The False Nine's True Test
A False 9, or False Nine, refers to a player who assumes the role of a "fake striker," playing differently from a traditional number 9. While a conventional striker focuses primarily on receiving the ball in the center and scoring goals, this false striker drops deeper to link up play and create opportunities. Ha Sunmoon had heard about this role explained during his very first meeting, but as someone who had always played fullback, it took him time to fully grasp the position. Harrison, too, was not accustomed to such tactics, making it difficult for him to understand the system at first. Still, the core of the False 9 was "link-up play"—if Harrison could simply provide good vision from above, there was real potential.
Beep.
The coach blew the whistle to start the mini-game. Ha Sunmoon glanced around. On the opposing side, Fernandinho was the defensive midfielder, with Ake and Laporte as center-backs. "Phew… Foden on the left wing, Jesus on the right." After confirming his teammates, Ha Sunmoon waited calmly for the ball. Soon, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne slipped a pass his way.
[Here it comes!]
But…
"Agh!"
In an instant, Laporte closed in from behind, and Ha Sunmoon nearly lost the ball. He managed only to return it to Kevin De Bruyne.
[Damn. He approached faster than any player I've faced before. These guys are high quality—their reactions are sharp.]
The position felt awkward and unfamiliar. As a fullback, Ha Sunmoon was not used to receiving the ball with his back to goal, and the constant uncertainty about where the defender behind him was made his play feel off. Because of that awkwardness, he lost the ball two or three more times whenever it came to him, and soon he could no longer hold the proper False 9 position.
"Damn it…"
[Still, you felt the tempo just now, right? You need to react a little faster than when I call it.]
Ha Sunmoon looked at Harrison and gave a small nod.
"It seems… he's not quite pulling it off yet."
"Let's just keep watching for now."
Pep Guardiola exchanged opinions about Ha Sunmoon with his coach. His heart pounded with pressure.
[Move. You have to drag the defenders out of position.]
Positioned between the two center-backs, Ha Sunmoon followed Harrison's instruction and drifted toward the bottom right. "Hmm? Ha's moving in the opposite direction?" "No, he's doing fine." It was the opposite direction from where the ball was coming, but as Ha Sunmoon shifted right, space began to open up exactly where he was needed.
[Oh! Space opened up! Run now!]
Ha Sunmoon immediately sprinted into the space on the bottom left and successfully received the ball.
[He's coming from behind! Jesus is making a run on your bottom-left diagonal! Just send it straight to him!]
With his back to goal, Ha Sunmoon managed a quick heel flick to Jesus before Ake could close him down completely.
[Now make the run again!]
"Hmm?" "Oh. That's not bad."
When Jesus began dribbling on the right and Ha Sunmoon made a sharp run, Pep Guardiola's face showed a hint of satisfaction—the exact picture he wanted. Jesus dazzled the left-back, Mendy, with his dribbling, squeezed through a tight angle, and fired toward goal.
Thud!
The shot struck goalkeeper Jack Steffen and bounced out. Luckily, the ball fell right in front of Ha Sunmoon.
[Shoot!! Put it in~!!]
As the ball came to him, Harrison shouted loudly. Ha Sunmoon, who had also been watching it, adjusted his foot to the awkward bounce and managed to make contact.
Tap!
Roll, roll, roll.
Beep!
"Nice!" "Pretty good, huh?"
When Ha Sunmoon scored, Jesus ruffled his hair, and Foden patted his shoulder. "Alright, that's enough for today's mini-game. Good work, everyone. And Ha! You did really well."
Receiving praise from the manager known as the world's best, Pep Guardiola, made Ha Sunmoon feel like he was floating.
[Wow… that was really hard. It's on a completely different level from just watching. We actually pulled it off.]
The movement was on an entirely different dimension from his time at Espanyol. Stepping into Manchester City's tactics, where every player had to move like a single organism, Harrison realized the road ahead would be quite difficult. Still, seeing how overjoyed Ha Sunmoon was at Pep's praise, he decided to let him enjoy the moment for today.
"I should brag about this to Uncle Felipe later~!"
[Yeah, go ahead.]
* * *
Today's training session had ended. The players showered and headed home, but Manchester City's coaching staff still had work to do. Pep Guardiola and his assistant coach, Juanma Lillo, were analyzing the players' performances.
"Man… so that's the kid. He's really something special."
Juanma Lillo spoke while watching footage of Ha Sunmoon's play. Though he had once been Pep Guardiola's mentor, he had now joined Manchester City as assistant coach. Even without the manager's seat, the club offered excellent pay, and his ability to spot things Pep missed and help control the players made Pep rely on him heavily.
"Ha's play is unique. Definitely."
Ha Sunmoon, who had initially struggled to match the tempo and tactics, had shown rapid adaptation. Of course, it was the final training session and the players hadn't gone at full intensity, but it was no easy feat for a fullback to suddenly take on such a high-difficulty False 9 role.
"I didn't expect a fullback to do this well. You've got an eye for talent!"
"That may be true, but… something feels off. He's doing well, but… he shouldn't be doing it like that…"
The reason Pep viewed Ha Sunmoon's play with suspicion was simple. It was a habit of high-level players—lifting their heads to scan their surroundings. Especially midfielders and False 9s, who needed to check 360 degrees around them, but Ha Sunmoon didn't have that habit.
"He's passing the ball without even checking with his eyes? Is he doing it purely on instinct because he's a genius, or… is it just luck…"
"Either way, if he can do that in real matches, he could be an enormous asset."
"That kind of lucky, random goal-scoring play is something Ferran Torres does too. We need a proper number 9 with solid reasoning behind it…"
"If that were the case, we should've bought someone in the transfer market. But since we couldn't sign anyone, what can we do… We need to find another way, Pep."
Manchester City currently had a glaring hole. After Sergio Agüero, the symbol of the previous season, missed a long period due to injury and illness, Pep Guardiola's patience had reached its limit and he chose not to renew Agüero's contract. The key player left for Barcelona, and another striker, Jesus, told Pep he no longer wanted to play as a number 9 and moved to the wing. City had tried to pursue Tottenham's Kane by emphasizing the vacancy at striker, but Tottenham refused to sell, leaving the number 9 position empty. As a result, Ferran Torres, who had been forcibly converted from winger to striker, was now the only recognized striker in the first team.
"Then let's try this young player from Korea. We've tested other players in the False 9 role, but they all showed resistance."
"Tomorrow, we'll do it properly."
* * *
Praise makes whales dance. Even after returning to the hotel, Ha Sunmoon and Harrison discussed many ideas. They thought about how to show better movement as a False 9, referencing Manchester City's play from the 20/21 season when the team had nearly achieved another great year, and created new rules. With the False 9 role once again prepared, Ha Sunmoon arrived at the training ground.
[Alright. Let's keep performing well and catch the manager's eye. The atmosphere around fullbacks wasn't exactly easy either.]
"Yes. If I catch his eye, I need to keep getting minutes here too."
Buoyed by yesterday's success, Ha Sunmoon arrived at the training ground with high confidence.
[The vibe feels almost like a real match?]
Ha Sunmoon and Harrison immediately sensed that today's atmosphere was different from yesterday's.
"We'll do something similar to yesterday. But let's take it a bit more seriously today. After warming up, we'll play almost like a real match."
"Yes!"
"Understood."
Along with Ha Sunmoon, most of the first-team players and a few promoted youth players began warming up. Soon, Pep Guardiola announced the lineups for both sides.
"Ha. You're number 9 again. That team. Put on the vest."
"Yes, understood."
Once again, Ha Sunmoon was assigned to the number 9 position. He put on the vest and moved into place.
[Whoa… wait a second…]
Harrison, still standing in position, realized today's match felt different.
[Did they deliberately set the lineups like this?]
"Huh?"
Ha Sunmoon felt two familiar players standing right behind him—players he had seen in yesterday's video. Ruben Dias and John Stones. The very duo who had delivered the league title, Carabao Cup, and a Champions League final appearance to Manchester City in the 20/21 season. Today, Ha Sunmoon would have to play the False 9 role against the Dias-Stones partnership. And when even the defensive midfielder was Rodri, who excelled defensively, Ha Sunmoon began to feel immense pressure even before the match started.
[We're screwed, aren't we?]