I became the Premier League’s youngest manager

[Ahh! McNeil! McNeil digs left again!]

The caster's shout was echoed by the commentator.

[Right! We need to connect to the right!]

[McNeil's cross! Jay Rodriguez takes advantage of the gap in Everton's defense on the left and heads the ball in from the right, where McNeil's cross was aimed, with no defenders in the way!]

[Oh, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved it well! He should have put it in!]

While the commentator let out a sigh of regret, the caster continued speaking.

[Jay Rodriguez seems to be well aware of this as he raises his hand to apologize to his teammates.]

[Burnley's interim manager comes out from the bench and applauds his players. The Burnley players also press forward again instead of sitting deep.]

[I never would have imagined Burnley playing this kind of football. Instead of retreating and holding tight, they're pressing from the front.]

As the caster shook his head in surprise, the commentator attempted to analyze the situation.

[The interim manager is said to have been a youth team coach at RB Salzburg, so I think Sean Dyche may have brought him in with the intention of incorporating Red Bull's pressing style into Burnley.]

[Anyway, unlike usual, Burnley players are actively rushing in to disrupt the build-up from the back!]

Commentators, fans, and even opposing players—accustomed to the defensive style of playing backfield, defending firmly, and then pushing the ball forward when they win it—were shocked by Burnley's sudden change.

Burnley's attack and midfield paid no attention to the opponent's mental state and pressed deep into the opposition's territory to disrupt the movement of the ball.

Burnley's left-backs, Dwight McNeil and Jay Rodriguez, put pressure on Everton's right-backs, Seamus Coleman and left-back Lucas Digne respectively, preventing them from receiving the ball.

As instructed by Hyung-min, Burnley's central striker, Chris Wood, ignored the meaningless passing of the ball between Everton's two central defenders, Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina, and only blocked the passage to the center.

Then, Everton, who were trying to build up the ball by passing it left and right from the back, were pushed back by the bold pressure of Burnley's three attackers and were unable to advance the ball forward. Instead, they only passed the ball back and forth between the defense lines, increasing their possession rate in vain.

As Everton's frustrated midfielders dropped deeper to receive the ball that wasn't coming up, Burnley's midfielders followed them.

Naturally, the gap between Everton's attack and defense widened, and the pressure the Everton players were trying to avoid intensified as both teams packed more tightly into the Everton camp.

"To me!"

Eventually, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, unable to stand watching, received a pass from central defender Yerry Mina and kicked it forward.

"James!"

"You do your best!"

At the shout of captain Ben Mee, who was coordinating the defensive line, Burnley central defender James Tarkowski, who was positioned to take the lead on the incoming ball, lifted his body into the air despite his verbal protest.

Burnley's defense, which had the upper hand in numbers and height, centered around captain Ben Mee, harshly stopped the opposing striker, Calvert-Lewin, from getting close to the ball's landing zone.

Meanwhile, defender James Tarkowski, who received the ball comfortably, lightly passed it with his right foot to Burnley's right-back Matt Lowton, who was waiting, to trigger Burnley's attack once again.

"I never thought this would be possible..."

At 31 minutes into the first half, Burnley's veteran midfielder Jack Cork, who was watching the game unfold as the interim manager had predicted from the center, muttered and recalled the previous afternoon.

"Okay, so basically it's pressing from the front, but you can't actually win the ball back. The attackers just need to block the passing lanes and pressure the player with the ball so they can't comfortably build up the ball from the back."

Hyung-min moved the ball-shaped magnet on the strategy board from the opposing team's defense to Burnley's defense.

"Then the opponent will throw the ball long, and our defense—Ben, James, or Jack—can receive it and connect it to the left or right."

"If we want to apply pressure from the front, wouldn't we need to move the defensive line forward quite a bit?"

It was the final tactical briefing held the afternoon before the opening match.

With the entire first-team squad present and listening to the caretaker manager's instructions, right-back Matt Lowton made a point, causing the gathered defenders and midfielders to nod.

"That's right. We raise the defensive line and set up an offside trap. Now that we have VAR, if we just keep our line well, we can say that there are almost no cases of conceding goals due to referee mistakes."

"Is it okay?"

"It's okay. Ben will lead the line adjustment, and if Ben has to leave for any reason, James will adjust the line."

Hyung-min instructed central defenders Ben Mee and James Tarkowski to keep the offside line and adjust the positions of the other defenders.

"Then what about the attack?"

With the defense in order, midfielder Josh Brownhill asked about the attacking situation.

"On the surface, we'll focus on the left. Dwight goes up as a left-back, Charlie as a left-back, and they'll work together to make a straight line up and down the sideline. Brownie will also join in on the left, pulling the Everton defense to the left."

"…Brownie?"

As Josh Brownhill muttered with a bewildered expression on his face when his surname, which he had inherited from his ancestors, was suddenly changed, Hyung-min banged on the strategy board attached to the wall.

"Focus! Focus! In the meantime, Chris can stay up front and act as a decoy, drawing out one or two defenders. Then, you can connect the attack, and if the opportunity arises, you can infiltrate again."

"…So pretty?"

This time, veteran striker Chris Wood furrowed his brow in disbelief, but Hyung-min paid no attention and continued talking.

"But the key thing to remember is that we pull Everton to the left and then we rob them on the right, like a burglar. Jay starts as a right-back, but he drops into the space left by Chris, and Matt, who plays right-back, moves into Jay's spot to create width again. Finally, Westwood, who was in the middle, comes in with a delay and cleans up!"

"A burglar?"

"Clean up?"

Jay Rodriguez, Matt Lowton, and Ashley Westwood, who suddenly became violent criminals, exchanged bewildering glances for a moment, but the Burnley players tilted their heads without raising any objections to the tactics.

It was a match, after all, but the strange training that had taken place over the past week had piqued their curiosity.

"Okay, guys! The key to this tactic is short passing and movement. Remember! Short passing and movement!"

On the first day of training at Burnley Football Club's Banfield training ground, the caretaker manager showed up carrying a bunch of cones and balls and shouted at the players who had gathered for training.

"What you need for movement is stamina! But stamina is hard to build up in a short period of time, so let's do that later. First, short pass! Let's start with short passes! It should be two touches, but our friends aren't used to it yet, so we'll allow up to three touches for now. Remember! The total count of receiving the ball and passing it out is three!"

"No, we're all pros. Short passes and such..."

When Vice-captain Jack Cork timidly raised an objection, conscious of Arthur glaring at him from the side, Hyung-min put down the cones and balls he was holding, spread his arms wide, and shouted.

"Oh, you misunderstood me! I didn't mean to say to make a lot of short passes!"

"…then?"

"Long passes are prohibited! From now on, except in designated circumstances, if you pass longer than 5 meters on the training ground, you will be fined!"

"…Huh?!"

Despite the players' hesitation, Burnley's first-team squad had been training every single day for the past five days.

First, upon arriving at the training ground in the morning, the players took turns forming groups of three and moving around in spaces of various sizes marked with cones and tape, changing positions and exchanging short passes.

And Kim was merciless in handing out fines if a player touched the ball more than three times or if the pass was judged to be longer than five meters.

After exchanging short passes in the confines of various spaces that became narrower and wider throughout the morning, they all finished lunch together at the cafeteria, and in the afternoon, they repeated short-distance sprints to the point of vomiting.

As they repeated the process of running at full speed for 10 seconds, resting for a minute, and running at full speed for another 10 seconds, even these trained professional athletes could feel the contents of their lunch slowly rising back up into their throats.

As they gasped for breath and looked at the temporary coach who was leading the training with resentment, Kim shouted at them with a bright face.

"You rarely run at full speed for more than 10 seconds during a race! So, run in 10-second intervals, resting in between to recover your stamina! Come on, let's go one more time! You can do it!"