Chapter 99
[Union Berlin rout Leverkusen 3-0 in their first Bundesliga home match.]
Union Berlin kept steadily piling up points after the opening match against Bayern Munich.
They were riding high after that big win over the Bayern Munich juggernaut.
The tension of playing in the top flight had long since faded.
Union Berlin's players kept pushing beyond their limits every match and stayed unbeaten.
[Union Berlin draw 1-1 away at Schalke.]
[Union Berlin snatch a stoppage-time winner to beat Bochum 2-1 at home!]
We drew matches where losing wouldn't have been strange, staying focused until the end, and won matches where a draw would have been the expected result.
It was, as they say, the atmosphere of a team that's going places.
I nodded as I looked at the current league table.
1. Union Berlin. 4 matches, 3 wins, 1 draw.
2. Schalke. 4 matches, 3 wins, 1 draw.
3. Leverkusen. 4 matches, 3 wins, 1 loss.
4. Wolfsburg. 4 matches, 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss.
5. Bayern Munich. 4 matches, 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss.
6. Dortmund. 4 matches, 2 wins, 2 losses.
.
.
.
.
We had only played four league matches, but Union Berlin were already at the top of the table.
Football experts and fans were plainly bewildered by Union Berlin's unexpected success.
Until the Bayern Munich match, they'd written it off as a fluke.
But once Union Berlin started taking points from Bundesliga stalwarts like Leverkusen and Schalke,
the experts and reporters finally realized Union Berlin's momentum was different.
[Union Berlin's hot streak takes them to the top of the Bundesliga.]
As a result, the media's attention on Union Berlin was now overwhelming.
[The past of the Bundesliga leaders? Fans who sold their blood to save the club.]
[‘A club built on blood’ Union Berlin claim the top spot in the Bundesliga.]
Naturally, Union Berlin's hardships and story were brought back into the spotlight once more.
The nickname 'the club built on blood' spread across Germany.
The fact that the club had nearly been dissolved by financial bankruptcy just two years ago was enough to grab the attention of German football fans.
A lot of clubs in Germany's lower leagues were in situations similar to Union Berlin's.
Lower-league clubs began dreaming of becoming the next Union Berlin.
In any case, the attention German fans were giving us through the media wasn't a bad development.
Union Berlin's story went beyond a mere stadium project; it showed how devoted fans could be to their club.
It was exactly the kind of story football fans all over the world would go crazy for.
Along with the publicity, Union Berlin also gained a brand of its own.
How valuable that brand would become was now up to Union Berlin.
Personally, I thought the brand itself, 'the club built on blood,' was pretty good.
[A famous German football commentator heaps praise on Union Berlin. “Union Berlin's fans did something unprecedented in German football. I salute the Union Berlin fans who brought us such romance.”]
When players decided whether to transfer, fans' passion also played an important role.
We had the world's best football fans, who had pulled off something unprecedented in German football.
In fact, most of Union Berlin's players didn't want to leave the club unless they absolutely had to.
‘Well... a few too many of the existing players did leave as soon as we were promoted to the top flight, but that was because of my greed...’
When the chance to win the league came along, I had overpaid a little too much.
If I were to defend myself, there really wasn't any other choice.
This was the right time to move the club up a level with a league title.
[Kai Heiden, who transferred to St. Pauli. “My time playing for Union Berlin is a good memory for me too. I don't harbor any bad feelings at all.”]
Still, I was glad the players had moved to other clubs without any negative feelings.
In any case.
Union Berlin's romantic story succeeded in attracting new fans from the Berlin area.
‘...I guess we'll just have to expand the stadium as much as possible and turn it into a 55,000-seater.’
***
Meanwhile, after losing to Union Berlin, Jürgen Klinsmann's Bayern Munich drew with Dortmund.
With the dreadful start to the season, criticism of Klinsmann was boiling over.
Then they thrashed Hertha 4-1 at home in the next match.
And then, in the ensuing fourth-round away match at Hoffenheim, they won 3-0.
The criticism aimed at Jürgen Klinsmann quickly died down.
[‘Slow-starting’ Bayern Munich string together two straight league wins.]
I had no idea when Bayern Munich had become a slow starter.
but if the media said so, I had to let it slide.
Keeping Jürgen Klinsmann on as Bayern Munich's manager was a good thing for me, since my goal was the league title.
Well... even the German media weren't all clueless about football, so there were some complaints about the team's play, but for a professional club, results were what mattered.
[Bayern Munich board: “Klinsmann's stamp still hasn't fully taken hold….”]
The Bayern Munich board, which had kicked out Thomas Tuchel and appointed Klinsmann, bent over backward to defend him.
Two big wins were enough to calm the angry public, at least for a while.
On top of that, Wolfsburg, who in the original timeline were this season's champions, were having a bit of trouble in the first half of the season.
“...We might actually have a real shot at winning the league.”
I started quietly salivating.
The path to the Bundesliga title had truly opened wide.
‘Let's not get cocky and just keep this good atmosphere going.’
This season's Plan A was already fully mapped out.
Sure, they might bring out a Union Berlin-targeting tactic in the second half, but we'd just improvise when the time came.
Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a perfect tactic in this world.
Tactics kept evolving, and every tactic was locked in a cat-and-mouse relationship with the others.
Just look at how the counter to early gegenpressing was long-ball football.
In any case.
What mattered most for Union Berlin right now was keeping the players' morale high.
‘Let's make sure the players don't start fixating on the league title.’
I started worrying that the players might tense up for no reason because they were thinking about the title race. Too much tension was bad for performance.
“When I was at AC Milan, people didn't think we'd lift the Champions League trophy. Do you know what they called AC Milan back then? A retirement home. But we lifted Big Ears that season. In the end, what matters is mindset. We went up against Liverpool believing only that we could win, and we did! And when this season ends, we'll be able to lift the Meisterschale! Besides, do you know what Chan-hyeok said when he coaxed me back out of retirement? He said, ‘Let's become German champions.’ ‘Let's trust our young boss.’ We can do this!”
What easily resolved my worries, though, was Kafu, who had come out of retirement and joined us.
‘...It was touching, though.’
And for a fleeting moment.
‘He talks a little too much...’
I thought of the chatterbox living in LA.
***
“Kafu! Football GOAT!!”
Kafu quickly adapted to life at Union Berlin.
The Union Berlin players respected Kafu's career, and Kafu himself didn't overstep the manager's authority or the captain's role.
‘Pretty impressive.’
Kafu looked at Park Chan-hyeok with an intrigued expression.
‘Did he say he was 21?’
That was far too young to be called a manager.
If he'd taken the normal route, he'd be at the stage of building his career as a player by now.
But if this impossibly young manager gave orders, the members of Union Berlin would gladly follow them.
‘A man-manager?’
At first, I mistook him for one.
But Park Chan-hyeok's tactical ability was proven in the match against Bayern Munich.
‘Hmm... the complete package?’
In any case.
Union Berlin were maintaining that good momentum.
But after a certain point, the players' bodies gradually started to stiffen up.
Because of the media's nonstop attention, the players had started to think about the title race.
Seeing that, Kafu immediately started telling his own story.
And then he ended it with an anecdote about Park Chan-hyeok.
In an instant, smiles appeared on the players' faces.
At Union Berlin, 'Park Chan-hyeok' was a magic word.
In fact, the Union Berlin players felt like the league title would really become a reality just from that one remark Park Chan-hyeok had made.
***
After boldly giving up on the Pokal Cup, Park Chan-hyeok focused on the league.
He declared to the players that he would mainly use prospects and rotation players in the Pokal.
Once Park Chan-hyeok guaranteed them some playing time, it was only natural that Union Berlin's youngsters would be fired up.
[Union Berlin beat Kickers Offenbach 1-0 in the DFB Pokal round of 32.]
With a lineup made up of prospects, Union Berlin beat third-division Kickers Offenbach 1-0 in the round of 32.
The MOM was Union Berlin's shot-stopper, Manuel Schmidt.
Manuel Schmidt kept Kickers Offenbach's attack at bay with an iron wall and led Union Berlin to victory.
After that, time kept flying by.
Before long, Union Berlin had played six league matches.
Even now, Union Berlin were still clinging to first place in the league.
Union Berlin's next opponent was an away match against their local rivals, Hertha Berlin.