it. In my previous life, it was Chabi and Iniesta, and in this world, it was players like Luciana Vanessa.
It was just that those players were aging, and the era of tiki-taka faded, not that the tactic itself was defeated.
Tiki-taka is a tactic imagined assuming there are players with football understanding similar to the genius who is one of the greatest in football history, and it assumes playing by occupying space and ball with over 90% pass success rate as a prerequisite, so it couldn't have weaknesses. It was just a theoretically invincible childlike tactic?
It was just that as players who couldn't handle that tactic increased, tiki-taka went out.
In other words, to execute the tiki-taka tactic, you needed overwhelming skill, even if not as high as my previous life Cruijff or this world's Maria, at least enough to probe below that level.
And fortunately, I had that overwhelming skill, excluding physicality, that no one in the world could match.
Especially in terms of de-pressing and tactical understanding.
Beep!
"Haa… Haa…"
The whistle from the referee, along with the rough breathing of the player who pushed me for a foul.
And I felt good rather than angry at being fouled.
Why?
Because I could feel the opponent was getting anxious.
After the second half started, instead of staying in my original position around the 1.5-2 line, I actively joined the 3rd line, becoming a safe haven for my teammates to escape to at any time, and if pressure came to me, I would lightly de-press to escape and give an accurate pass to the empty space.
And the South Korean youth national team did that much, but players at the world's best club, Barcelona, couldn't be expected to do less, so Valencia players couldn't touch the ball unless it was an extraordinary situation.
It was my feeling, but not exactly accurate, but probably after the second half started, the possession ratio was around 8.5 : 1.5.
Anyway, as this situation repeated, the Valencia players' stamina, who had been running all over the ground like dogs applying pressure, dropped sharply, and their minds had to get desperate.
To commit a foul in such a dangerous position.
"Good play, Ryu."
"Then, leave it to Lucia."
"Leave it to me."
And for taking the free kick from a good position, Lucia, the team's designated kicker, came onto the ground. For energy management, today's game started from the bench, but with about 25 minutes left, it was an appropriate substitution that could also play in the next game.
Beep!
The whistle blew again and Lucia ran. And the ball Lucia kicked flew in a beautiful arc towards the top of the post.
And Lucia, who had rested and entered the game, didn't miss the chance I made.
-Waaaaaaa!!!!
-Lucia! Lucia! Lucia!
'Even though it's an away game, this much cheering... Is this the whole country?'
Well, even if it wasn't Lucia, if she scored a beautiful free kick like this, it would have been that much cheering. Anyway, with Lucia's free kick goal, the score is now 2:1.
After that, as 2:1 and a short time passed, the coach sent me a substitution signal.
Now, about 20 minutes left. Since there was this much time left, substituting me in the match against Juventus meant using me, so I accepted the substitution with a smile. Unfortunately, I couldn't get an attacking point, but if someone who knows a little about football watched my second half play, they would probably have praised it highly.
"Ryu, good work."
"Ah, thank you."
The remaining time I watched sitting on the bench ended without any major events, maintaining the 2:1 score thanks to Lucia's wonderful orchestration.
Then, the football legend Maria, who currently holds the vice-chairman position at the International Football Federation, praised Ryu Ha-neul on her SNS as "Ryu Ha-neul's play against Valencia is the essence of Mariaism. He is a player who perfectly understands Mariaism. If there had been 11 players like Ryu Ha-neul during my coaching days, or even if there had been just 5, I wouldn't have lost a single game."
And the next day's article featured Maria's exaggerated comment, making my shoulders feel light.
Of course, I wasn't in the mood to be hurt by such few trolls, so I laughed it off.
While mocking the football ignorants and heading to the first team training ground,
"What are you looking at and laughing like that? Another screenshot? By the way, how do you block this? Strange DMs keep coming."
"Just old memories... Eh? Tina? Why are you here? The Athletic training ground is the other way, right?"
"Of course, I'm call-up, so I'm coming with you. I got call-up."
"...When?"
"Today morning."
I was able to hear the happy news that my old friend got call-up to the first team.