Cracks

***

I was sprinting out to celebrate, but the butcher's son caught me, so I had to watch Yannick Pfoit's celebration from the bench.

The players who had run out for the celebration gradually returned to the bench, one by one.

I turned my head again and glared at the giant.

[Name: Hans Meyer]

Current Ability: ★

Potential: ★★☆

One-line review: Overwhelming strength.

Then the scout displayed the giant's information, and the giant was smiling awkwardly.

Well, I already knew this guy well enough even without the scout.

'The quality of the meat at Hans's butcher shop is insane.'

I heard that a player for the club ran a butcher shop, went there to buy meat, and it became my regular spot after that.

Aside from being a regular at his butcher shop, we weren't close.

It wasn't that we'd fought or quarreled; our personalities just didn't quite mesh.

Even so, there are cases where people become close despite differences in temperament.

Hans Meyer had a reserved personality, and on top of that, he had far too little of the competitive fire essential for becoming a professional footballer.

Even his hobbies, despite that rough appearance, were supposedly tea ceremony and flower arranging.

'...He's not sticking a knife into people and calling that flower arranging, right?'

Anyway.

I didn't bother trying to persuade him to focus on football.

That would have been the same even if Hans had talent.

Everyone has priorities they care about more than others.

In any case, Hans was prioritizing taking over the family business in place of his aging parents.

He said his wish was to inherit his parents' shop and let them enjoy a comfortable retirement.

'In my previous life, I only realized after my parents died that I should have treated them better, so he's even better than me.'

Once again, all I could think about were the things I hadn't been able to do for them in my previous life.

'Still, I'm glad I have a younger sister.'

While I was busy with work, my younger sister took good care of our parents, so I had less to worry about.

'In many ways, she really helps a lot.'

And my younger sister wasn't just helping with things related to our parents.

- ATM : I'm reporting this month's profits, partner.

She was showing top-tier efficiency through auto-hunting.

'As expected, Little Sister Aemong is rock-solid.'

***

Not long after the match resumed, the first half ended.

The opposing team collapsed the moment they conceded, and if we'd had three more minutes, we would have scored again.

It was a little disappointing that the referee cut off Union Berlin's attacking chance the moment stoppage time had expired.

Well... it couldn't be helped.

'You can't expect too much from a fourth-division referee.'

Anyway.

“Dem Morgengrauen entgegen, ziehn wir gegen den Wind. (We will head toward dawn, against the wind.)”

“Wir werden alles zerlegen, bis wir Deutscher Meister sind. (We will tear everything apart until we are German champions.)”

Union Berlin's chant echoed through the stadium.

I slowly looked around the stadium and nodded.

'Still, there isn't anyone trying to storm the pitch yet.'

For the record, Chairman Dirk Zingler and I had already set aside money for the fines from pitch invasions once this match was over.

'Chairman, if we clinch the title next match, the fans are going to storm the pitch, right?'

'100%.'

What was funny was that Union Berlin's fans even increased the donation amount, as if they already expected to storm the pitch.

'How beautiful, the top and bottom united as one for the club.'

Anyway.

The players who came into the locker room suppressed their excitement as much as possible. We were ahead, but the match still wasn't over.

But their expressions couldn't help but naturally betray their joy at winning the title.

“I know you're all happy, but the match isn't over yet, so stop grinning.”

I did my best to calm the players, who already looked as if they had clinched the title. If the mood stayed like this, Thomas Tuchel would definitely throw a fit when he came into the locker room.

“Ja!”

And a little while later.

“You all worked hard in the first half.”

Thomas Tuchel came into the locker room, and after taking in the players' expressions, he nodded and slowly spoke.

“I'm not planning to sit back and defend already. Keep hammering them again and again.”

The Union Berlin players focused on Thomas Tuchel's words.

***

The second half between Union Berlin and SV Babelsberg began.

The second half was also one-sided in Union Berlin's favor, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Mid-table SV Babelsberg was in that awkward spot where they couldn't even aim for the title, so they lacked motivation.

If SV Babelsberg had been Union Berlin's rival, things might have been a little different, but the two teams' relationship was actually not that bad.

SV Babelsberg was one of the rare left-wing clubs among East German clubs where neo-Nazis were rampant, so it didn't get along with right-leaning clubs, but.

Union Berlin, with its mix of different leanings, didn't have a strongly defined club identity, so the two sides were on fairly good terms.

'Besides, we hadn't really had much contact to begin with.'

Even so, SV Babelsberg kept trying until the end to score the equalizer.

Even if they lacked motivation, there were fans who had paid for tickets and come to cheer them on.

But in the 80th minute.

Once Union Berlin scored their second goal, SV Babelsberg's players started giving up one by one.

It was that hard to score two goals against Union Berlin, who had shown overwhelming strength in the fourth division this season.

***

The moment the referee's whistle blew, the pitch was covered with fans.

Before long, the players and fans had become one and started sharing the joy of the championship.

The first thing I did in that situation was

“What the hell are you all doing right now! The season isn't over yet…!”

“Keep your voice down... don't raise it, Thomas.”

It was to shut the tactless Thomas Tuchel up.

***

We won the title and secured our return to the third division. Articles about Union Berlin clinching the title appeared in the local paper.

[Union Berlin's promotion confirmed, could they go all the way to an unbeaten title?]

[‘Tactical genius’ Thomas Tuchel saves Union Berlin.]

[Experts on Union Berlin's unbeaten title run... 'This is the real test.']

But just because we'd clinched the title didn't mean Union Berlin's season was over.

We still had the record of an unbeaten championship to chase.

“You've all worked hard so far. But let's save the joy of winning until the season is over.”

Thomas Tuchel demanded that the players give their all in every match until the season ended.

And even without the unbeaten-title record, Tuchel would have wanted them to give it their all.

At this point in time, he hated losing matches.

'Well. I was the same, wasn't I.'

I was fairly competitive myself, so I could understand Tuchel's mindset in my own way. Losing a match is a filthy feeling beyond words.

The players nodded at Tuchel's words, and I looked at Union Berlin's future positively.

'If this atmosphere keeps up, maybe we could even get direct promotion in the third division after an unbeaten title?'

But in the match after clinching the title.

Because winning the title had loosened their nerves.

[Union Berlin suffer a shocking defeat. Their unbeaten-title record goes up in smoke!]

We lost to a lower-ranked team with a lifeless performance.

'Well... we hadn't even had enough time for the manager and players to click, so staying unbeaten until now was impressive enough.'

Unlike me, who tried to soothe my bitter feelings inwardly, some of the players let out sighs of relief, as if they'd been freed from the burden of the unbeaten run after the loss.

Thomas Tuchel flew into a rage when the players, after putting in such a lifeless performance, didn't even get angry about the loss.

“You can still laugh after losing? You fucking bastards! Don't you have any pride as footballers?!”

I had to struggle with all my might to calm the enraged Thomas Tuchel.

'Should I seriously be firing a tranquilizer gun or something?'

Honestly, I was dissatisfied with some of the players' attitudes too, but I could understand their feelings to some extent.

'Expecting a professional's fighting spirit from amateurs is asking too much, right?'

They were amateurs, not professionals.

Just maintaining peak condition for every match meant they'd already done their part.

Anyway.

With the atmosphere between Tuchel and the squad completely shattered, Union Berlin lost the next match too and racked up back-to-back defeats.

After the match, Thomas Tuchel looked over the players once and then turned away without saying anything else.

Even though the season wasn't over yet, it was the attitude of someone who had already mentally let a few players go.

'Haa....'

The relationship between the squad I had been desperately holding together and Tuchel was slowly cracking apart.