The Aesthetics of Slowness
Diola smiled. “By the way, you saw me play, right? What did you think?”
“Hmm…”
Ha Sunmoon looked at her with a hint of anticipation. Diola had been watching him for a reason. She wondered if he might be the one to grant her a certain wish.
“I saw it. You were really good. But there was something that felt a little… lacking.”
Lacking? That match? I tore the left flank apart.
Ha Sunmoon had also expected lavish praise, so his expression darkened slightly. Still, he knew there had to be a clear reason, so he pressed her.
“Lacking? What do you mean? What exactly felt off?”
“You… are you actually close with Marcelo?”
Ha Sunmoon felt a twinge of irritation at the mention of that name.
“Are you asking if I’m transferring to Real Madrid?”
Seeing his face sour, Diola quickly corrected herself.
“No, no, that’s not it. It’s just… I can see your style has changed, so I figured I should know who influenced you.”
“Ah… that’s what you meant?”
After the Eibar match, Diola had checked Ha Sunmoon’s other games as well. She realized he had originally played in a style closer to Barcelona’s philosophy. Yet for some reason, his approach had shifted noticeably during the first-team match against Eibar.
“So… you’re saying the change is bad?”
“Hmm…”
Diola hesitated. A classic fullback style wasn’t necessarily bad. But her hope was for Ha Sunmoon to move to Barcelona one day, so she needed to instill Barcelona’s philosophy in him as early as possible.
“What I’m saying is, crossing a lot like you did is fine, but you should use other methods more often. Maybe spend more time in central areas?”
Hmm? That doesn’t sound right.
Harrison immediately pushed back against Diola’s suggestion. Having watched both traditional English football and Liverpool’s recent style, he understood the power of a classic fullback. Especially after seeing world-class talents like Robertson and Arnold, he wasn’t convinced by her words.
Kid, I disagree. I think your current direction is correct. Marcelo said the same thing, didn’t he?
Harrison brought up Marcelo to apply pressure.
“Explain it in more detail. I did all this because I learned it from Marcelo.”
“Hoo…”
Diola felt this wouldn’t be easy. It was difficult for an ordinary woman with no experience in football management to out-argue advice from a world-class fullback like Marcelo. But after a moment of thought, she found a solution.
“That’s exactly why I’m saying this. Marcelo plays in a completely different style from you.”
Huh?
Both Harrison and Ha Sunmoon were taken aback. Marcelo had said something similar himself.
“Of course, your style isn’t entirely different from his. You’re right in the middle. You have a classic side, but you also play in a very modern way.”
“I do?”
Ha Sunmoon tilted his head.
Half modern, half classic? What does that even mean?
Harrison also struggled to follow Diola’s explanation.
“Look.”
Diola arranged several objects on the table to represent a pitch.
“When you’re defending, you’re here. But when you build up and push forward, your position shifts over here.”
She explained how Ha Sunmoon formed a back four in defense, then drifted into midfield during build-up play.
“If you were a classic fullback, you’d stay on the touchline the whole time—except when overlapping. But you always tuck into the midfield first, only moving out to the touchline after crossing the halfway line. It’s a very unusual approach. By naturally drifting inside, you create a numerical advantage in midfield. That’s exactly what an inverted fullback does.”
“Aha~”
“What’s with that blank look? You weren’t following tactical instructions?”
Diola looked incredulous at Ha Sunmoon’s confused expression.
“Uh… I don’t think anyone ever told me to do that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I just moved that way. No one complained either. The only instructions I got were to play defensively or to move freely. That’s about it.”
What kind of team is Espanyol anyway? No wonder they’re 19th.
Diola rubbed her forehead, feeling slightly dizzy. Of course, this was entirely Ha Sunmoon’s problem. Most teams had a clear philosophy and briefed their players on tactics. Ha Sunmoon had been called in with the others, but the briefing barely mentioned him, and he hadn’t been paying attention anyway. Still, the tactics worked because he naturally thought, Maybe I should move like this? The coaching staff assumed he understood the system.
“Why…”
“It’s nothing… I just find you fascinating. So you really played like that?”
“Yeah…”
How am I supposed to take this? Talent?
Ha Sunmoon felt himself shrinking again under Diola’s words.
“Anyway, let’s look again. When you join the build-up and tuck inside like that, it’s excellent. But the problem comes after. Once you cross the halfway line, you quickly drift back out to the touchline.”
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
“Why do you go wide?”
“So I can put in crosses.”
“Hmm… is that all? You didn’t cross much before.”
“Ah… well… how do I put it? If I stay wide, it gives the right winger more space?”
The modern trend was to deploy inverted wingers on both flanks. Traditional wingers who stayed wide to cross were becoming rarer, while inverted players who cut inside to shoot were now the norm. Fullbacks had evolved to compensate for those inverted wingers’ lack of crossing ability. In that sense, Ha Sunmoon was playing right in line with the current trend.
“Exactly! But—and this is important—that might not be good for your team. Crossing from wide is fine, but I really think you should stay inside more often.”
That’s ridiculous. It’s sophistry! It doesn’t make sense!
Harrison immediately voiced his objection to Ha Sunmoon, who then turned to Diola.
“I really don’t understand. Why is my way bad?”
“Would you rather be the star and get all the attention, or would you rather the team wins?”
“What?”
Ha Sunmoon was caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.
“Obviously…”
The team has to win! Otherwise we’ll get relegated to the second division.
He had almost said the first option, but quickly changed it after Harrison’s warning.
“The team has to win. That’s the only way we stay in the first division.”
“That’s why I’m saying this. The tactics your team used when they finished 7th—that’s closer to this style. And the pinnacle of that style is Barcelona. Think about it. In the Eibar match, you put in all those crosses, but your teammates couldn’t get on the end of them, right? Were the players from that 7th-place team lacking in quality? No. You played well, but it wasn’t the right tactic for the team. The strikers were surrounded by centre-backs and couldn’t win headers. What’s the point of crossing a hundred times if nothing goes in…?”
Urgh… If that’s the case, then it changes everything.
Listening to Diola, Ha Sunmoon suddenly recalled what Tomás and Dalder had said. Both players had mentioned struggling to get on the end of his crosses. Harrison had heard it too, so he fell silent.
“Something come to mind?”
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
“Then you understand what I’m saying a little better now?”
“Yeah…”
“Running around a lot is good. But if you can’t get back in time, it becomes dangerous. Right?”
“Yeah…”
“Instead… take your time going forward. Help the midfield, play lots of little passes, and then suddenly slip a through ball to create a crack in the opposition. Stay calm, wait for the right moment, and sometimes even pass it back. You’re always charging forward. Do you understand the beauty of slowness? If you can’t master that… you’ll never become the best. Learn from the teams that reached the very top.”
Ha Sunmoon fell silent.
“Is… that how it is? But…”
“This is what Marcelo does. His style is closer to Barcelona’s, but it’s what he excels at.”
Diola deliberately mentioned Marcelo several more times, noticing how Ha Sunmoon reacted to the name.
“Marcelo’s your favorite player, isn’t he? And he plays like this. Want me to show you the video?”
Ha Sunmoon had already watched plenty of Marcelo’s footage. Now that he thought about it, he could picture Marcelo moving in a similar way.
“Hmm… No need! I’ve seen enough videos. I think you’re right.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Take it slow… use my teammates.”
“Yes, exactly. Now you know what to do, right? Your teammates will probably like you even more for it.”
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
“Whew, it’s gotten late. Shall we head out?”
“Yeah. Oh! But…”
“Hmm?”
“Could I take a photo?”
Diola gave a small laugh at his request.
“Why a photo?”
“Just… because I like having one?”
“Alright.”
“Really?”
Ha Sunmoon tried to take Diola’s picture, but she suddenly stood beside him, snatched his phone, and took a photo of the two of them together.
Click.
“There, done?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
Ha Sunmoon watched her walk away.
“Damn… that’s not what I wanted…”
But why the photo?
“Just… I thought it’d be nice to have one. So I can look at it whenever I want.”
Well done… Let’s just go home.
Ha Sunmoon trudged back to his house.
Ha Sunmoon replied “Yeah,” but felt a little sulky since he hadn’t gotten a photo of Diola. Just then—
Photo.
Diola sent him a picture. It was a photo of her legs. The sun-kissed skin made Ha Sunmoon’s eyes widen.
How is it? Like what you see?
Uh…
This one’s better, right? Anyway, sleep well.
Kid? Mind reeling that nose in a bit? Your nostrils look about three times bigger than usual.