Romantic on the Field

9.

There are many football competitions in England. Among them, there are minor competitions that make you wonder if there was a competition like this.

The representative competition is the English Football League Trophy, commonly referred to as the ‘EFL Trophy’.

Teams from the 3rd to 5th divisions participate in the EFL Trophy. Although the prize money is small and the status is low, it is somehow continuing its existence.

‘Papa John’s Pizza’ played a big part in this.

As the name suggests, Papa John’s Pizza is a pizza franchise company.

For some reason, Papa John’s Pizza has been sponsoring the low-profile and unpopular EFL Trophy since 2020.

‘How the cup competition is named Papa John’s Pizza Cup.’

Although it has been called the somewhat ridiculous name of the ‘Papa John’s Pizza Cup’ for nearly 20 years because of it.

“The opponent is now a team in the bottom half of League Two. Don’t even think about taking the bus if you lose.”

“ha ha ha.”

At Coach Charlie’s words, the players burst into small laughter.

Today’s opponent is Harrogot Town AFC. It was one of the ordinary weak teams hovering around the bottom of the 4th division.

“The starting lineup is as I said before. Everyone, be careful of injuries, and if there is anything wrong, tell me right away.”

“Yes.”

“Come on, let’s shout slogans and go in. Stoke.”

“Stoke, stoke!”

Today Jamie starts on the bench.

That’s why Jamie was in a state of unease because he was not at ease.

Surely they won’t lose against a team at the bottom of the 4th division. Please don’t let me compete. With that thought in mind, I entered the arena.

But······.

“The center keeps getting pierced! Aren’t you paying attention?”

“Pressure. stick! You keep backing away because you’re afraid of something!”

Surprisingly, Stoke City were unilaterally beaten by Harrogut Town, a team at the bottom of the Fourth Division.

‘The player base is too thin.’

Jamie seemed to know why.

Stoke City was not a team with a thick player base.

And among them, the third-line midfielder was a particularly weak team.

Because of this, Harry, Jack, and Ralph had to turn three people with good stamina into almost full starters.

Since the stamina of the three players was good, the league somehow managed to roll. However, it was difficult to get them to participate until the cup competition.

That’s why today’s youth players competed as starters, but in terms of physical condition, stamina, and experience, they were bound to be lacking in many ways compared to the players with thick bones in the pro league.

“…”

Jamie glanced at Director Charlie, who had a serious expression on his face.

‘What is he thinking?’

Jamie was curious.

There’s not much the manager can do in this situation.

In the short term, it was either putting in the existing midfielders in the second half or simply giving up this game.

In the long term, reinforcing the third midfielder is the most urgent priority.

However, in the case of the latter, the transfer market was over, so it could be said to be too long-term. Then, the next best thing was to use a player from another position as a central midfielder.

Usually, in most cases, fullbacks are used at this time. This is because they are similar in that they require vigorous activity and stamina, and coordinate attack and defense.

“ah.”

At that moment, Stoke City, who had been pushed back, eventually conceded the opening goal.

Youth, who played as a midfielder, missed a pass, and the opposing striker did not miss it.

“Harry.”

In the end, director Charlie decided to bring Harry in.

**

Harry Harris is not a bad player.

He has good stamina and activity, and his physical condition is also very good.

However, he is not a player who can turn the game around on his own.

“lee.”

12 minutes into the second half.

“Anyway, isn’t 2-0 against a 4th division team a bit like that?”

“…”

About 30 minutes left until the end of the game.

Director Charlie asked in an unusually cautious tone.

It’s not just a 4th division team, it seems like it was burdensome from the manager’s point of view to be routed against a team hovering around the bottom of the 4th division.

“Well, it’s kind of like that.”

Jamie readily admitted.

“It goes without saying, but I don’t even want a reversal. I don’t even want a tie. Just save face.”

“I was put in place of Ashley. Coordinate the kids in the 3rd line.”

“···Yes?”

However, I had no choice but to question what Director Charlie said.

“Three lines?”

No matter how thin the player base is, it’s a 3rd line right away. Jamie couldn’t help but sound absurd.

Moreover, the position of being drawn 2 to 0.

He was not a second-line or a falling striker, and in the current situation, there was no reason to play as a third-line midfielder.

‘Am I experimenting?’

No, it wasn’t that there wasn’t one.

There was only one guess.

‘I’m thinking of using me as a 3rd line as a test.’

Jamie looked suspiciously at Director Charlie.

And director Charlie proved that Jamie’s guess was correct by pretending not to know that gaze.

‘You’re going to take a test when you’re losing 2-0? Do you have directorial qualities or what?’

It was embarrassing, but I also couldn’t help it.

Jamie got up from the bench and began to warm up, and was soon put into play.

It was Stoke City’s free kick chance.

“Move.”

Jamie walked in front of the ball as if it were natural.

“uh? Uh uh…”

Harry, who was preparing for a free kick, hesitantly moved out of the way. Since it was only youth players, it seemed that he was just trying to kick it.

Either way, Jamie prepared for the free kick, checking the position and angle.

‘I’m third line.’

That was the only thought in Jamie’s head.

No, there was one more thought that came to mind.

‘I’ll show you Stoke City’s Gerrard.’

I didn’t like being in the 3rd line, but there were things I could do in the 3rd line.

Beep.

Soon after, the referee blew his whistle, and Jamie fired a shot.

squash.

The ball went cleanly past the defensive wall and over the goalkeeper’s hands and shook Harrogut’s net.

“Ouch!”

“What, what is it? Are you in now?”

“Go in! You crazy bastard!”

The players around him screamed and ran, but Jamie didn’t celebrate.

‘I’m third line.’

I just picked up the ball with an expressionless face and put it on the half line.

squash.

Moments later, when he scored the equalizer with a mid-range shot, the same thing.

“Gool!”

“Crazy, you put it in there?”

“Hey-hey!”

“Uhahahaha! Lee! Look here!”

‘I’m third line.’

He silently picked up the ball with a face that contradicted the excited players, coaches, coaches, and supporters.

“ah! what a waste!”

Moments later, Harry’s headed ball hit the post and came out.

A Harrogut defender hurriedly cleared it, and Jamie, who caught the ball near the half-line, sprinted 20 meters alone and scored a come-from-behind mid-range goal.

“eee-YE!”

“goal! goal!”

“aaa!”

“It’s a turnaround!”

“Reversal! hahahaha!”

‘I’m third line.’

Still, that was the only thought in Jamie’s head.

**

The Papa John’s Pizza Cup is not a competition that gets a lot of media attention.

However, if a player who was put in in the 15th minute of the second half scored three goals and turned the game around, the story would be different.

[Jamie Lee achieved a hat-trick despite being substituted]

ㄴ [Prove that you are a ‘Phantasy Star’. ]

[Hat-trick only with mid-range shots. ]

ㄴ [Focus on Jamie, who performed well even though he was not in his original position]

ㄴ [Voice of concern about the appointment of a third term]

[‘Return of Youth’ Jamie Lee led the team to victory with a hat-trick at the Papa John’s Pizza Cup. When asked by a Stoke Sports reporter what the secret was, Lee jokingly replied that it was ‘innate’… ]

Stoke-on-Trent local newspapers as well as main media outlets such as Daily Sports poured out related articles.

“…a lot is coming up.”

After recovery training, Harry Harris took a break and checked the article.

Of course, there was no article related to Harry.

Stop worrying and do what I have to do. He sighed and rose from his seat.

For the past few days, Harry has been doing personal training almost every day.

Same goes for today.

Heading training is usually conducted in pairs, but for some reason, he was embarrassed to ask for help from others, so he trained alone using a tool called a pendulum.

A pendrum is an object that looks like a punching bag, and is a training tool designed to allow a player to repeatedly head a ball suspended in the air by himself.

There was a reason why he was focusing on heading training recently.

‘The physical condition is good. It’s because the head is triangular.’

Scoring an own goal might be the reason, but in fact, the influence of Jamie’s advice, not advice, was great.

You’re all fine, but you can’t head. Complement the heading. Harry took Jamie’s words that way.

“uh? Harry?”

I was in the middle of my personal training, when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

oh let go Harry slowly turned his head.

“···Brian.”

“Why are you suddenly training for heading?”

Brian asked with his eyes wide open.

“…”

But Harry didn’t know what to say, so he just shrugged.

“hahahaha. I didn’t know you could do personal training. That’s great.”

“…well?”

“It’s boring when you’re alone. hahahaha. Oh, but you don’t have to worry too much about it. I’m going to do it alone over there at the goal post.”

Brian smiled and continued.

“Yes.”

“See you later!”

Then he waved his hand unnecessarily brightly and walked to the goalpost on the other side.

It’s nice, but somehow uncomfortable. Harry shook his head and went back to his heading practice.

“···what. These babies.”

It wasn’t long before I had to stop again with a new character.

“Why is recovery training called recovery training? It’s a recovery training because it’s a training that tells you to recover. But, why bother doing personal training immediately after recovery training?”

Jamie was very angry.

He would be like that, after pondering for a long time whether to just rest or not, he finally made up his mind and came back because there were two intruders.

“Jay!”

Brian, who saw him, hurriedly ran after finishing shooting training.

“Don’t come. I will be training alone.”

Jamie raised a hand to stop him, but Brian didn’t care. He came up to me with a happy expression and even tried a high five.

“…Have you all warmed up?”

Of course, Jamie didn’t accept it.

“Warming up? I did.”

“How much did you do?”

“Well. 3 minutes?”

Whew. Jamie sighed.

“Then if you get injured, I will be banned from personal training.”

He put down the bag he was carrying and with an annoyed face, but quite kindly, explained how to warm up.

Although each person is different, Jamie tended to warm up for a long time from before. This is because it reduces the risk of injury and helps improve physical fitness.

“It’s called box-to-box training, but you don’t have to, Harry. The only thing he has is stamina.”

“Box to box? Is this training to move boxes?”

“Brian you are from Manchester United and that too…. Sigh. not. done.”

Box-to-box training is literally running through both penalty boxes repeatedly.

However, Jamie chose a slightly modified method here.

From the goal line to the penalty box, from the goal line to the half line, from the goal line to the opposite penalty box, and from the goal line to the opposite penalty box, gradually increasing the distance.

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Leaving the practical effect, running the same course over and over was boring, so it was the way I had been doing it since my previous life.

“Wow, this is really hard.”

After the warm-up, Brian sprawled on the floor and said.

It was the same for Jamie. He caught his breath and looked around.

“…”

It was hard, but I didn’t feel bad.

No, it was rather good.

I don’t know why, but the British distinctive hot and humid wind felt refreshed.

“Shall we make a small group?”

“A small gathering?”

Harry, who was standing a little further away, asked.

“uh. Stoke City Personal Training Group. How about the ‘Stoke City Personal Training Meet’?”

“Does that mean a team name? How is it different from naming someone by name?”

Being so dumbfounded, Jamie asked back instead of Harry.

“Well? It’s true that a person’s name is a name, right?”

“Let’s not talk.”

Jamie got up from her seat.

“Be sure to warm up enough for individual training in the future.”

“uh? Uh uh.”

“Now each of us go to do what we do. Because I have to train.”

Then he packed his things and started walking towards the auxiliary training ground.

“It seems you don’t really like training together.”

Seeing this, Brian murmured.

However, a faint smile hung on Jamie’s lips.

Even if he said so, he knew better than anyone else that training would never betray him.

‘Maybe this could be a snowball.’

I even thought of this in my mind.

This nonsensical meeting called ‘Stoke City Personal Training Group’ could be the snowball that will lead Stoke City to success.