A Shift in Perspective
“The view really does feel different. It’s awkward.”
Ha Sunmoon, making his first start at right-back for the Malaga match, felt strangely out of place. It was a home game at a stadium he had sprinted across countless times, yet the simple change in position made everything feel slightly off.
Can’t be helped. I’ll get used to it soon enough. Once I start running, it’ll feel natural.
Players who see the whole pitch like midfielders, or those who switch positions constantly… they must be something else.
Ha Sunmoon glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings, then quietly steeled himself and focused on the game.
The whistle blew, and the match began.
— The match between Malaga and Espanyol has kicked off at RCDE Stadium, Espanyol’s home ground.
“Hoo… take it slow. Nice and easy.”
Ha Sunmoon looked around. Instead of turning right to see the left wing, midfielders, and center-backs, he now had to turn left to find his teammates. I’m going to need a lot of practice with this… Good thing I’ve been working on keeping my head up. Without that, playing right-back would’ve been a disaster.
— Ha is starting at right-back today instead of his usual left-back position.
— That’s surprising. When I first saw the lineup and noticed Gomez was missing, I thought they might be going with a back three. But Ha at right-back… Abelardo is clearly taking a gamble.
The La Liga commentators, veterans of the game, quickly understood why Abelardo had placed Ha Sunmoon on the right.
— A gamble, you say. It’s certainly unusual to deploy a natural left-back at right-back, isn’t it?
— It is. The reverse—sending a right-footed right-back to the left—has happened a few times. Pep Guardiola recently tried it with Joao Cancelo, moving him from right-back to left-back. The man who reshaped modern football is experimenting again.
— But didn’t Manchester City already have plenty of left-backs?
— They did. Benjamin Mendy, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Angeliño—three left-backs. But none of them met Pep’s standards, so he moved Cancelo over.
— And how did that work out?
— Not well, I’m afraid. It has to be considered a failure so far. Especially after the loss to Lyon in the Champions League where it was first tried. We’ll need to see more before passing judgment.
— So moving Ha to right-back is being viewed as a similar gamble.
— Exactly. A left-footed player at right-back will naturally tend toward the inverted fullback role… and with Espanyol’s right-wing options being Wu Lei and Embarba, both right-footed, placing Ha on the right might not be such a bad idea after all.
Lucky…
Ian, who had been promoted from the B team, watched from the bench with quiet frustration. Several positions lacked proper rotation players behind the starters, so B-team members often found themselves on the bench or in the squad. Right-back had been one of those spots—Gomez’s backup hadn’t been reinforced—so Ian had assumed he would at least make the bench and get a chance if needed.
But he had never imagined Ha Sunmoon, a left-back, would be shifted to right-back. The realization stung.
“Damn it… this is ridiculous.”
Huh?
While Ian was still stewing, a low curse came from beside him. He turned carefully and saw Gomez staring at Ha Sunmoon with a fierce glare.
“First time I’ve heard you swear.”
“No, I didn’t…”
“You look just as gutted as I feel. What’s the difference between you and me?”
Ian was at a loss for words.
“No… I just…”
“Forget it. I’m only slightly screwed. You’re in real trouble. They’ll send you straight back to the B team.”
“But… isn’t this just temporary?”
“Temporary, my ass. They’re planning to make Ha the long-term starter at right-back. Your spot is gone. I might still hang around as backup, but you…”
“Ah… I see. I didn’t realize.”
Gomez continued, his tone bitter.
“Same thing happened when they brought in that loanee. The coaches clearly don’t rate me. I thought maybe they’d finally give me a run in the first team and promote someone from the B team… but instead they’re using him.”
“Do you think Ha will keep playing there?”
“He’d better not. That’s the only way either of us gets any breathing room. Look at him… does he look like someone who’ll fail?”
As Gomez spoke, Ha Sunmoon slipped past two pressing midfielders in an instant and delivered the ball to Wu Lei on the wing. Every touch was mesmerizing. His Brazilian-style dribbling left defenders behind as he drove forward. The rest of Espanyol’s first-team players were used to this. Trusting that Ha would beat his man, they had already begun their runs, and the spaces created allowed Espanyol to launch a dangerous attack.
Wham!
A well-weighted cross curled off Ha Sunmoon’s right foot. After Wu Lei drew Malaga’s left-back, he returned the ball, and Ha whipped in another cross with his right.
“See that? He can cross with his right foot too. Not as whippy as his left, but it’s decent—about as good as mine on my best days. Think you could do that?”
Ian shook his head.
“Yeah. You… ha. Never mind.”
Gomez stopped himself before saying something harsher. David quietly observed the unhappy exchange between the two players.
Hmm…
Ha Sunmoon’s cross had been decent, but Malaga’s center-back won the aerial duel and headed the ball clear.
— The ball is back with Espanyol! Alex has a chance!
The pass found Alex, who hesitated for a moment before firing a long-range shot.
— Alex… oh, it’s well over! Nerves got the better of him there.
As the ball sailed high into the stands, Alex dropped his head.
— Espanyol created a good opportunity, but it’s gone begging.
Sunmoon, that was a missed chance. You should’ve used your left foot there. No one was marking you. A curling shot to the far post could’ve been a goal. Similar situation to the one against Barcelona when you scored with your right.
At Harrison’s words, Ha Sunmoon shook his head slightly. As he jogged back into position, he muttered quietly.
“I still can’t shoot like that… last time was just luck…”
Hah… then you need to practice it. You know those kinds of chances come up in matches, right?
“I know… but it’s the same as long balls. I still don’t have enough power… you know that.”
No! Even young players can score from that distance with training. This isn’t about power—it’s about not practicing. Even without much power, if you put the ball in a dangerous area, it goes in.
Urgh…
Ha Sunmoon couldn’t argue against Harrison’s sharp criticism.
Still, this is better. Playing on the right is exposing all the gaps in my game.
“How is this better? I’m getting scolded by you all match.”
It’s not scolding—it’s showing you there’s room to improve. When you play left-back, everything feels like a set routine, so you handle most situations on your own. There’s rarely a clearly better option you’re missing. But on the right, those gaps are obvious.
Is that so?
Ha Sunmoon nodded slightly.
Right-back isn’t that different. Think of it as a mirror. Remember when you played as an inverted fullback from the left.
Harrison launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
The right-wingers are mostly right-footed, so you’ll often need to drift inside. But sometimes you have to stay wide or make unpredictable runs to stretch the defense. You did all of that on the left—why aren’t you doing it here?
“Ah! That makes sense.”
Good. Now that you understand, just do what you’ve always done. Let’s take it slow and build from there.
Ha Sunmoon nodded.
He’s right. It’s not that different. I think I know what I need to do.