Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Reunion
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***
‘Was the video I saw just edited highlights?’
Thomas Tuchel felt frustrated watching Park Chan-hyuk’s play in the practice match.
Unlike the video, there was no sign of him actively utilizing his teammates.
“Scheiße. You’re the worst. Why the hell are you even playing soccer?”
He unleashed a harsh scolding at Park Chan-hyuk, then offered advice in a warm tone.
“Utilize your teammates more actively. You have great tactical understanding, so position them properly.”
And at Park Chan-hyuk’s response, Thomas Tuchel realized the truth.
“Yes. Understood.”
“Oh. Damn. Your German pronunciation is fucking awful, so just speak English.”
It wasn’t that Park Chan-hyuk hadn’t given instructions to the defenders—it was just a pronunciation issue.
***
My first meeting with Thomas Tuchel was a disaster, but he and I got close faster than expected.
A manager’s heart is something only another manager truly understands.
I took actions that would satisfy him from a manager’s perspective and successfully won his favor.
Well, even if it wasn’t about favor, getting close to Tuchel wouldn’t have been an issue.
We shared quite a few common points.
The biggest one was that both of us were obsessed with soccer.
Anyway, as our friendship grew, Thomas Tuchel invited me to his house, and I went over and got a free meal.
Honestly, it might be rude to say this about a free meal, but the food was terrible.
“Mm. Your wife’s cooking skills are impressive.”
“I’m single.”
He wasn’t married yet, so he’d cooked it alone.
‘No wonder... it tasted off.’
Anyway, that evening we debated tactics until late into the night.
And as it grew late and I was about to head home...
“Chan-hyuk.”
Thomas Tuchel gave me serious advice with a grave expression.
“You probably won’t have a place in the first team. How about starting to prepare for a coaching career now?”
I could tell from his face it wasn’t provocation but sincerity, though it confirmed Tuchel’s social skills were pretty shit.
‘Tuhel, Tuhel, is it really okay to say something like that straight to a promising kid you’ve known for less than a week?’
A normal prospect might’ve been hurt by Tuchel’s words and thrown a tantrum, but I’d already despaired over my talents in my past life and quit midway.
Compared to the first time, when I agonized without eating or drinking, the second quit was easier.
Anyway, I’d never expected to make it big as a player to begin with.
The scouter window might flash that it had shown high expectations last time, but...
That was just in case—it wasn’t like I truly thought I had amazing talent.
Anyway.
“Sure. I thought coaching suited me more than playing anyway.”
I nodded calmly at Tuchel’s suggestion.
I’d anticipated this since restarting soccer after my regression, but it still felt a bit bitter.
***
Thomas Tuchel had a long talk with Park Chan-hyuk.
Perhaps because of that, he genuinely regretted Chan-hyuk’s talents.
If only Park Chan-hyuk’s athleticism had been a bit better, he might’ve become a great player.
Unfortunately, God hadn’t blessed him with athletic ability.
Especially in the practice match, the sight of him tackling long after the ball had passed was shocking.
As harsh as it sounds, when the U19 team’s backup striker faced Chan-hyuk, it was like Ronaldo had possessed him.
Baffled by the horror show Park Chan-hyuk put on in practice matches and how he’d survived as a pro so far, Thomas Tuchel couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked directly.
The answer he got was utterly shocking.
“So, you’ve been predicting everything up until now instead of reacting to strikers?”
“Yes...”
“Are you insane?”
Even world-famous defenders occasionally predicted to intercept the ball, but no one could defend like that all the time.
The risk of failure was just too high.
‘Defensive stability is way too low—he won’t make it in the first team.’
He could start in the third division, maybe ride the bench in the second.
Anything beyond that was unlikely.
Feeling regretful, Tuchel simultaneously grew fonder of this Asian kid.
Because the path Chan-hyuk chose was one only a soccer maniac would take.
So, Tuchel gave him sincere advice.
“How about starting to prepare for a coaching career now?”
And fortunately, Chan-hyuk accepted it without misunderstanding.
***
I’d decided to prepare for a coaching license, but since I’d come to study soccer nominally as a player, I had to give my all as one.
The season started, and under Stuttgart U19 manager Thomas Tuchel’s command, I played as a key player.
Thanks to the opponent analysis materials Tuchel had compiled, we avoided practice-match-level disasters.
Well, it wasn’t like I dominated either.
Against Korean high schoolers, I could overpower them physically, so no issues there.
But the German kids were on another level physically.
Still, getting outmuscled didn’t mean conceding goals.
Soccer’s a team sport.
If I couldn’t block with my physicality, I used my teammates.
With their help, we shut things down cleanly, racked up wins and points steadily, and claimed first place in the youth league.
Normally, the local papers would’ve hyped our performance big time.
Unfortunately, the timing sucked.
Around then, Stuttgart had beaten ‘Ferguson’s’ Manchester United and advanced to the Champions League round of 16 as group runners-up.
For reference, you always have to prefix Manchester United from that era with Ferguson. Ferguson’s United and what came after were totally different teams.
[Stuttgart U19 Team Secures Top Spot in League with Dominant Performance.]
Well, we still got a small mention in the corner of the local paper.
In the pro world, that’s nothing, but for youth players, public attention hits hard, and I could feel morale skyrocketing in real time.
“Huh? You’re...”
“Haha, yeah, that’s me. Park Chan-hyuk, the one who scored in the last U19 match.”
Walking down the street, locals who recognized me greeted me warmly. As someone born craving attention, I enjoyed it.
“The punk who flipped me off back then?”
“Oh. That asshole from before.”
There were some minor misunderstandings along the way.
Anyway.
I successfully adapted to Stuttgart.
***
Around the time I started settling into Stuttgart.
I began preparing for the recently introduced DFB C License.
Unlike Korea, in Germany anyone (over) 16 could take the exam.
For reference, the DFB C License had previously varied by region in name and curriculum, but it was recently unified.
Being transitional, there were minor hiccups, but I just rolled with it.
The club didn’t scold me much for it.
If anything, they seemed to view my serious approach to soccer positively.
Since I trained hard and studied for the license in my spare time.
Anyway, I dove into serious study for the license.
“Chan-hyuk, how’s your day been?”
“Good. You?”
“Same. Shall we start talking soccer now?”
“Yeah.”
Thomas Tuchel even tutored me personally to help me get the license.
“People often compare soccer to war. Individual heroics in soccer are becoming more limited, right?”
Well, less tutoring and more endless tactical debates.
I shared soccer knowledge from the future, and Tuchel layered his own thoughts on top as we discussed nonstop.
Around the time I fully grasped Tuchel’s soccer philosophy from our daily debates.
- Oppa, we’re going to Germany this Saturday.
Finally, word came that my family, having finished all procedures, was coming to Germany.
Thanks to the club’s consideration, I could go pick them up.
“Chan-hyuk, I’m really disappointed.”
Tuchel made a ‘the captain is displeased’ face when he heard I’d be leaving Stuttgart briefly to see them.
“You soccer-obsessed bastard, of course I’m going to see my family from Korea.”
I greeted him with a barrage of curses instead.
We’d gotten close enough that this level of swearing was fine.
Anyway.
I headed to Frankfurt International Airport.
They’d come to Frankfurt, not Berlin, because it was the only direct flight from Korea to Germany.
We’d meet there and head to Berlin together.
No smartphone, so I stared blankly at the ground waiting.
“Hello.”
“Oh. Hi, nice to meet you. You speak some German? Where you from?”
“Korea.”
“Cool, wanna switch to English now?”
“No, I need to practice German.”
“Please... just use English.”
Unable to bear the boredom, I started chatting with some nameless German sitting next to me.
“Oppa!”
My sister spotted me and came sprinting over.
What to say.
The first feeling seeing my family after so long was...
“...Son, it’s a great blessing that the world doesn’t know we have money.”
Yeah.
Mom must’ve suffered a ton.