32 save. The Prodigal Returns
“Tch.”
There was someone clicking his tongue as he watched Sin Uison.
Not on the pitch.
From the stands.
A man watching the match from behind the West Ham bench. It was Norris.
Norris, who had once trained with Sin Uison in the West Ham reserves, had still not managed to break out of the reserves.
Today as well, far from being on the bench, he was excluded from the matchday squad and could only watch the game from afar.
“What’s there to be so dissatisfied about?”
An old man was watching Norris with a look of pity.
A man known more by his nickname than his name. It was Bob.
“No, it’s just that guy seems to have all the luck.”
“Pathetic words. That’s why you’ll never improve.”
Bob frowned at Norris’s words, dripping with jealousy.
The old man had seen plenty of guys like this—those who never looked within themselves and merely dismissed others’ success as luck.
‘He wasn’t this kind of character to begin with.’
What had ruined Norris’s mentality was the immense pressure.
He was gradually getting older, his growth had stagnated, yet Sin Uison—a man he had subtly looked down upon—had made a glorious return from the second division to the Premier League.
And he had done so as a core member of the team.
“Damn it.”
Norris chewed his fingernails.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t tried to change.
He had even gone out on loan, but he hadn’t been able to perform well there.
In the end, he returned to West Ham without any meaningful gains.
“Don’t be so impatient.”
That very impatience was ultimately eating away at Norris himself.
Even to Bob’s worried advice, Norris pretended not to listen.
Advice worked for some people, and not for others.
Bob let out a small sigh and watched the match.
Right on cue, the match began.
—West Ham have come out in a 4-4-1-1 formation, while Leeds are in a 4-4-2.
—Yes. Overall they’re similar, but there’s a decisive difference.
—Are you referring to the midfield?
—Exactly right.
The home team, West Ham, set up their midfield with Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyaté, and Kevin Nolan.
Mark Noble is a midfielder with excellent delivery.
Cheikhou Kouyaté is a tall defensive midfielder capable of playing center-back.
With Kevin Nolan pushed slightly higher to divide their respective roles, whereas Leeds had deployed two defensive midfielders.
‘What are they thinking?’
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce chewed his gum, lost in thought.
Solidifying the defense was all well and good, but lacking creativity like that meant they wouldn’t be able to mount a proper counterattack.
“Hmm?”
As the match progressed.
Sam Allardyce’s eyes gleamed with interest.
He was not the only one surprised.
—Leeds are pushing their line quite high?
—Yes. It’s a different look from what we’ve seen so far.
Up until now, Leeds’ matches had been extremely passive. Putting efficiency aside, they hadn’t been the type to take the initiative at all.
Just what wind had blown?
And what exactly were they thinking?
Those watching the match simultaneously felt such doubts.
“Do they really have to push the line up in an away match?”
“Well, against a Sam Allardyce team, it’s fine either way. But do they even have anyone in that midfield who can initiate attacks?”
The traveling Leeds fans who had come all the way to London muttered among themselves.
Currently, Leeds’ midfield didn’t have a player who could provide passes like Mark Noble.
Normally, they would build up by putting in an attacking midfielder, but today they had fielded two strikers.
“Ha!”
As if to refute those very words.
There was someone playing a pass from the very back of Leeds United.
Thwack!
Sin Uison’s pass carved high through the air.
—Wow!
—A ground-splitting pass from Sin Uison!
Miley had slipped a pass back.
And Sin Uison had lofted it powerfully.
The one who received the pass that had traveled into West Ham’s territory was another striker partnering with Ross McCormack today.
A player who was rather cumbersome due to his large frame but showed strength in post play.
With his back to goal, he shook off the center-back’s initial pressure.
And dropped the ball he had taken on his chest to a nearby teammate.
That’s right.
To Ross McCormack.
“Nice play.”
—McCormaack!
McCormack, who had been keenly awaiting an opportunity to shoot, eyes sparkled.
Bang!
The ball, struck cleanly on the half-volley, swerved powerfully toward the corner of the goal.
“...!”
Adrián threw himself at the shot’s trajectory. But the curve was so extreme that the ball just grazed beneath his hand.
It was a goal.
—G-gooaaal! Leeds United take the lead just eight minutes after kickoff!
—That’s Ross McCormack’s second goal of the season!
—He scores a brilliant goal every single time!
“Yeehaw!”
McCormack roared after scoring. It was only his second goal in the Premier League. And if it was such a brilliant goal, there was no way he couldn’t be happy.
—By the way, wasn’t Sin Uison’s pass just now incredible?
—Yes. It’s not a method that works often, but in that moment, it worked to perfection.
Having conceded the opening goal earlier than expected, West Ham had no choice but to adjust their tactics. Conceding like this had not been part of the plan.
It was obvious that Leeds would now drop their defensive line.
In the end, Sam Allardyce pushed his team up.
But even so.
Leeds did not drop their line.
“What?”
West Ham seemed quite bewildered watching the Leeds players actively pressing high up the pitch. The response they had prepared today was largely ineffective.
“This is actually better!”
West Ham captain Kevin Nolan rallied the players.
Hadn’t they been feeling gloomy at the thought of breaking through Leeds’ defense just moments ago?
On the contrary, it was better if Leeds continued to come out like this.
“Leeds’ defense is nothing special! So cheer up, everyone!”
“Nothing special?”
Whether he heard those words or not, Miley bared his teeth in a grin. Since someone had shouted right nearby, he had heard it very clearly.
“Provocation is always welcome, you punk.”
“Oi, you can’t go now!”
“...”
Sin Uison stopped Miley, who had been about to rush out with an excited face.
There was no answer.
But Miley obeyed.
If there was something that had changed through the past few matches, it was this:
When emotions ran high, Sin Uison served as the stopper.
If he ignored that and acted recklessly, resulting in a bad outcome, Sin Uison would also be the one to clean up the mess, so it would only hurt his pride.
Thanks to that, though they weren’t close, a business relationship of sorts had been established where communication took place on the pitch.
‘I have to watch out for two players.’
Carlton Cole, who started as the lone striker today, had clearly aged, but he was still a striker with a sharp shot in him.
And Kevin Nolan was a midfielder with excellent positioning.
Moreover, since he was practically playing in a free role today, his movements had to be especially carefully watched.
—The two teams are going at each other!
—This is an unexpected situation!
Since two defensive teams had met, people hadn’t expected today’s match to be very entertaining. Apart from the fans of both teams, that is.
Waaah!
But once the lid was opened.
The crowd sent up cheers at the sight of both teams pushing their lines up and trading blows.
Especially—excluding the West Ham fans—the cheers from the crowd were for.
Sin Uison’s play.
—Sin Uison rushes out once again!
—Today, Leeds’ goalkeeper is rampaging like Neuer!
The commentators let out exclamations of admiration. They had not predicted what had just happened. They could only marvel.
It began when Mauro Zárate had the ball.
Having broken through Leeds’ full-back with difficulty, he was being greedy and trying to continue dribbling when.
Sin Uison, who should clearly have been in front of goal, came rushing out.
“Danny!”
Before Zárate could set himself, Sin Uison—who had stolen the ball—passed it to midfielder Danny Murphy.
Like this.
Sin Uison was covering the empty space left by Leeds United pushing their line up.
It was a marvelous sight.
Could a single goalkeeper cover such a vast expanse of space?
To the point where even Leeds fans were left gaping blankly.
Truthfully, this wasn’t the first time they had seen Sin Uison like this. It had become quite a topic of conversation in the Championship as well.
But.
To think it would work even in the Premier League.
—Was such play even possible?!
—So this was Manager Capello’s hidden card!
In the past few matches, Capello had Sin Uison initiate the passing play but had not allowed him to get deeply involved in field play.
But now.
Including the motivation for approaching the match.
He had lifted the limits in order to draw out Sin Uison’s performance to the maximum.
—Ah! Sin Uison gets to the ball before Carlton Cole!
It was when Carlton Cole was moving to receive Mark Noble’s through pass.
As if he had known the pass would be played there, Sin Uison—who had charged out from goal a step ahead—sent an accurate pass to a Leeds full-back.
This did not simply clear the ball; it became the starting point of a counterattack.
“Heheh, was he that kind of lad?”
Bob tilted his head as he watched Sin Uison’s play.
He had been acknowledged for his passing in the West Ham reserves, but this kind of aggressive, rushing-out play style hadn’t been his.
‘He’s improved a lot.’
Bob looked at Sin Uison with a hint of pride.
Of course, not everyone felt proud.
Including Sam Allardyce, the West Ham players and coaches were currently extremely confused.
This wasn’t the Sin Uison they knew.
The Sin Uison they knew didn’t play like that.
“This is that Sin Uison?”
“That’s insane.”
Norris, in the stands, denied reality.
Just half a season.
For the club’s deadwood to achieve such growth in just half a season was logically impossible.
“That’s no god out there—think of him as a different goalkeeper!”
In the end, Kevin Nolan rallied those players. Though he broke out in a cold sweat seeing how different things were from his memory, the fact that they had to score hadn’t changed.
It was not ineffective.
Thanks to his outstanding leadership, the West Ham players came to their senses without delay.
“Tch.”
Sin Uison rolled his shoulders as if troubled. He had hoped the confusion would last as long as possible, but if he rushed out recklessly now, he would eat a long-range shot.
Knowing this, the Leeds players also maintained moderate line spacing.
Of course, from West Ham’s perspective, Sin Uison occasionally popping out like that must have been incredibly frustrating.
Before long.
The latter half of the match.
—The ball goes out after hitting Miley.
—A corner kick is awarded to West Ham.
It was a precious attacking opportunity for West Ham. As if aware of this, many players entered the penalty area to participate in the set piece.
The taker, Stewart Downing, raised his hand, and.
Boom!
Soon after, a strong cross was delivered into the penalty area.
The first to position himself for the ball was West Ham center-back Tomkins. Miley stuck tight to him to mark him. Eventually, the ball hit Tomkins’ shoulder and deflected away.
—The ball goes outside the penalty area!
—Ah! But Kevin Nolan! Nolaaan!
There was Kevin Nolan, taking up a shooting stance as if he had known the ball would come there from the start.
Thud!
A low, driven shot went through the players.
With players tangled up, visibility was already limited. It was practically an unstoppable shot.
The West Ham fans had risen from their seats the moment Kevin Nolan struck the shot. They didn’t dare doubt that the god of poaching would score.
And.
Sin Uison suddenly dropped to his knees.
He brought both hands between his legs.
At the same time, the ball slipped snugly right into that space.
“Huh?”
Because he had stopped it so easily.
Even Kevin Nolan, the one who had taken the shot, rubbed his eyes with a bewildered expression.