Romantic on the Field

126.

Press conference after Manchester City match.

Jamie had to attend a press conference with manager Milo.

Against a team that was regarded as a favorite for the championship, he led the team to victory by scoring the opening goal and the key goal alone. Maybe it could be taken for granted.

“This is Alex Kim from Football Genius. Today, you scored another wonder goal that will be mentioned as a candidate for the Puskas Award. Congratulations.”

It was Jamie who was not reluctant or difficult to interview from the beginning.

“thank you.”

He responded naturally to the reporter’s praise.

“Manchester City, along with Stoke City, were considered the strongest contenders for the title. Against such a team, we showed an overwhelming game and won a great victory.”

“Yes.”

“It can’t be a really great result. Not just today’s game, but the season as a whole. Soon the second half of the league will start with the winter transfer window, and so far Stoke City have not recorded a single defeat.”

There were no losses or draws.

Jamie, who was listening to the reporter, wanted to make that correction, but endured it.

“Not even a draw. It is a story of succession.”

Fortunately, the reporter immediately mentioned the fact.

“It’s a bit early, but opinions are coming out that it’s practically the same as Stoke City winning the league. I wonder what you think about this opinion, and if Stoke City don’t win despite these circumstances, which team do you think has the best chance of winning?”

And at the reporter’s words that followed, Jamie felt a laugh leak out. It was because it was too deceptive.

“The question I really want to ask is the latter. If Stoke City don’t win, which team do you think will win? After all, isn’t that what you wanted to ask?”

I couldn’t stand it this time. Jamie pointed it out with a smile.

“ha ha ha······.”

A shape that has been stabbed to the point. The reporter let out an awkward laugh. Others at the scene also burst into laughter at the reporter’s overly candid response.

“However, the answer is too obvious. Stoke City will win unconditionally, but apart from that, if I had to pick a team with the next highest chance of winning, it would of course be Newcastle United.”

Newcastle United.

It was a team currently in second place in the league behind Stoke City.

“Can I ask you one more question?”

“Do it.”

As if the reporter expected Jamie to answer like that, he immediately continued with the next question.

“So, who do you think is the most important player at Newcastle United right now?”

**

[ Who is Newcastle United’s key player? ]

If you grab a passer-by and ask this question, nine out of 10 people will answer, ‘Jorit Beast’.

And the other one will choose ‘Richard Madden’.

‘Wust, who is Madden?’

If you’re not a Newcastle United fan, you might answer this, but the names of these two didn’t really matter.

The important thing is that both are defenders.

[The phrase ‘a team with good defense wins’ is an old saying? ]

[Why can’t Newcastle United, which boasts ‘iron wall defense’, win? ]

A truly strong team is one that plays well on defense. You have to be good at defense to win. It’s a word that floats around like an orthodoxy in the sports world, but Newcastle failed to win consecutively despite having the best defender in the league.

Accordingly, the club’s board and staff began to find the cause and solution of the problem, and at this time, a person named ‘Jamie Lee’ appeared.

[Newcastle United, are you interested in ‘Wonder Boy’ Jamie Lee? ]

[Jamie Lee rejected Leicester City, Manchester City, and West Ham United offers one after another. ]

The player who scored the most goals in the league despite being a central attacking midfielder. A player who alone can change the game and the outcome.

That was the evaluation towards Jamie.

As a team aiming to win the league, there was no choice but to pay attention to Jamie.

[“I might transfer for £2m a week.” Jamie Lee’s response to Manchester City move rumors. ]

[Jamie Lee’s standards that went up two years later. Give me £4m and I’ll think about it. In effect, he declared that he would stay at Stoke City. ]

Naturally, many teams made transfer offers to him, but he rejected all of them at once.

2 million pounds is 3 billion won in Korean currency, and 4 million pounds is 6 billion won. It was more than the combined weekly wages of Messi and Ronaldo in their prime.

In other words, it was as if he had declared that he would stay at Stoke City even for a billion dollars – and in fact, Jamie had signed a new contract for the world’s highest price, and Premier League teams had to look for another player.

[Liverpool FC, Pavel Kopekki Pumna. Likely to propose an 80 million pound transfer. ]

[‘Fixing problem’ is a common phenomenon all over the world. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United are also targeting Pavel Kopekki. ]

[ Natal Munoz could be a long-term replacement. Real Madrid legend recommended for Pavel Kopekki. ]

Several players were mentioned as the ‘other player’, but Pavel Kopekki was the most important among them.

[Liverpool and Newcastle United, which were voted side by side in the ‘team most desperate for striker’ vote. ]

[Newcastle United Manager Johnjo Selby. “Pavel is our number one recruit.” ]

A player who scores in double digits every year. A player who reminds me of ‘Ruud van Nistelrooy’ of the past.

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Liverpool and Newcastle, who lack a clear scorer, couldn’t help but covet Pavel.

[ (Official) Pavel Kopekki transferred to Newcastle United. ]

ㄴ [Ball number is 9]

[Newcastle won the scout competition against Liverpool. Aiming for the league championship with Pavel. ]

It was Newcastle, not Liverpool, who won the race to sign Pavel. Since the scale of the capital exceeded that of Manchester City, it was a natural result.

[ Pavel Kopekki silent in the first game after transfer. Newcastle United Fans Concerned About ‘Eat Out’. ]

ㄴ [Stoke City aiming for consecutive league titles with Jamie Lee. ]

ㄴ [Contrary to Newcastle, who recruited Pavel Kopekki. ]

Afterwards, Pavel was silent for the first few rounds, causing concern…

[Gooool! Pavel scores goals in 3 matches in a row! ]

[Pavel Kopekki running to director Johnjo Selby? ]

[ ha ha ha. This is Pavel Kopekki, who expresses gratitude to the director for believing in him. ]

Since then, he has scored a goal in almost every game, living up to coach John Cho’s trust.

‘thank god.’

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Looking at Pavel’s performance, Jonjo thought to himself.

‘This season is low. No, this is the last chance.’

At the beginning of the season, bad luck overlapped, drawing and losing Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. However, except for these two matches, all other matches were won.

[Newcastle United on a winning streak. ]

[‘Championship candidate’ Manchester City also won. Newcastle won 2-0 thanks to Pavel Kopekki. ]

ㄴ [Are you really going to win this time? ]

At the point where the season went a little less than halfway, the current league ranking of Newcastle United is 2nd place.

It’s because it was overshadowed by ‘transition’ Stoke City, and Newcastle was also recording an unprecedented hoseongjeok.

[Director, are you confident? ]

And on match day against Stoke City.

John Cho answered Dan’s call.

[Before Jamie Lee grows further, so this season is the right time to win. You said that. ]

“hahahaha······.”

‘Surprisingly, Jamie Lee isn’t in his prime yet. So as time goes on he will grow more and the more he does, the less chance Newcastle United will win.’

Those were the words Jonjo told Captain Dan two months ago.

[At the time, I wondered what the director would say, but when I thought about it, it seemed like he was right. ]

“Thank you for your understanding.”

[So, are you confident about playing today? ]

Dan was an understanding man.

But he was not the kind of person who could say anything.

“I am confident.”

That’s why Jonjo had to give an answer that was a little different from the original mind that had settled deep inside.

**

In fact, John Cho was not confident.

It was a little different matter if this season was the right time to win and if I had confidence against Jamie.

It will develop more than this in the future, but even at this point, he was already an existence close to force majeure or natural disaster.

No matter how much Yorit Weust and Richard Madden were there, and even if Pavel was recruited, there was no confidence to win against Stoke City with such a Jamie.

“Now, there will be no one who doesn’t know that today’s match is an important match.”

After the phone call with Dan, in the St. James Park home locker room.

said John Cho, looking around the squad.

“So rather than the importance of the game, I try to talk about how strong the opponent is. The opponent is a team that won the league with an overwhelming record last season. And, this season, the power has been strengthened even more. Of course, the grades are better.”

Then he turned his head towards Jorit Beast.

Despite the signing of Pavel, Jorit Wüst was still the core of the team.

“Nevertheless, on the phone with the captain a while ago, I replied that I was confident. Why?”

Then Jonjo told another lie that wasn’t a lie.

“Because I am really confident.”

In order not to shake Yorit Bust, who is strangely lacking in confidence compared to his excellent skills.

“Because we are strong. No, because we are stronger. How are you, Pavel? Are you confident too?”

Instead, the question was directed to Pavel, not to him. It was because it was judged to be safer.

“Of course there is.”

As expected of John Cho, Pavel gave a confident answer.

“great.”

Jonjo smiled. When I heard that answer without hesitation, my confidence seemed contagious. Other staff and players also let out a low laugh.

“let’s go.”

All tactical countermeasures have been prepared. The only thing left was the pure difference in skill and mentality, but the former was a problem that was difficult to solve right away, and the latter seemed to have been solved to some extent. I thought there was no need to argue any more.

‘Reese Chilwell.’

After a while, after the game started, John Cho looked at the man who could be said to be the key figure in today’s tactic.

Reese Chilwell. A player who joined during the transfer window last summer along with Pavel.

It’s buried in Pavel, he was also a player who was recruited for a considerable amount of £ 40 million.

And he was also the player in charge of marking Jamie Man today.

There have been many teams that have tried thorough man marking against Jamie before. However, all of them failed miserably and were not well known.

‘It’s only because of the man marking.’

Reese Chilwell is known for his strong stamina and decent defense.

At the same time as he attached him to Jamie, Jonjo ordered that the players around him immediately surround Jamie when he caught the ball in a certain space.

It could be said that it was a combination of two methods previously tried by other teams.

‘Maybe I can really stop it.’

I wasn’t confident, but when Jamie didn’t produce a clear result until the 30th minute in the first half, I started to think that way.

It wasn’t that he didn’t try to attack at all. In the 10th minute of the first half, I exchanged the ball with Brian from the left flank, and after that, I also aimed for a direct mid-range shot.

However, is it because of Rhys Chilwell’s tight mark and the organized defense of other players? It didn’t go beyond the penalty box arc.

‘Now.’

And in the 36th minute of the first half, the scene John Cho had been preparing for quite some time was about to be reproduced right in front of his eyes.