Strategic Rotation
Málaga’s match against Albacete had given Espanyol a clear picture of the gap between themselves and the rest of the Segunda División. They possessed the kind of squad that could dismantle mid-to-lower table sides. After the Albacete game, Manager Abelardo Fernández held a team meeting with David, and nearly every player, coach, and club staff member attended.
“Thanks to the revenue from last season’s Conference League run, we’ve managed to keep more players than expected. In La Liga terms, we’re a mid-to-lower table club financially, but in the Segunda División, we’re one of the biggest spenders. So our best option isn’t simply to talk about promotion.”
Abelardo’s words were accurate. In the top flight, Espanyol would be a struggling side, but the Segunda División standard was higher. Promotion was non-negotiable. With most of the squad retained, they had to go up.
Hmm… “Not simply talking about promotion,” huh…
“So the coaches and I have decided on a plan: we’ll select the starting eleven based on the opponent’s strength.”
Hmm?
“The Albacete match convinced me. There’s no need to field our strongest eleven every single game. We should match the opponent’s level with a slight advantage, win, and extract as much as possible from each fixture.”
Ho… Quite an arrogant strategy.
Harrison raised an eyebrow, but his tone suggested he didn’t dislike the idea.
“There’s only one reason we’re doing this. Our minimum target is promotion. At the same time, we want to reach the Europa League. That means we have to play efficient football.”
So they’re aiming for the cup. I like it.
“The Copa del Rey. We’ll rotate aggressively. In the league, we’ll maintain a level that guarantees promotion, then win the Copa del Rey so we can compete in the Europa League alongside the league next season. That’s our ultimate goal.”
Arrogant. Very arrogant. But… without something like this, there’s no reason for you to be playing here, Sunmoon.
It was an ambitious target. Yet Harrison, who had never been pleased about Sunmoon starting his career in the second division, nodded with approval.
The manager will probably use you in the important matches, won’t he?
“Hmm… I should ask the manager later which games I’ll be playing in.”
Go ahead.
Once the meeting ended, Ha Sunmoon approached the manager.
“Ha. What’s the matter?”
“Manager, does that mean I’ll be playing in the tougher fixtures?”
“Ah! You came to ask which matches you’ll feature in?”
But the answer Sunmoon received was unexpected.
“You’re the key to this entire plan.”
“Me? The key?”
“That’s right. Until we reach the later stages of the Copa del Rey, the plan is to develop you into a first-choice right-back.”
Huh?
“You know every position matters if we want to win the cup. As you’re aware, we have plenty of left-backs, but we’re short at right-back. If you can deliver the same performances at right-back that you’ve shown at left-back, we can move Pedrosa back to his natural position.”
Aha~ So that was the idea.
“That way, we won’t have any glaring weaknesses. We’ll have a squad that wouldn’t look out of place among the upper teams in La Liga.”
Makes sense. Though the wingers are still a bit thin, the players we have can produce decent output.
“The only real issue is that your workload will increase significantly. You probably won’t have many matches off this season. Think you can handle it?”
Sunmoon nodded.
“Of course. We’re not in Europe yet, and we won’t be playing twice a week that often anyway.”
“Good. That’s settled then. Since you’re still getting used to right-back, we’ll start you in the easier games.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Our next match is against Málaga, right? We’ll begin there.”
“Understood.”
* * *
August 7th. Málaga.
The match would be played at Espanyol’s home ground. Ha Sunmoon was getting ready in the locker room when Assistant Coach David walked in.
“Everyone been waiting? Here’s today’s starting lineup. Striker: Puado. Left wing: Pedrosa. Right wing: Wu Lei.”
The attacking line consisted entirely of rotation players, tailored to the level of the opposition. While Vargas was clearly superior on the left, the gap between Wu Lei and Embarba on the right wasn’t as wide.
“Midfield: Melendo, Álex, and Sánchez.”
“Huuu.”
Álex, who had been promoted from the B team, took a deep breath when he heard his name called for a starting spot.
“Don’t get too nervous. If you make mistakes, I’ll have to sub you off right away.”
“Ah— No, sir.”
“Melendo and Sánchez will look after you. Positioning and all that.”
“Got it.”
Sánchez nodded at David’s words.
“Ooh…”
“Congrats.”
Kedari and Gori, the B-team centre-backs sitting beside him, offered quiet congratulations.
“And the defence: left-back Villa, centre-backs Cabrera and Calero, right-back Ha.”
“Huuu.”
“Huh?”
The other players turned to stare at Sunmoon in surprise.
“Goalkeeper: Oier. Substitutes: Tomás, Vargas, Melendo, Gori, Gómez, Wassim, Prieto.”
“Understood.”
Ooh~ Gómez doesn’t look happy.
‘Huk…’
Gómez had been the first-choice left-back, so his pride was clearly wounded.
Well, it’s just a test, but if he’s got any sense, he’ll realise this could be the beginning of him losing his spot.
Espanyol had three left-backs: the young, rising Pedrosa; the experienced, veteran Villa; and the exceptionally talented but still young Ha Sunmoon. Gómez, unfortunately, was currently rated below even the declining Villa.
As Sunmoon felt Gómez’s sharp gaze on him, David moved on to the tactical briefing.
“Pay attention, everyone. Even against weaker sides, stay focused.”
“Yes, sir.”
“It shouldn’t be a difficult match. Málaga’s new manager, Marino, is a Málaga native but known for being incompetent. The reason a fourth-division manager suddenly got the Segunda job is because the board thought he’d be easy to control since he’s from Málaga.”
Wow… So there really are clubs that operate like that.
“Honestly, people in the know are already saying Málaga are relegation candidates and might even go down this season. The players are mediocre and the manager has no ability.”
Kekeke. The way he says that so confidently, there must really be a problem.
Harrison chuckled quietly as David spoke with absolute certainty.
“Their manager’s signature tactic is a variation of La Volpiana — a back three. They drop the defensive midfielder and push the full-backs up. But Málaga don’t have a defensive midfielder who’s good on the ball, so it’s a tactic they shouldn’t be using. Still, it’s probably the only thing they know how to do, so they’ll likely try the same build-up again.”
“Pfft.”
“Kekeke.”
The Espanyol players started snickering. When David stopped speaking and simply stared at them, they quickly fell silent.
“Finished laughing?”
“No, sir…”
“Then you can laugh some more. There’s something even funnier. Even if they try the back-three variation, they can’t get the ball past the halfway line. So if we just press from the front, they’ll collapse on their own.”
Whoa… That’s impressive! Really impressive.
“Originally, we were going to field even younger players, but just in case, we’re starting the first-team centre-backs. So don’t play too casually. If the game is comfortable, we can bring on more players from the B team.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Manager Abelardo Fernández entered the locker room.
“Right, where were we?”
“Ah, Manager. We covered the lineup and the opponent’s tactics.”
“I’ll take it from here.”
Abelardo checked the tactics board.
“If the opponent uses their back-three variation, they’ll have up to five players at the back. We only have three attackers. Even if Melendo and Álex occupy the half-spaces, they’ll still be man-marked. So my solution is to have Wu Lei and Puado form a front two in attack, with Ha pushing up from the right.”
A rather interesting shape appeared on the board.
“We’ll also use a back-three variation. Villa, Cabrera, and Calero will defend while Ha effectively plays as a winger. Defence, got it?”
“Yes! Understood.”
“Understood.”
Ohoho. He’s put some thought into this.
Harrison was impressed by Abelardo’s tactical briefing.