Chapter 107
***
Wolfsburg.
In the original timeline, they win the title this season.
And naturally, Wolfsburg also had quite a few excellent players.
Andrea Barzagli, known as part of Juventus’s famous BBC line alongside Bonucci and Chiellini, was one of them, while Edin Džeko, Misimović, and Grafite formed a three-man attack.
In truth, Wolfsburg’s title win was the result of many lucky breaks coming together.
First, Hoffenheim, who had been charging toward the title, slipped after an injury to a key player sent them into a losing streak.
That was why I had invested a huge sum in the medical center and why I did everything I could to manage the players’ bodies and stamina.
‘If a key player gets injured, the resulting risk is too great.’
And their greatest stroke of luck at the time was that Bayern Munich’s manager was none other than Jürgen Klinsmann.
Jürgen Klinsmann’s appointment as Bayern Munich’s manager was an incredible stroke of luck for the Bundesliga teams.
It was practically the same as giving every Bundesliga team a chance to win the league.
‘That’s also why, the moment Jürgen Klinsmann took over as Bayern’s manager, I bet everything I had, scraping together every last penny.’
For reference, all sorts of rumors had recently begun circulating among Bayern Munich fans.
[Bayern Munich Fans Demand That the Board Sack Jürgen Klinsmann!]
[Bayern Munich Keeping an Eye on Union Berlin Manager Park Chan-hyuk as Their Next Head Coach!]
One of those rumors involved appointing me as Bayern Munich’s manager next season.
‘Are they crazy? Why would I go?’
Bayern Munich?
Honestly, it was an attractive club.
It was the dream club of players and managers from Germany.
Even at the famously loyal Union Berlin, there were quite a few players who might waver if Munich came calling.
Unfortunately, though, I wasn’t German.
And perhaps because I was a born contrarian, I didn’t particularly like taking charge of a team strong enough to dominate the league.
For reference, my desire to follow Tuchel to Munich had been because of the mission. There hadn’t been any other reason.
Besides, I had grown attached to Union Berlin after all the time I had spent there.
‘Ah. And in Bayern Munich’s case, there’s also the issue of conflicts with the club legends.’
Just how much influence Bayern Munich’s legends wielded at the club had been revealed through Thomas Tuchel last season.
‘If even Tuchel had to put up with that much, it would be even worse for me, wouldn’t it?’
That meant there would be nothing I could do if a Bayern Munich legend went to the media to complain that an Asian was destroying the spirit of German football.
Judging by what they had done to Thomas Tuchel last season, they would probably tell me to show the legends even more respect.
Bayern’s legends had completely ignored even Thomas Tuchel, a former second-division player.
What would they think of a player who had retired after barely scraping by in the fourth division?
Honestly, as a player, I acknowledged the outstanding achievements of Bayern Munich’s legends.
‘But why the fuck are they meddling in tactics when they aren’t even managers?’
Meddling in tactics and player selection was something I couldn’t tolerate, just as Thomas Tuchel couldn’t.
No, no manager in the world could tolerate that.
The only person who could put up with it was a fitness coach, not a manager.
‘……Jürgen Klinsmann?’
Of course, I wasn’t as prickly as Tuchel, so I might have been able to get along with Bayern Munich’s legends and board.
The real question was whether Munich was attractive enough for me to abandon the Union Berlin I had built up and move to Bayern Munich.
It might sound harsh, but Union Berlin was a little better in many respects, not to mention its current league standing.
The meddlesome club legends were one thing, but the expectations the fans had for their club were different too.
At Bayern Munich, calls for Jürgen Klinsmann to be sacked had already begun after barely ten rounds of the league.
……Well, comparing Tuchel’s performance last season with the team’s current performance, I could understand why they wanted him fired.
Still, I hoped they would give Klinsmann a little more time.
‘Please hang in there! Make the Munich fans warm to Klinsmann!’
I sincerely hoped Klinsmann would remain Bayern’s manager for a long, long time.
‘Well… Bayern is a club with that much history and tradition, so naturally the fans’ expectations are just as high.’
For reference, even if Union Berlin plunged into the relegation zone, its fans would continue to support me.
Most of them would even say it was fine if the team were relegated.
If I announced that I was resigning to take responsibility for the relegation, they would probably try to talk me out of it.
‘They might even come to my house late at night, kidnap me, and put me back in the manager’s seat.’
Even so, if I announced that I was resigning, Union Berlin’s fans would support my decision.
That was the relationship of trust I had built with Union Berlin’s fans over the years.
‘If it had been Real or Barcelona, I might have been tempted.’
There was also the fact that Bayern Munich’s golden age was still a long way off.
Bayern Munich’s golden age would begin only after Jupp Heynckes took over.
‘Using Robbery is tempting, though….’
But it was too thorny a road to take based on that alone.
Anyway, by the time the match against Wolfsburg was one day away,
[Park Chan-hyuk to Be Bayern Munich’s Next Manager?]
Bayern Munich quietly put out an article testing the waters.
“Everyone, I will not be leaving Berlin!”
I rejected the offer immediately.
Otherwise, the swarming Union Berlin fans might have torn me apart as Park/Chan/Hyuk.
***
Union Berlin’s players felt conflicted when they heard that their boss had received an offer from Bayern Munich.
That was how much prestige the name Bayern Munich carried.
‘He rejected the Bayern manager’s job and is staying at Union Berlin?’
‘He’s insane! Absolutely insane! He turned down Munich?’
German-born players in particular seemed to feel this way.
“Hmm. Is Munich really that impressive?”
The Brazilian legend Cafu was the one who swiftly cleared the tense atmosphere before the league’s eleventh-round match against Wolfsburg.
If someone else had said that, they would probably have been laughed at.
“When I lifted the Champions League trophy at AC Milan….”
Cafu’s career gave him the credibility to say that.
“Anyway, what matters is that we’re first in the league right now, while Munich are third!”
I opened the door and walked in as soon as Cafu finished speaking.
“Everyone, sit down! I’ll explain the tactics!”
I also quietly expressed my thanks to Cafu with a nod.
Thanks to Cafu, I could get straight to explaining the tactics without having to settle the mood first.
‘Having a veteran around certainly makes managing the players easier.’
***
A little while later.
Even though it was still early for the match to begin, Union Berlin’s home fans started gathering at the stadium one by one.
“Dem Morgengrauen entgegen, ziehn wir gegen den Wind. (We’ll march toward dawn, facing the wind.)”
The fans singing the club chants in the stadium wore endlessly bright expressions.
Union Berlin’s pitch-black dark age had ended, and its golden age had finally begun.
And just as they had no idea where the dark age would end, the fans were excited because they had no idea where this golden age would end either.
“Wir werden alles zerlegen, bis wir Europameister sind. (We’ll smash everything until we become European champions.)”
Union Berlin’s fans had recently begun changing the lyrics of their chants, replacing German champions with European champions.
“FC Union Du sollst leuchten, wie der hellste Heiligenschein. (FC Union, you will shine like the brightest halo.)”
“Und überall wird es schallen, FC Union unser Verein. (And everywhere it will resound, FC Union, our club.)”
This meant that, in the hearts of the fans, the German championship was no longer considered an impossible dream.
***
[10 p.m.! Union Berlin and Wolfsburg Face Off!]
[Union Berlin Have Remained Unbeaten at Home This Season!]
[Son Heung-min, Looking Light on His Feet… Expected to Score!]
[Union Berlin Starting XI.]
LS: Roberto Lewandowski - RS: Yannick Voigt.
CAM: Shinji Kagawa.
LM: Son Heung-min LCM: Thomas Meier RCM: Luka Modrić RM: Cafu.
LCB: Dante CB: Thiago Silva RCB: Virgil van Dijk.
└ Oh? What’s this? Cafu’s playing wingback?
└ Probably because Yuto Nagatomo has a bruise.
└ Union Berlin have surprisingly many minor injuries. Is it because they run so much?
└ It’s just a bruise, so he could normally play, but Park Chan-hyuk is managing his condition.
└ Cafu’s RM, so why are they calling him a wingback?
└ In Park Chan-hyuk’s tactics, the wingers are essentially wingbacks.
└ A back five when defending and a back three only when attacking.
└ Heung-min! Let’s get you a goal this match!
└ Could someone share Park Chan-hyuk’s tactics? I want to use them in FM.
└ For real, watching Union Berlin makes you want to use a back three lol
***
"Good evening to all our viewers across the country. Hong Doo-hee is calling the match between Union Berlin and Wolfsburg, and commentator Go Chan-su is here with us."
"Nice to meet you. I’m commentator Go Chan-su."
The caster and commentator had been discussing recent football issues when, moments later, the match got underway with the referee’s whistle, and they began their proper commentary.
"The match begins with the referee’s whistle and Union Berlin’s kickoff. Huh? But where is Yannick Voigt kicking the ball?"
└ ?????? What? Where is he kicking the ball?
└ Isn’t that the tactic they used against Oseong Red Wings?
└ They’re actually using that in the Bundesliga? LMAO
└ Fucking lol, he’s just passing the ball to the opposing team. Do they really think that’ll work?
"Union Berlin win the ball with their press! Cafu carries it forward! He shoots!"
└ What the hell??????
└ W-why did that work?
└ No fucking way, that actually worked?
"No! It’s not a shot, it’s a cross! Cafu’s cross! And appearing at the end of it is─!!!"
"Goooooooal!! Son Heung-min! Son Heung-min!!! Korea’s pride scores the opening goal!!!"
└ Yessssssssssssssssss
└ Son Heung-min yesssssssss
└ Wow, fuck, that really worked lmaoooo
└ I thought he only used it against Oseong and was treating the Korean league like a joke because he didn’t use it afterward, but I guess that wasn’t it!
└ Park Chan-hyuk <<< He’s just a fucking lunatic lol