Pruning

***

Even after the rift between Tuchel and the squad widened, time kept passing.

Daniel Teixeira, the squad's oldest player, and I each tried to soothe Thomas Tuchel and the players, but the situation hardly improved.

"Chan-hyuk, what do we do now?"

"Well... time will solve it, I guess."

Although the team's mood had hit rock bottom, I wasn't too worried.

Because I didn't think Chairman Dirk Zingler would drive Thomas Tuchel out.

If Tuchel had been in conflict with the entire squad, that would have been one thing, but only half the squad had clashed with him.

For a guy like Tuchel, that was pretty mild.

And the ones who had pushed back against Thomas Tuchel were more like chaff than core members. In other words, they were players whose potential and current ability were so uncertain that it would be awkward to bring them along next season.

Let's use this chance to clean house a bit.

Players who could be called core members—Yannik Voigt, Daniel Teixeira, and Markus Matschke among them—supported Tuchel.

All of them had lost the match and vented their anger.

Nice. They've got a fighting spirit.

Since they generally had high growth potential, Union Berlin absolutely had to keep them.

I took a look at the players rebelling against Tuchel's iron-fisted rule.

All of a sudden, it felt like I was drawing up a kill list.

Well. It couldn't be helped.

Union Berlin had clinched the title and promotion early, and after losing the very next match, the pumped-up atmosphere disappeared too.

Then all Union Berlin had to do was prepare for next season.

One day, while I was quietly drawing up the kill list.

"Chan-hyuk, have dinner with me tonight. There's a lot to discuss."

Thomas Tuchel invited me to dinner.

Apparently, he'd managed to sort out some of his recent turmoil.

That evening, I went to Tuchel's house, and we ended up having a deeper conversation than I expected.

In talking with Tuchel, I could feel that Thomas Tuchel's heart had drifted away from the club a little.

Come to think of it, Tuchel had been holding out for a long time already.

Tuchel's ideals were high. His standards for players were also clear.

But compared to Tuchel's lofty ideals, Union Berlin's situation was downright miserable.

Up until then, our conversations had helped him endure by making him understand how poor the club was, but it seemed he'd recently hit his limit.

"Hoo... I honestly don't know what to do... What are you doing right now?"

"I'm inheriting the manager's position."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, so sit down."

"Honestly, such a boring German."

My words made Tuchel let out a dry laugh for a moment.

"Hoo... if we get promoted this time, a lot of people will be replaced."

Thomas Tuchel suddenly started muttering to himself with a serious expression.

"What? That's only natural, isn't it? If they don't fit the league's level, you send them out."

"Still, before we moved up to the third division, I wanted to see one last ray of hope from the players."

I remained silent at Thomas Tuchel's words.

Maybe that was the romance of a novice manager.

I had been like that once too.

Going up from the lower leagues together with a player you met in the lower leagues—that's pretty romantic.

But reality isn't like that.

Lower-league players stay there for a reason, whether it's talent or effort.

That's also why it's rare to see lower-league players with outstanding potential. They’ve eaten away at their own potential for various reasons—sloppy training habits, poor self-management, and more.

Of course, not everyone is like that. There are also players whose potential has been diminished by injuries or poor training methods.

But it couldn't be denied that there were more of the former than the latter.

"If they have neither the will to improve nor the effort, why should I take them along?"

Well... maybe it's because I'm just a heartless bastard.

***

Thomas Tuchel was startled by Park Chan-hyuk's cold words.

"If they have neither the will to improve nor the effort, why should I take them along?"

Since Park Chan-hyuk was closer to the squad than he was, Tuchel had thought he would have a hard time parting with the existing players.

"Thomas, we're not teachers. We don't have any obligation to hold the hands of people who say they can't keep up and drag them along by force."

But Chan-hyuk was colder than he was.

He seemed like a prepared manager.

It didn't feel bad. It gave the sense that work and personal matters were clearly separated.

Thomas Tuchel looked at Park Chan-hyuk with a newly puzzled expression.

Although Chan-hyuk was much younger than Tuchel himself, there were many things to learn from him.

"I still have a lot to learn."

Feeling that he was still lacking as a good manager, Thomas Tuchel rejected the offer from a second-division club and decided to stay on as Union Berlin's manager a little longer.

***

The day after my in-depth conversation with Thomas Tuchel.

Thomas Tuchel had regained his passion.

"Huh? What's this?"

It was utterly incomprehensible.

Since I had been preparing in my mind for the time after Tuchel left, my confusion only grew.

"Then what happened to all the time I spent agonizing over whether to follow him or stay?"

While I couldn't make heads or tails of Tuchel's sudden change in mood.

Union Berlin played a league match.

The players who had rebelled against Tuchel were left out of the starting lineup, and the substitutes were given a chance.

Thinking it was their chance to catch the manager's eye, the substitutes, though inferior to the regular starters, truly gave it their all.

But the difference in skill was insurmountable.

[Union Berlin, shocking three-game losing streak...]

We lost, suffering our third straight defeat.

And the media that had been praising Union Berlin and reporting on the possibility of an unbeaten title run, the moment Union Berlin fell into a three-game losing streak,

they changed their attitude 180 degrees and started going on the offensive.

[Union Berlin manager Thomas Tuchel, problems controlling the squad?]

[Reason for the major shake-up in the starting lineup?]

[Thomas Tuchel dismisses the controversy.... “I'm just giving other players a chance.”]

The media questioned Thomas Tuchel's control over the squad and his leadership, and the club's fans watched anxiously.

[Chairman Dirk Zingler firmly supports the manager. “There is no better manager than Tuchel.”]

Chairman Dirk Zingler declared his unwavering support for Thomas Tuchel.

In any case, Union Berlin's pruning continued in the next match as well. And in the process, a considerable number of players were weeded out.

It was the result of considering several factors: current ability, potential, professionalism, and fighting spirit.

Anyway, Union Berlin's pruning was still underway.

Time flew by, and it was Round 29 of the league.

The final home match of the 05/06 season was approaching.

***

Union Berlin's final home match.

I started for the first time in a very long while.

It was thanks to Thomas Tuchel, who had made the arrangement so I could greet the fans as a reward for all my hard work so far.

Well. I did start, but there was nothing special about the match itself.

Both Union Berlin's and our opponents' league positions had already been decided.

The players didn't push themselves, focusing instead on next season.

I was subbed off in the 70th minute to applause from the home fans.

That was all.

[League Round 29 ends) Union Berlin snap their losing streak with a draw.]

[League Round 30 ends) Union Berlin earn a satisfying win in their final match and are promoted to the third division.]

***

The season ended, and Union Berlin celebrated their return to the third division.

It was a little disappointing that the unbeaten title run was snapped with seven matches remaining, but it remained a great season that allowed Union Berlin to take a fresh leap forward.

In any case, after the final match, the players went off on vacation.

Some players still had day jobs, but they would obviously be heading off on summer vacation soon enough too.

Unlike the players, Chairman Dirk Zingler, Thomas Tuchel, and I got busy. We had to draw up the incoming and outgoing transfer lists.

The silver lining was that promotion back to the third division had given the club some breathing room, and Union Berlin finally got a sporting director.

Well... even so, because my eye for talent had become well known, I still had to do scouting work.

Still, this is better than nothing.

Just being freed from sporting director duties had already reduced my workload quite a bit.

In any case, every player who had opposed Thomas Tuchel was put on the release list. Since most of them were on amateur contracts, they were sorted out quickly.

With the release list decided, vacancies opened up, and the list of players Tuchel wanted was drawn up quickly.

"Chan-hyuk, what do you think of this guy?"

Thomas Tuchel asked.

I recognized the face. He was young, his current ability and potential were both decent, but there was one major problem only someone inside the club would know about.

His professionalism is a 6.

I answered firmly.

"His work ethic is trash."

"...I see. Then how about this guy?"

His current ability was excellent, but his potential was basically already maxed out.

"He's got the face of someone who can't play football."

It pains me to say it, but the third division's talent pool is similar to the fourth division's. It's better than the fourth division players, but most of them still have flaws.

Otherwise, they're on a first-division reserve team.

Come to think of it, now we had to play against first-division reserve teams.

As I kept giving one negative evaluation after another, Thomas Tuchel looked at me with a displeased expression.

"...You can figure that out just by watching a match?"

"Ahem, doubt me not. I saw it through the power of mind reading."

By the time the recruitment list was nearly complete.

The 2006 World Cup in Germany was just around the corner.

Union Berlin's fans were just as excited about the World Cup being held in their own country.

Unlike first-division clubs, which were busy ahead of the World Cup.

Union Berlin was absurdly idle.

That was only natural, since among the players competing in the World Cup there wasn't a single one Union Berlin, a third-division club, could sign.

Just as the meeting ended and I was about to head home.

Union Berlin's newly appointed sporting director entered the meeting room.

"Chan-hyuk, a Korean broadcasting station got in touch with us."

...Huh?