Weird Defender Joo Ji-Tae

128 – An Overwhelming Start

128

Jose Luis Molowni, the young coach of Barcelona, was deliberating over the lineup before the opening game.

Born in Ramasía, Molowni had given up his playing career early and taken the path of a coach. He had built his coaching career step by step at Barcelona and had managed Barcelona B team until last year.

Molowni, who had shown good results without exception, had finally achieved his long-cherished goal of becoming the coach of Barcelona this season, but it was largely a political result.

The previous coach had strongly opposed the big signing of a 20-year-old center-back, which had led to his resignation.

After the previous coach’s departure, the board had chosen Molowni, a capable but easy-to-handle coach, to operate the team according to their tastes.

Having managed Barcelona’s youth team, Molowni was familiar with operating a team with young players and was more than happy to take on the role, as it aligned with the “Barcelona philosophy” of nurturing young talent.

In his view, the newly promoted players were far better than the previous veterans who were only concerned with their ego and high transfer values.

Therefore, he didn’t have much trouble deciding on the lineup.

He had also confirmed the main lineup through the preseason.

The problem was the center-back position.

“‘You can’t receive orders from a young Asian coach, so I’m leaving.'”

Molowni’s original plan was to use Juzi as the center-back, along with the two existing center-backs, Madu Murcia and Jordi Pesquer.

Although this would mean one of the main players would be benched, considering Barcelona’s many games, it was fair to say that all three center-backs were main players.

Molowni had planned to use Juzi and the two existing center-backs as main players and the two newly promoted young defenders, Max Moreno and Joel Cabrera, as backup members… but Jordi Pesquer had left.

He didn’t want to receive orders from a young Asian coach, citing racial discrimination.

This reason was not publicly disclosed, and it was impossible to keep a player who made such a demand.

Molowni couldn’t take away Juzi’s defensive leadership authority for Jordi Pesquer’s sake.

The club had permitted Juzi’s transfer on the condition that he would have defensive leadership and playmaking authority.

It wasn’t something the agent had requested, but rather something the player had strongly demanded and the board had agreed to.

Molowni believed Juzi was an excellent leader and playmaker, and the board couldn’t have granted such a condition if they didn’t trust him.

The problem was that the players didn’t easily accept this.

For them, what mattered was ability. In that sense, Juzi had sufficiently demonstrated his abilities during the preseason.

Except for Jordi Pesquer, the players had accepted Juzi.

In the end, the club and Molowni chose Juzi.

As a result, one of the main players left, and Madu Murcia remained…

“Their form has dropped so much. Their physical indicators are also bad… Most importantly, they don’t mesh well with Juzi.”

Madu Murcia, the 35-year-old veteran center-back, was struggling to maintain his physical condition even during the break, and his physical indicators had suffered as a result.

As a player who had relied on his experience and decent footwork to compensate for his declining physical abilities, he was no match for Juzi, who was a perfect upgrade.

“Juzi’s proactive style requires him to cover a lot, but it’s hard to combine them properly.”

Molowni had to make a choice.

Even though the old guard was still decent, he had to choose between sending Madu Murcia away or—

“Ah, this is it.”

Creating a monster-like center-back duo with the 20-year-old pair.

Molowni chose the latter.

It was a big gamble for the new coach, but the result was…

“Great! Keep doing that!”

A huge success.

* * *

Barcelona’s opening game opponent was Sociedad Deportiva Eibar, S.A.D., also known as SD Eibar.

As a team based in the small Basque town of Eibar, with a population of only 27,000, their home stadium, Estadio Municipal de Ipurua, was also a small 7,000-seat stadium.

＜ 34/35 LaLiga 1st Round ＞

Barcelona: SD Eibar

Estadio Municipal de Ipurua

[Barcelona 4-1-2-3]

FW: Destini Kosiso / Iker Rodriguez / Jose Marsa

CM: Pablo Lopez / Leo Martinez

DM: Diego Almeida

DF: Alexis Olmedo / Juzitae / Max Moreno / Pau Berges

GK: Hector Port

[SD Eibar 5-3-2]

FW: Arnau Martinez / Ilias Akomah

MF: Alexis Olmedo / Pau Prim / Mark Guiu

DF: Arnau Pradas / Mark Bernal / Saeez / Agaiedo / Raul Esposito

GK: Isma Gianni

Eibar, who finished 4th in the Spanish 2nd division, Segunda Division, last season, managed to get promoted thanks to Barcelona B and Villarreal CF B, the reserve teams of Barcelona and Villarreal, winning the championship and runner-up respectively.

As a result, Eibar’s evaluation is not good, and they are expected to be the first team to get relegated this season.

Juzitae, who entered the small home stadium, felt a strange sensation.

“It’s unfamiliar, yet it feels familiar.”

Yes.

It’s like… watching TSV 1860 Munich 3 years ago.

But Munich had a glorious past in the Bundesliga, and their home stadium was in a major city in Germany… Eibar doesn’t even have that. It’s really pathetic.

However, despite this pathetic situation, Eibar is a surprisingly solid team. In the 2000s, they only had 2-3 professional players, and their home stadium was only a 2500-seat mini stadium, but they have grown this much, which shows how solid they are.

…But that doesn’t mean it’s not pathetic.

In the world of competition, it’s all about being cold-hearted.

Just like a tiger giving its all when catching a rabbit, a true professional should give their all even when playing against an elementary school student.

It’s not that the game is a competition between professionals and elementary school students.

It’s more like… high school students?

The game started, and 4 minutes passed.

“That’s it. This is their full strength.”

Juzitae, who had measured Eibar’s combat power in just 4 minutes, immediately sent the players up. All of them, beyond the halfway line.

“Go up! All of you! I’ll handle the back with Max!”

And he went up himself, leaving only goalkeeper Hector Port and Max Moreno behind. It was truly a half-court press.

The three forwards formed a triangle, and the two midfielders, Pablo Lopez and Diego Almeida, took the half-space, while the left and right fullbacks, Alexis Olmedo and Pau Berges, took the sides. It was hard to tell whether it was Barcelona’s or Eibar’s territory.

In response, Eibar strengthened their defense by adding one more attacker to the 5-back defense and pulling out another attacker.

It was practically anti-football, parking a bus in front of the goal.

However, Barcelona’s attack couldn’t be stopped, and Eibar’s defense, which was lacking in skill but overflowing with spirit and passion, managed to hold on to the goal for a while.

The turning point of the game came from an unexpected situation, Eibar’s counterattack.

“Ah, danger!”

“Return!”

Pablo Lopez’s long shot, which was blocked by Eibar’s defense despite their relentless attacks, coincidentally reached Ilias Akomah, the Eibar forward who was standing at the front.

It was a counterattack.

With his unique elasticity, Speedstar Ilias Akomah burst into the open space behind the defense, creating a dangerous situation. But just as it seemed like he was going to break through,

“It’s okay, go up!”

Ilias Akomah, who had been sprinting, lightly took the ball and turned it around, starting a counterattack. The Eibar players, who had been caught off guard, were left behind as Joo Jitae’s quick pass caught them off balance, and in an instant, he shook off 2-3 players and focused on defense.

“Behind!! Block behind!!”

In the midst of everyone’s focused attention, Joo Jitae precisely delivered a pass to Destiny Kosiso, who had infiltrated the open space, and scored a goal. It was a moment when the solid Eibar defense, which had been trying to block the goal with their bodies, collapsed, and when the game ended, the scoreboard showed a 5:0 score.

The opening match.

Barcelona had risen to the top of the league with an overwhelming 5:0 score, thanks to their explosive offense.