Romantic on the Field

35.

The current EFL League One leader is Huddersfield Town AFC.

A team that is strong enough to have once won the Premier League title. But now it’s just a mediocre team floating around the middle of the championship.

However, this can be said to be a limited story when belonging to the championship.

If you come to League One after being relegated from the Championship, it is no exaggeration to say that the League One championship that year is almost confirmed by Huddersfield.

Regarding this, some soccer fans called them by the nickname ‘Championship steamer, League One gangster’ instead of the original nickname ‘Terriers’.

[The winter transfer market is finally over. Sam, there was no ‘big deal’ in League One, right? ]

[ That’s right. Many pundits predicted a move for Jamie Lee, but he ended up staying at Stoke City. ]

[ Instead, we recruited Pietro Mutombo, who played in the 6th division. And this signing, at this point, is seen as a very good signing. ]

[ Yes. It may be a hasty judgment, but if Stoke City is promoted this season, I would like to be considered as the team with the most net exhaustive sales in League One. I forgot, but Jamie Lee is also a new player this season. hahahaha. ]

[Ah, speaking of promotion. Stoke City’s performance has been very good lately. Contrary to the expectation that they would hover at the bottom of the league, they are currently ranked 4th. ]

Stoke City’s current league standings are 4th.

[If you keep your grades now, you will be able to participate in the promotion playoffs that no one expected before the season started. Sam, do you see a possibility? ]

[ well. In fact, I’m thinking above that. ]

[If it’s higher than that… ]

[This is a direct promotion. ]

The difference between Huddersfield and first place Huddersfield is 19 points.

At first glance, it may seem like a big difference, but considering that there are close to 20 league games left, it was a point that was enough to catch up.

[Gooool! Goal. It’s Lee again! ]

[The main character of Yeokjeongol is, of course, Jamie Lee! ]

And it actually happened.

[Lee catches the ball. ]

[This is Jamie Lee, who scored the winning goal in the last match. ]

[Do you solve it yourself this time? ]

[Oh, no. A pass to Brian who was penetrating from the side… ]

[ goal! Brian, keep calm! ]

Stoke City win.

[Corner kick goes up. ]

[ Mutombo······! ]

[ goal! Goal! Pietro Mutombo scores from Jamie Lee’s corner! ]

win and win again

[Harry Harris Goal! Stoke City coming out victorious despite Lee’s absence! ]

So, as of February 28th, the difference between Stoke City and Huddersfield is 13 points.

It narrowed 6 points in one month.

“Director.”

However, now Stoke City was not in a situation where they could rejoice at this fact.

At least it was today.

“Which of you should start, Jamie or Jack?”

Again, today is February 28th.

And February 28th is the day the League Cup final against Manchester City is played.

“…”

Now, this is the power analysis room.

Between the coaching staff and power analysts, Coach Charlie was lost in thought.

“The next game is against Portsmouth, right?”

“Yes.”

“Portsmouth was number one. Was it 2nd or 3rd?”

“We are currently ranked second in the league.”

Besides, the next game against Manchester City is against Portsmouth.

The risk was too great to go all-in against Manchester City without looking back.

Tok, tok. Director Charlie tapped the table with his fingertips.

The troubles were getting longer.

Just in case, I only played Jamie for 45 minutes in the last game.

Not only that, other main members such as Harry, Mutombo, and Brian also managed their stamina sufficiently.

“That… Director. Now you have to turn it in.”

After a while, Coach Nick spoke cautiously.

Dreuk. Then, as if Director Charlie had been waiting for him, he got up from his seat.

“Let’s go, win.”

let’s win It was clear what he meant.

“Today, Jamie is the starter.”

Still, Director Charlie added as if he was going to kill confirmed.

**

Jamie remembers some scenes from his past life.

A vivid memory as if it were taken with a camera. Unforgettable memories even if you want to forget.

It seems that they will become dull now, but most of them were painful memories that could not be dulled.

However, there are also a few memories that I don’t understand why they are so vivid.

A representative example of this was the memory of the Champions League final.

‘Lee, aren’t you nervous?’

‘Why is it falling?’

‘uh?’

‘The final is just one of many matches. There is no reason to tremble.’

It was a conversation with a colleague that I hadn’t had in a very long time, and the conversation ended there. This is because the colleague who asked the question looked at him as if he were looking at an alien creature and then shut up.

And on that day, Jamie recorded one goal and one assist and became the number one contributor to winning the Champions League.

[We will be with you, we will be with you. ]

[We will always be together. ]

[Tell the young people in the red and white uniforms. ]

[I hope everything will be fine. ]

[ city! city! ]

[You are the pride of all of us. ]

But why?

Jamie tilted his head as he looked at the chicken skin on his arm.

It wasn’t just chicken meat.

thump, thump.

thump, thump.

My heart was beating faster than the drumbeat of the supporters.

A situation waiting for the kick-off right before the final match against Manchester City.

‘Why?’

It’s only League Cup.

It’s not the FA Cup or the Champions League, it’s the League Cup final.

But why are you so trembling and nervous?

But why do I get goosebumps from that cheering song I listen to every day?

In his past life, he had no choice but to wonder as he had won numerous championships while playing for various teams.

Beep-big.

Soon there was a sound that accelerated his heartbeat even more. The referee blows the whistle to signal the start of the game.

Following the moves of the Manchester City players, Jamie repeated the words of manager Charlie in the locker room earlier.

‘It’s okay not to run in the first half.’

‘···Yes?’

‘Don’t lose your strength by joining the defense needlessly. Instead, Harry and Ralph will play hard for you. Run only when absolutely necessary. don’t think about anything else There is only one thing for you to do today.’

The ‘thing you do’, coach Charlie said, was to drive a goal into Manchester City’s goal post.

‘That’s easy. Everyone else is running, so I’m telling you not to run?’

Jamie was dumbfounded.

Regardless of whether that is possible, even if you score a goal that way, it means nothing if you lose the game.

“Follow me!”

“Do not give up!”

Besides, even though they had just started the game, they were already behind.

“Ryan, hit me!”

At the center of it all was Ryan Young.

Ryan Young.

Right now, he’s just a promising prospect, but he’s later evaluated as a world class along with Jamie and Ned Keating.

‘Did I come out as a striker today?’

His position, Jamie remembers, was central attacking midfielder. i.e. the same position.

But today, he played as a striker and was actively aiming for a goal. It could have been because he was inevitably in charge of the 1.5 group, not a full-time match, and he could have been a striker at this point.

C-Ah!

Whatever the reason, the important thing was that now Ryan went beyond threatening Stoke and hit the goal post.

“Take it off!”

Mutombo hurriedly kicked the ball out of the touchline.

It seemed that counterattacking would not be easy at this rate.

A counterattack can also be attempted when there is some possibility.

If you are a third division team, you might not know, but Manchester City is the Premier League champions last year.

Even if he wasn’t a full starter, it wasn’t easy for Jamie to score a goal through ten field players alone against such a team.

It wasn’t something I couldn’t even try, but the risk was too great if I failed. You can’t try that kind of thing two or three times, and even if you do, you’ll run out of stamina and you’ll have to walk around after that.

Besides······.

“lee!”

If Jamie tried to play a little, he would be sanctioned from the bench.

‘driving me crazy.’

I was slowly starting to get anxious.

Jamie glanced at his mark player. Because he wasn’t actively running, the opponent was also running around without taking any action.

‘What is this doing?’

At this rate, it could be dragged around throughout the first half and ended with a goal.

Naturally, I felt that anxiety.

And that anxiety became a reality in the 40th minute of the first half.

The Manchester City winger’s shot hit Mutombo’s body and was deflected, which unfortunately landed in front of Ryan Young.

Ryan didn’t miss the opportunity.

“eee-YAA!”

Manchester City fans in the away table cheered.

Then, Ryan roamed the arena with a celebration of hitting his chest with his fist.

I didn’t want to see that. Jamie sighed and looked away.

“… Mutombo.”

Then, I found Mutombo staring at the floor with his head down, and I approached him.

“It’s not your fault.”

“…Mutombo made a mistake. It is my problem.”

It was just bad luck. It’s really not your fault.

“It’s fine. I’ll put it in right away.”

Jamie, who was trying to comfort him, changed his mind.

“…”

At Jamie’s words, Mutombo raised his head.

“If I score one goal, I have to score two goals. Got two goals? Then I just need to score three goals.”

I didn’t know if it would be comforting or not.

“You believe in yourself and play, Mutombo. I’ll take care of the rest.”

As if he had promised himself, he continued to speak.

**

“I was out of luck.”

After the first half, coach Charlie’s first line was very plain.

“It would have been nice if we had finished without conceding, but what? It is already in the past.”

However, that wasn’t the end. He turned his gaze to Jamie.

“lee. Did you feel anything?”

There were many.

But he couldn’t say it all, so Jamie just looked at Charlie in silence.

“Alex Robertson stayed in his own half throughout the first half. What do you think it is for?”

Alex Robertson. Although he has now fallen as a member of the rotation due to the aging curve, he was once a key player in charge of Manchester City’s midfield, moving between the 2nd and 3rd lines from attacking midfielder to defensive midfielder.

“I didn’t do a through pass or a mid-range shot, which is my main skill, and stayed around you. In a word, you can tie up the opponent’s veteran players with your very existence.”

Coach Charlie said that and looked at Coach Nick.

“Although he was unlucky and conceded, the original plan was to tie Alex Robertson down by having Lee start. Then, naturally, Manchester City’s attacking opportunities will decrease.”

As if Coach Nick had been waiting, Boo explained.

“Again, it is already in the past. Let’s focus on the second half. lee.”

“···Yes.”

“how?”

what. I was almost going to ask that again.

“I think my body must have heated up from feeling stuffy, how about it? Are you hot enough? Or is it still far away?”

That was enough.

“hahahahaha. Looking at your expression, I think that’s enough. Okay, now go and run wild.”

That was the end of the conversation in the locker room.

Coach Charlie took a step back, and the players rose from their seats.

“It’s the second half.”

Goalkeeper Oliver, the team captain, looked around at the players and said.

“…Lee, you say something.”

It was the original pattern for Oliver to shout out the team slogan after saying a word, but today he gave up that one word to Jamie.

“…”

Should we encourage them to say that they can do it, that they can win?

Or should I ask to put all my effort into it?

Jamie pondered for a moment what to say.

“I······.”

But at this moment, for some reason, memories of my past life came to mind.

‘Lee, aren’t you nervous?’

‘Why is it falling?’

‘uh?’

‘The final is just one of many matches. There is no reason to tremble.’

A conversation with a teammate right before the Champions League final.

‘Why didn’t I tremble at that time?’

thump, thump.

thump, thump, thump.

‘My heart is beating like this right now.’

My mind started to get more complicated.

Then, why am I so nervous right now?

Back to the days of the new chick?

Or, simply because you came to Stoke City?

or not······.

“lee?”

Oliver called him back. Jamie suddenly came to his senses.

“I want to win.”

“…?”

Oliver and the other players looked at Jamie with puzzled expressions.

“I want to win. I want to give you the trophy.”

to whom?

Oliver wanted to ask that question, but he didn’t.

Instead, he thought of the target he wanted to give the championship cup to. Not only Oliver, but also Harry, Jack, Ralph, Eric, Brian, and Robin who were listening to the conversation.

“Let’s bring it, the championship cup.”

“···yes.”

At Jamie’s words that followed, Oliver smiled. The other players smiled along with him.

“Let’s go get the championship cup. Stoke.”

“Stoke! Stoke!”

They walked out of the locker room and onto the field.

Stoke City v Manchester City, Manchester City v Stoke City.

The second half of the League Cup final was about to begin.