Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Park Chan-hyuk Acting Manager -2
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***
Thomas Tuchel, the manager of Union Berlin, had collapsed from the flu.
The players were a bit flustered by their manager's sudden absence, but they weren't overly worried.
Union Berlin was currently holding first place with overwhelming results, after all.
"So, what about our next match?"
"The assistant coach will step in as acting manager."
"Ah. Then we'll be fine."
It was thanks to Park Chan-hyuk having earned a certain level of recognition from the players.
They also figured Tuchel, being young, would recover quickly.
[Yannick Foigt, Man of the Match for 3 Games Straight]
In any case, the whole squad had been watching Yannick Foigt's growth and performances—the player Park Chan-hyuk had strongly recommended during his trial.
*That Yannick guy couldn't even kick the ball as well as I could... When did his skills improve so much?*
*If I do extra training with Coach Park Chan-hyuk, maybe I can get better at soccer too?*
A few players, sparked by Yannick Foigt's rapid progress and hungry for their own growth, even asked Park Chan-hyuk to let them try his special training program.
And then they realized.
"This isn't something humans are meant to do."
"Wow. Even a tiny lapse in focus during training, and you see that tongue-lashing? I thought the assistant coach was a monster after seeing that."
They understood why Yannick Foigt had improved so quickly in such a short time.
Most gave up before long.
- You know that thing? They say if you just follow the assistant coach's instructions, your skills go up.
- But it's so tough you can't even stick to it.
Rumors about Park Chan-hyuk's special training regimen started to snowball.
And above all, Park Chan-hyuk wasn't your typical assistant coach.
He was a *playing* assistant coach, tasked with implementing Thomas Tuchel's tactics on the pitch and bridging the gap between the players and the manager.
A few who had experienced Tuchel's prickly personality even preferred relaying their thoughts through Park Chan-hyuk rather than going straight to the manager.
"I know it's unsettling for everyone, but things won't change much! All we can do is trust Chan-hyuk like always."
Since Park Chan-hyuk understood Tuchel's tactics better than anyone, the players figured nothing would really change.
And the next day.
"My comrades, I love war."
The players fell silent as they watched Park Chan-hyuk give his speech on the training ground.
"...Things won't change?"
***
Even though it was just the fourth division, the news of Union Berlin—the team on an unbeaten run—hitting a snag spread like wildfire.
[Union Berlin's Unbeaten Streak in Jeopardy?]
Not just the local papers from their region, but big names like Kicker and Bild ran stories on Union Berlin, even if tucked away in the corners.
They'd already made a national splash last year with the blood donation campaign.
For a normal club, public interest would've faded quietly after that.
But Union Berlin kept grabbing attention with unexpected moves.
A manager in his thirties, the youngest assistant coach ever at eighteen, and an unbeaten run.
As a result, Union Berlin had more recognition than you'd expect.
Even if people didn't know the name "Union Berlin" exactly, keywords like "thirties manager," "blood donation campaign," or "Asian assistant coach" would get a reaction like, *Ah, that team?*
Well... it also helped that the Bundesliga was in a break, leaving a shortage of fresh news.
[Park Chan-hyuk, Youngest Acting Manager Ever—Can He Keep the Unbeaten Run Alive?]
***
It was just a week—or two at most—as acting manager, but my days were busier than usual.
*I'm gonna die at this rate...*
On top of my regular workload, all of Tuchel's tasks had been dumped on me.
Of course, I still made time to visit Thomas Tuchel in the hospital.
The guy had left his hometown to live alone in Berlin, so I figured someone had to look after him.
And there, by chance, I ran into Tuchel's girlfriend.
"Oh? Ah, hello."
I found myself bowing to Tuchel's partner without thinking. If I wasn't conscious of it, old Korean habits kicked in. Must've been from spending so long in Korea.
"You're Park Chan-hyuk, the assistant coach, right? Thomas has told me a lot about you."
I chatted a bit more with Tuchel's girlfriend, but I couldn't focus on the conversation.
*This busy guy was dating on the side?*
It pissed me off and made me feel unfairly slighted.
Some of us were getting older by the day as eternal bachelors, while this manager was out there dating.
And recalling that Thomas Tuchel would get married soon-ish, she looked like she'd be my future sister-in-law, timing-wise.
"I'll go grab some fruit for a bit. You two talk."
Sister-in-law-to-be stepped out to give us space.
I shot a glare at the traitor, Thomas Tuchel.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
My soul took an indescribably massive hit from what I thought was a fellow solo alliance member's betrayal.
"Traitor."
Tuchel bristled at my venomous word.
"Why am I a traitor?! ...And aren't you only eighteen?!"
Well, fair point. There's no set order to these things, but age-wise, Tuchel going first made sense all around.
Anyway, the original purpose was a hospital visit, so we got down to business.
"How's your body?"
"Good enough to check out right now."
"Use this chance to rest up and think about your health."
"...Don't talk like my mom. It's creepy."
Tuchel bickered with the board like it was mealtime, but that was because his ideals were sky-high—not from any lack of responsibility.
"By the way, aren't you busy with work?"
I grinned at Tuchel's question.
"I grabbed a sub."
I'd roped in Kim Sun-myung—the volunteer who'd started translating the Union Berlin homepage into Korean and ended up interning—into covering for me.
*Well, we've said hi, so time to head out soon.*
As I got ready to leave, Tuchel looked genuinely disappointed. Hospital life must've been boring.
"Since you're here, wanna talk tactics before you go?"
"Sure."
Tuchel's face lit up, and we dove into a discussion on Mourinho's tactics for a good while.
"Anti-football, huh."
"Well, I get it in theory, but it kills the fun of watching. Oh, right—got any counters prepped?"
"I do, but... since I ended up in here, you should tweak them. They'll probably come at us aggressively."
"Figures."
"By the way, debut as acting manager—feeling prepared?"
I just smiled at Tuchel's words. That's how confident I was in the win.
Most managers and clubs build tactics around a rock-solid Plan A.
They might prep a Plan B for when Plan A gets cracked during the season.
But no one builds a Plan C or beyond.
Players aren't machines that adapt instantly to tactical shifts.
Better to use that time refining Plan A or training players to gel with it.
For rookie managers, sub timings and squad control were bigger headaches than Plan A...
*Not my problem.*
Since I wasn't a new appointment, squad control was basically done.
And in terms of manager experience, I outranked Tuchel.
Tuchel was sharper at dissecting opponent tactics frame-by-frame, but for stuff like sub timings—where experience trumped talent—I had the edge.
- Manager, shouldn't we sub Marcus soon?
- Why?
- To grind out the season injury-free, we need to manage his stamina.
I'd even advised Tuchel on subs before.
We kept talking tactics for a while.
*...Others might think I'm a freak too.*
Still, I wasn't a tactics pervert like Tuchel or Pep Guardiola.
Anyway.
Internally, nothing had changed much, but it looked different from the outside.
By the time I got back from the visit, new tasks had piled up in that short span.
"Chan-hyuk, got an interview request."
"Out of nowhere?"
Well, the press wouldn't miss a juicy story like an eighteen-year-old Asian acting manager.
"The club would appreciate it if you do, but if media still feels overwhelming, no pressure to say yes."
"No, I'll do it."
I smiled and brushed off Chairman Dirk Zingler's considerate words.
Public attention was always a good thing.
"Nice to meet you, Assistant Coach."
And since the media spotlight was on, I figured I'd lay down a trap card.
"Ah, hello."
Call me cheesy, but psychological warfare via interviews had been my specialty in my past life.
***
[Park Chan-hyuk Assistant Coach Provokes Opponents: "Gevork or Devreli, whatever. But I doubt we'll be the ones getting developed."]
[Park Chan-hyuk Assistant Coach on Provocation Controversy: "We won't be seeing them after next season anyway."]