Growing Pains
Fortunately, Espanyol had been performing well. In the Segunda División they sat comfortably at the top of the table, a commanding ten points clear of second place. In the Copa del Rey they had advanced to the semifinals without much trouble after drawing fourth-, third-, and second-division opponents. Everything had been running smoothly—until the disease began to spread.
It was an ominous illness that swept across the globe, and Ha Sunmoon could not escape it.
God… Sunmoon, are you all right?
“Ugh… No…”
Ha Sunmoon felt as if his entire body were on fire.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad… It hurts so much…”
Harrison listened to the boy whine but could do nothing to help. This was no exaggeration—people really were dying in droves. The elderly and the very young, like Sunmoon, were especially vulnerable.
The door creaked open.
“Are you okay, Sunmoon?”
“No… I feel like I’m dying…”
Felipe had just returned home, arms laden with food, water, and daily necessities.
“Damn it… There’s nothing I can do.”
With a heavy heart, Felipe began nursing the boy. The illness, known as C19, had started in China. What had first seemed like a minor outbreak had rolled from Asia to North America and finally reached Europe. Its impact was devastating. The league was suspended and every player ordered to stay home. Barcelona, once overflowing with tourists, fell eerily quiet; most restaurants simply shuttered their doors.
“This is my fault… I got better, and now you’ve caught it.”
“It’s not your fault…”
Felipe spoke with deep self-reproach. As an agent he had continued traveling until the last possible moment before returning home. Predictably, he had developed respiratory symptoms almost immediately. The problem was that hospitals were already overwhelmed; Felipe could not even be admitted. So he stayed home, and Sunmoon had cared for him with devoted attention. Fortunately Felipe was not yet elderly. With the boy’s careful nursing he recovered. The only trouble was that the virus had passed to his caregiver.
“Cough… cough…”
A weak cough escaped Sunmoon.
“It’s all right. You’ll get better…”
It was a disease that struck hardest at the old and the very young. Harrison watched over the boy with open worry.
“Um… Mr. Felipe. Any other news?”
“In France they’ve gone so far as to cancel the Ballon d’Or. With the league completely shut down, it was inevitable.”
“Really? Are we stopping everything too? We still need promotion…”
“Promotion doesn’t matter right now. Surviving does. Still, the big four leagues have too much money at stake. The prevailing opinion is that they may resume. They might even finish the remaining fixtures.”
“Sigh… I hope so.”
Two months later, it was February 2021.
They had endured a bone-chilling winter and the grief of losing countless lives. People were slowly piecing their daily routines back together, and football was no exception.
“Good news, Sunmoon. La Liga is about to restart.”
“Yes!”
“Hmm… but I’m worried. Will you be all right?”
Felipe studied the boy with obvious concern.
“I’ll just have to do my best…”
A problem had arisen for Ha Sunmoon.
Ugh… how on earth do I fix this?
Harrison understood the issue as well, yet it did not look easy to solve.
First, Sunmoon had grown far too much. He now stood 172 centimeters tall—an increase of more than ten centimeters in a single year. Rapid growth was possible, but for a professional athlete it created serious complications.
Even without proper training you can already see the balance problems. Once he steps onto the pitch for real, it’s going to be bad.
Second, having contracted C19, Sunmoon was suffering one clear side effect.
“And… please eat properly. You really don’t look well right now.”
Felipe spoke after examining the boy’s frame. In addition to the sudden height gain, the illness had stripped away weight at an alarming rate. His appetite had vanished while he was sick, and only the constant coaxing from both Harrison and Felipe had kept him from wasting away entirely. At 172 centimeters he weighed a mere 58 kilograms. To the eyes of a former soldier like Harrison and a seasoned agent like Felipe, the boy looked terrible.
What a headache… I want to rebuild his muscle, but he can’t eat enough. Even if we manage to condition his body, he keeps growing taller. At this rate just finding balance on the pitch is the limit. What are we going to do when he has to play real matches?
Harrison brooded.
“I’ll find a way… somehow.”
The first team meeting after the outbreak was held online; players still could not gather in person. The session focused on future training plans and new tactical directions. Gradually rebuilding fitness was understandable, but the proposed tactics raised immediate alarm.
Manager Abelardo had introduced a 4-4-2 system. Both Sunmoon and Harrison, along with every other player, were stunned.
“Coach, is this correct? The 4-4-2 didn’t work well for us before. The squad isn’t really suited to it either.”
Raúl de Tomás immediately voiced his doubts. Having suffered under Pablo Machín’s failed 4-4-2 experiment, the squad was naturally skeptical. Yet the situation had changed.
“I understand your concerns. But this is necessary. The current league leaders, Atlético Madrid, base their system not on 4-3-3 but on 4-4-2. You may be afraid because we failed with it last season, but we must evolve. The 4-4-2 is the new trend. That is why we are adopting it.”
Head coach David supported the manager’s view, prompting the players to reconsider.
“Moreover, Manager Abelardo is highly proficient with the 4-4-2. We can expect better results from him in this system than in any other.”
The players knew it was true. Like Machín, Abelardo had never been comfortable with 4-3-3. The man who had guided them to seventh place in the top flight—Rubi—had been an outlier. Coach David’s argument that they should play to their new manager’s strengths began to sound reasonable. They had also noticed that Atlético’s two-bank defense was becoming fashionable across La Liga. Second-division opponents had used the same 4-4-2 shape so frequently that the players had grown familiar with it.
“That’s the system Albacete and Lugo used against us, right?”
“Good question, Darder. Essentially, yes. In the end everyone copies the top team.”
“Then we should be able to adapt quickly. We’ve faced it recently and even tried the shape a few times ourselves…”
Since it was a formation they had both suffered against and experimented with, the players realized they could pick it up faster than expected.
“I hope you all adapt quickly. We will continue emphasizing 4-3-3 for now, but we will transition to 4-4-2 before long.”
“Understood.”
“My God! Who is this?”
“It’s me, Ha Sunmoon.”
“I can see that! The face is the same, but what happened to your body?”
David stared at the boy in open astonishment.
“That’s all I’ve been hearing today.”
“I’m not surprised. Have you measured your height? How tall are you now?”
“Currently… 175 centimeters.”
“Good heavens! Weren’t you around 161 before? That’s fourteen centimeters of growth!”
“Haha…”
David’s expression grew serious. Sudden growth spurts happened, but they always carried consequences.
“We’d better run a full battery of tests right away.”
Of course he notices immediately. There are going to be a lot of problems… I’ve barely managed to keep any balance at all…
David promptly led Sunmoon to the training ground and put him through the prepared circuit.
. . .
We’re in trouble…
“Um… hmm…”
The head coach rubbed his temples, clearly troubled.
“It’s all right. Come here.”
Sunmoon stood before him looking miserable.
“Well… it’s not good, is it?”
“No, sir.”
“First, your sprint speed has dropped. You’ve grown taller but haven’t yet found the balance that suits your new frame. You also missed proper training during the outbreak, so that’s understandable. It should improve with consistent work.”
“Yes!”
“The real issue is your technique. The overwhelming individual skill you once possessed has weakened considerably. All those flashy moves you performed with a low center of gravity have been lost now that you’ve shot up in height. We’ll have to find ways to rebuild them gradually through training.”
“Yes…”
Beating opponents with dribbling and sharp changes of direction had been Sunmoon’s greatest weapon. Hearing that his primary tool had been blunted, his voice grew small.
“Defensively there are both advantages and disadvantages. The lightning-quick tackles and foot speed you relied on before will be harder to replicate. On the other hand, your increased height and physical presence will make you far stronger in aerial duels and physical battles.”
Sunmoon swallowed hard. So far everything had sounded negative.
In the end, however, the assessment was not entirely bad. In fact, it could even be seen as positive. They were about to adopt a 4-4-2 system, and for a left-back performing zonal marking, the current taller, stronger body was actually better suited than the one from a few months earlier. Most importantly, Sunmoon’s crossing ability remained intact. As long as that whip-like left-footed cross was still there, his value would not plummet. In a system where everyone sat deep, that kind of delivery was vital.
David spoke candidly, and the knowledge that his new physique might actually suit the coming tactical shift gave Sunmoon a small measure of comfort.