The Inverted Fullback
Soccer sure is tough.
Hmm... Those guys have quite a menacing atmosphere, don't they?
Ha Sunmoon was out on the pitch warming up for the second half. Harrison, sensing the strange vibe coming from the Villarreal players staring at him, spoke up.
“No, I mean… does that really change anything? It’s not like I’m going to get intimidated just because they’re glaring at me.”
Oh! Yeah. That’s the right attitude. You shouldn’t let that stuff get to you.
“I saw plenty of that in Brazil, and a lot of older players tried it on me too. Never worked. Hehe.”
My gut’s telling me they’ve prepared something. Their eyes are different. Just in case, don’t play too recklessly. You’re a first-division player now. Slip up with those fancy moves and you could lose an ankle.
“Come on. It’s just the desperate flailing of guys who know they’re not good enough. They’re going to keep getting skinned by me anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Although… their manager’s face was beet-red when he went back to the dugout. Maybe he got chewed out and now they’re all staring at me? As someone with a generous heart, I suppose I should forgive them. Hehehe.”
Harrison shook his head at the boy’s words. Typical. The provocation was thick enough to taste.
If they’d heard that last bit, you’d have been on the receiving end of a proper tackle. That was a little arrogant.
“It’s not arrogance, it’s just facts. I think Diola’s plan is solid. Not crossing the ball has actually helped more.”
Not crossing helped more? Hmm, I see.
I disagree. It only worked because the opposition was clearly told to block your crosses on purpose. And that last goal came from a cross, didn’t it?
But Ha Sunmoon shook his head firmly.
“No. When I dropped deep along the line, the game opened up because I instinctively chose to cut inside. The cross helped me score, sure, but I created tons of chances with my dribbling too. I didn’t score from those, but that wasn’t on me—the other guys couldn’t finish. I kept cutting inside because I knew their right-back would lunge in.”
Aha~ So you knew every single tackle was coming and cut inside anyway? Does that make you the god of football? How can you read all of them?
Ha Sunmoon answered even more confidently.
“Then I guess I am a god. Because I really did read them.”
Haha. Oh, man. No, it was pretty obvious, to be fair.
Anyway, you warmed up? The game’s restarting, so let’s focus on what’s ahead.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s do that~.”
The whistle blew sharply and the second half began.
As soon as the second half kicked off, Ha Sunmoon started carrying out Diola’s instructions. In the first half he’d had no choice but to bomb forward because he hadn’t coordinated with his teammates yet, but now that they had talked, he was able to tuck into the center.
He told me to stick like a midfielder.
“Why isn’t he coming up?”
Villarreal’s right winger Peña looked confused when Ha Sunmoon stayed back.
Ha Sunmoon had completely repositioned himself exactly like the inverted fullback Diola had described. With his position now fixed, Espanyol’s formation—previously close to a 4-1-4-1—shifted into something nearer to 3-2-4-1.
Inverted fullback. Unlike a traditional fullback, this role narrows into the center instead of overlapping, frequently attempting underlaps between the opposition fullback and center-back.
The Villarreal center-back who had stepped out on the left side carried the ball forward.
“What the…”
But Torres struggled to find a pass. For some reason every Villarreal player ahead of him was tightly marked by an Espanyol man. Left with no choice, midfielder Ibora dropped deeper to receive the ball, then found striker Gerard in the gap.
Here it comes!
The moment the ball moved, Ha Sunmoon—who had been positioned beside defensive midfielder Sanchez—darted forward and cut it out.
Ha Sunmoon quickly passed to Sanchez and dropped back again.
Not bad. Drop deeper. The space is tight.
Sanchez scanned for options, then played it back to Ha Sunmoon.
No clear passing lane. Hit it long to the right.
Following Harrison’s instruction, Ha Sunmoon played the ball out to Embarba on the right wing.
Huh?
Oh no.
Ha Sunmoon’s pass had been poor. Villarreal’s left-back Moreno spotted the slow ball and intercepted it in midfield.
Even though Moreno won the ball, it wasn’t comfortable. Espanyol still outnumbered them in central areas, and Villarreal were struggling to adjust to the changed shape.
The Spanish commentator covering La Liga sounded genuinely surprised. The new system kept causing Villarreal problems. Time kept ticking down. Espanyol created several promising attacks, but Villarreal could barely push through the middle.
Hmm… Doing it this way creates one clear problem. You feel it too, right?
Ha Sunmoon gave a small nod.
How many times have we failed already? At this rate it’s hard to find good passing options.
There was one drawback to Ha Sunmoon carrying out the tactic. Harrison could spot the passing lanes from above, but Ha Sunmoon’s passing ability wasn’t good enough to use every lane. Oscillating between defensive and central midfield positions meant he had to mix short and long passes. Good moments appeared, but his long balls were terrible, and especially the rolled passes along the ground were basically gifts to the opposition.
Short passes are your bread and butter. Just drive forward with your body, dribble, and unlock it with quick passes.
“Got it. I’m honestly terrible at the other stuff.”
Good that you realized it now. Let’s build slowly on what you’re actually good at.
Ha Sunmoon’s real weapon was dribbling, not elegant passing. Sharp, fast ground passes or sweeping long balls simply weren’t in his arsenal.
“Damn it! Gerard! Paco! Trigueros!”
Villarreal’s manager was red-faced and shouting. Being completely out-thought by the opposing coach—who had only been in charge of the B team—left a bitter taste. He called over two forwards and one midfielder and roared again.
“Do what Peña and Gaspar were supposed to do! Change Peña and Gaspar back to the original plan!”
The Villarreal players, who had been growing increasingly frustrated, nodded.
What’s this? These guys feel different now.
“What is it?”
It’s the same look their right winger and right-back had earlier. Something’s off.
Ha Sunmoon didn’t pay much attention to Harrison’s warning.
After taking possession, Ha Sunmoon scanned his surroundings.
An attacker is closing in from behind you.
Forward press?
Ha Sunmoon tried to dribble away with his back to goal.
I’m not letting you through!
Villarreal striker Gerard slammed hard into Ha Sunmoon’s back.
Thud!
“Aaaargh!”
I knew it.
Harrison frowned.
Watch yourself from now on. They’re getting rough. They’ve made their move. Get up quick. Stand tall like a man and stare them down. You can’t lose the psychological battle here. Glare at them like you’re not fazed at all.
Harrison had lived through the brutal era of English football. He recognized the warning signs of deliberate rough play immediately.
“Hey!”
When Ha Sunmoon went down, Naldo burst forward from behind and yelled.
“You shove a kid like that? What the hell is wrong with you bastards!”
At the same time he whispered quickly in Portuguese to Ha Sunmoon.
“Pretend it hurts. Stay down.”
Huh?
What did he say?
He was right. Time was not on Villarreal’s side. If the opponent wanted to play dirty, going down was a legitimate tactic. Naldo was using it to their advantage, and it wasn’t a bad idea.
Oh? He’s right. Guess I should stay down then.
“Ow… I think I’m dying…”
Ha Sunmoon was more than ready to sell the injury. Having learned from the world’s greatest master of the dark arts—Neymar Junior—made it easy.
“No…”
“What do you mean, no? You lot pushed him! Sunmoon, you okay?”
“Ah… tsk.”
Ha Sunmoon clutched his back with an agonized expression while Gerard, who had made the challenge, looked suddenly uneasy. Fifteen minutes remained, yet for some reason Ha Sunmoon felt the clock would now race forward.