Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Union Berlin's Way to Overcome the Slump
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***
[Bayern Munich Crushes Union Berlin 4-1.]
[Bayern Munich Advances to DFB-Pokal Semifinals.]
[Union Berlin's Park Chan-hyuk: "It's disappointing, but no regrets. I want to applaud the players who fought so hard."]
[Union Berlin's Heartbreaking Loss... But They Put Up a Good Fight!]
└ Wow, that match was fun.
└ If that second-half shot had gone in, the momentum might've shifted. Damn.
└ For real;; Oliver Kahn's a beast, blocking that.
[Bayern Munich Legend Voices Discontent: "Did We Really Need to Play the Starters Full-Time?"]
[Thomas Tuchel to Munich Legend: "If You're So Great, Why Don't You Coach?"]
└ Why are the losing team comforting each other while the winners are fighting among themselves?
└ Guess it's a turf war over the rice bowl.
└ Sigh, same old story there.
└ People are the same everywhere.
└ Think Tuchel's quitting at the end of the season?
└ Plausible... They're doing well in Bundesliga, Pokal, and Champions League. No way they sack him now.
└ They used to at least hide it, but now they're just going at it openly. Relationship's probably beyond repair.
[Mansour, Who Acquired Manchester City, Shows Interest in Thomas Tuchel.]
***
The day after the Bayern Munich match.
Union Berlin's routine wasn't much different from usual.
With a league game coming up soon, they focused on recovery training for the players.
There was a bit of regret over the DFB-Pokal exit, but the players' faces were mostly bright.
Probably thanks to me lightening the mood in the locker room.
‘...Winning the Pokal would've made the atmosphere even better.’
Oh well. No helping it.
They'd run into a disaster called Bayern Munich.
Led by Thomas Tuchel, no less.
[Bayern Munich Legend Voices Discontent: "Did We Really Need to Play the Starters Full-Time?"]
What was absurd was that Bayern Munich, despite their big Pokal win, was dealing with internal clashes.
"Why are they fighting even after winning?"
Well... not exactly incomprehensible.
It was well-known that Bayern's legends meddled in club management and team affairs.
In fact, when Pep Guardiola took over Bayern Munich and tried implanting his tactics,
one Munich legend publicly griped to the press that the team was turning into Barcelona-lite.
‘Guardiola's Bayern deserved the criticism for those results, to be fair.’
Even from the outside, it felt like they were shaking Pep too much.
If outsiders were talking, it must've been worse internally.
‘Is this because I'm the manager?’
Maybe... Or perhaps because I'm the manager, I'm taking Pep Guardiola's side.
Unlike Manchester City's Pep, this Guardiola had plenty of issues.
And while not exactly like Pep, Tuchel's personality wasn't exactly normal either.
Conflicts between Thomas Tuchel and Munich's board were par for the course.
Anyway, that afternoon after training ended.
I grabbed coffee with Park Jung-ah, who'd come to the club.
One tone-deaf Union Berlin staffer grumbled to her that this wasn't a playground for kids.
But after learning she ran a massive IT company, he quietly bowed his head.
He'd figured out who signed his paycheck.
‘As the saying goes, beware children, the elderly, and women.’
I clicked my tongue lightly at the staffer.
"Oppa, so you're really not going on blind dates?"
Park Jung-ah and I chat often, as always.
I'd been dodging talks lately because she kept pushing blind dates, but I couldn't avoid family forever.
"...I've gotta enjoy life too!"
I declared to her that I'd marry at some point.
"No way, didn't you live to 37 in your last life? Isn't that enough fun?"
"......"
"Oppa, were you single that whole time?"
I went silent at my sister's question, and our chat naturally shifted topics.
For the record, not single.
I'd had girlfriends; the horror stories from those relationships were just too nightmarish to recount... but definitely not single.
I smoothly changed the subject to Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich.
Park Jung-ah erupted in fury the moment she heard.
"That's straight-up reader-shaking. Fucking hell."
My little sister started ranting in her own lingo.
She said all her favorite novels got axed because of "reader-shaking."
"What's reader-shaking?"
"When readers grab the author and shake 'em."
I nodded obediently at Park Jung-ah's explanation.
I didn't really get it.
Just knew that if I didn't nod, she'd lecture me on some niche topic forever.
‘Man, why's her mouth getting filthier?’
I lightly flicked her head in reprimand.
"Watch your language in front of an adult, young lady."
True to my Korean roots, Confucian DNA lingered in me.
"There's an adult here...?"
Park Jung-ah looked indignant, so I pointed at myself.
Me.
"......"
Her face said I needed to lay down the law.
"Water."
"......It's right in front of you."
"Pour it."
She glared, but what could she do?
If it bugged her, she should've been born sooner.
Anyway.
I'd successfully reined her in once more today.
***
A few days after the Bayern Munich game.
Union Berlin lost to relegation battlers Augsburg in league play.
[Upset! Augsburg Beats Union Berlin!]
[Augsburg Edges Closer to Safety by Toppling Union Berlin!]
Well, losses happen in soccer.
Even the best teams can't win every time.
‘No wonder soccer's called the sport of mistakes.’
The key is avoiding a losing streak.
Soccer rides momentum; you break bad runs and build good ones.
[Union Berlin Concedes Late Winner!]
But Union Berlin, starting with the Augsburg loss, fell into a losing streak.
[Two Losses in a Row... Is Union Berlin Okay?]
└ Did the Munich beating hit too hard...?
└ Is the defense's focus for real?
└ Whole team looks drained;;
Even when leading, Union Berlin couldn't hold on till the end.
Fans voiced worries over the shaky team; things weren't good.
[Union Berlin Drops to Second in League...]
[Should Union Berlin Have Focused on League? Park Chan-hyuk's Fatal Misjudgment?]
└ Look at these reporters who hid during the wins, now crawling out to bash during the losses.
└ Reporters x Trash journalists o
└ So gross for real.
In the end.
Union Berlin went three games without a win, plummeting to second in the league.
Promotion wasn't in jeopardy yet, but without a quick turnaround, trouble loomed.
‘Not good.’
Post-loss, I eyed the squad.
They looked utterly spent.
Not physical fatigue—mental exhaustion.
Solution was simple.
A short refresh break.
That day, I announced leave to the players.
"No training for the next three days starting tomorrow."
Worried I'd chew them out over performance,
the tense players stared in confusion.
Normally, vacation cheers erupt, but they looked concerned.
Unknowingly, the pressure to promote this season had gripped their hearts.
"Chan-hyuk, we're fine..."
"Rest up completely for three days. No nothing."
What we needed was time.
And luckily, we had plenty left.
***
Players got their break, but I prepped tactics for the next game.
[Union Berlin vs. St. Pauli Showdown.]
Union Berlin's next foe wasn't bad.
Promotion rival St. Pauli.
Game day.
I rolled into the stadium in board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt—peak vacation vibes.
Union Berlin players' pupils darted wildly, and before them, I declared:
"Forget the pressure. Just enjoy the game. If we miss promotion, so what? Next season."
Meant to lift the promotion burden.
"Insane. Can't hear a word over the boss's outfit..."
"......Weather's still chilly. Not cold?"
My strategy? A smashing success.