Chapter 8

Lazy Genius Striker - Chapter 8 (8/202)

< Chapter 007 – How to Train a Lazy Person >

“Didn’t everyone say he had a crazy talent that left them in shock?”

“Well, that was then...”

“Hmm. Is he the type who has ups and downs?”

Brian Maxwell, the coach of the West Ham Under-18 team, sighed as he looked at the coaches scratching their heads.

A few days ago, there was a tryout.

Maxwell had come to the training ground with high expectations after the coaches had made a big fuss about one of the successful candidates being an incredible talent.

He was sixteen years old.

His name was Johan van.

His position was striker.

Maxwell, who was in dire need of a good striker and had heard nothing but praise from the coaches, kept a close eye on Johan during the training.

Oh, these coaches really go overboard.

“Hmm.”

Compared to the coaches' hype, Johan's performance during training was incredibly disappointing.

There was no sign of the talent that warranted all the fuss,

and most importantly, his attitude towards training was far from satisfactory.

“Faster! Move more actively and quickly!”

Lethargic.

Sluggish.

He looked like he had no enthusiasm at all.

There was no sign of him taking the training seriously.

This was unimaginable.

The Under-18 team was one of the most competitive among the various age groups.

Everyone was training with their lives on the line to debut in the first team.

Yet, this kid, on his first day of training, was so relaxed.

His first impression couldn't be worse.

Moreover, the most important factor Maxwell considered when evaluating players was their work ethic.

Diligence.

Maxwell believed that diligence was a human nature that a coach couldn't change.

Skills can be taught, but nature cannot be changed.

Therefore,

Maxwell would teach with all his heart to players who lacked skill but would not keep players who lacked the will to work.

“I shouldn’t have had such high expectations. Why did they make such a fuss...”

“...”

The coaches, who had inadvertently become liars, scratched their heads and watched Maxwell's reaction.

Maxwell was not only a promising player for the team but also a promising coach for West Ham.

There were frequent rumors that he would become the West Ham first-team coach in the near future.

Everyone knew Maxwell's philosophy, so there were no lazy players in the team.

As a result,

Johan stood out even more to Maxwell.

He was at risk of falling out of favor with the coach on his first day of training.

“Alright, everyone, put on your vests! It’s mini-game time! The losing team’s penalty is ten laps around the training ground!”

Until the last training session began, that is.

*

Johan pulled at his hair.

It had been a really tough day from morning.

It was his first day of training, and he had tried to be enthusiastic, thinking about his excited older brother and his father who had told him to do his best.

However,

as soon as the training started, all those thoughts vanished.

All he could think about was going home.

Running around the field, passing the ball back and forth.

Running here and there.

There were so many things they made him do.

Even if he tried to find a way to get by, it was still annoying.

If it weren't for his brother, he would have run away long ago.

Sigh.

Why did he come here, thinking he could enjoy a life of luxury?

He wanted to go back to being the troublesome youngest son, even if it meant listening to his brother and father's nagging.

What good would it do if he were to die first?

Every minute and second of training felt like an hour to Johan.

Still, somehow, time passed.

Just when he thought the tedious training was finally over,

“Ten laps if you lose?”

There was one more training session left.

A 5v5 mini-game.

Worse, there was a penalty for the losing team.

Ten laps around the training ground.

It was a crazy penalty.

He'd rather stick his nose in a plate of food than run ten laps.

‘They’re not letting me off easy, huh.’

There was no way out.

He had managed to get by with tricks during other training sessions, but with a penalty on the line, he couldn't do that this time.

He had to win,

and avoid the penalty.

“Everyone ready? No time limit, the first team to score three goals wins!”

Fortunately, the game would end as soon as one team scored three goals, regardless of time. Johan thought he would score three goals as quickly as possible and go home.

‘Let’s get this over with.’

He finally tied his shoelaces properly.

*

‘Just pass me the ball.’

The mini-game began.

Johan sighed, waiting for a pass that never came.

The other players were passing the ball among themselves.

It was as if they had planned it.

Maybe they were discriminating against the new player.

A pass that never came, no matter how long he waited.

He wanted to get out of the training ground and go home as quickly as possible, but without a pass, he was frustrated.

‘I have no choice.’

He had to take the initiative.

Johan moved to receive a pass.

The penalty was a powerful motivator.

It made the usually lazy Johan more active.

“Hey!”

“Here... Oops.”

The kid who passed the ball without thinking, hearing a call from the side, slapped his forehead.

The other kids had already discussed before the game started.

They decided to ignore the new black-haired kid and play among themselves.

They knew Johan's skill level from the training.

He was just at the level of a successful tryout candidate.

In this group, tryout candidates were at the bottom of the hierarchy.

They were considered expendable, essentially the lowest of the low.

Since Johan was a new player and not yet a part of the team,

they thought it would be easier to win the game by ignoring him.

“Pass it back!”

“Or over here!”

The kids demanded a return pass before the ball even reached Johan.

However,

“...”

Johan ignored them, took the ball, and started to shake his upper body as if preparing to dribble past the defender.

“Hey! You can’t get past him!”

“Pass it back!”

The kids shouted in frustration.

There was no way he could break through.

The kid blocking Johan was Alan, the team's starting full-back.

Alan's one-on-one defense was among the best in the team.

A new player like Johan wasn't someone who could challenge him with dribbling.

However, it seemed like Johan was pretending not to hear.

He didn't stop dribbling.

The moment the kids sighed,

something magical happened.

“Huh...?”

In the blink of an eye, an unbelievable scene unfolded.

Alan fell backward, sitting on his butt.

And,

Johan calmly passed by him.

The kids were stunned.

Did the new player just get past Alan?

They found it hard, even in one-on-one situations, and he did it so easily?

However, it was too early to be surprised.

Johan continued to drive the ball toward the opponent's goal.

Tat-tat-tat!

From the outside, it didn't look like Johan had delicate skills.

His tall and bulky build made it hard to imagine he had good footwork.

However,

just because he was tall didn't mean he couldn't dribble.

Pang!

The second one.

Johan used lightning-fast dribbling to get past the second player.

During the tryout, Johan hardly used dribbling to break through.

But that was just because he didn't need to.

It wasn't because he couldn't.

However, now he had no choice.

The space was too tight, and he couldn't trust the other players to pass the ball back.

Johan kept driving the ball forward,

and easily got past the third defender.

Next was a free chance.

Pew!

Whoosh!

Clap!

A powerful shot aimed at the corner of the goal.

The goalkeeper didn't even try to reach for the ball,

and it went straight into the net.

About 7 seconds.

Johan scored the goal about 7 seconds after his first touch.

‘Just two more goals.’

It was a crazy goal born from Johan's laziness, who wanted to go home as quickly as possible.

*

“Beep!”

As the whistle blew,

“Finally, it’s over!”

Johan cheered.

It was finally over... but in fact, the game ended in just 5 minutes.

Johan scored three goals in 5 minutes.

Nothing could stop Johan from going home.

“What is he...?”

“Is this even possible?”

“What kind of guy is he...?”

The kids who played with Johan were all stunned.

It was unbelievable.

A new player, who had just joined the team through a tryout, won the game all by himself.

And it wasn't just a win.

He completely dominated the game, leaving the opponents helpless.

They were stunned.

“Coach, I told you, didn’t I?”

“...”

Moreover,

the coaches weren't the only ones stunned.

Maxwell, who was watching the mini-game, was equally surprised.

Just a moment ago, Maxwell had thought Johan was a "no-good kid."

But,

what had he just seen?

The coaches' hype was true.

No, it wasn't hype.

The coaches had simply described what they saw, and Maxwell realized this.

‘I’m a bit angry, actually.’

Johan's performance, destroying the other kids, was infuriating.

A new player, on his first day, had destroyed kids he had been training for a long time.

It meant he had done it purely with raw talent.

A crazy talent that surpassed everything.

Knowing he had such talent, Johan probably thought he didn't need to work hard.

So, he must have been slacking off during training.

Thinking about this, Maxwell found Johan even more annoying.

But,

despite his annoyance,

he couldn't help but find Johan incredibly attractive.

Which coach wouldn't find a player with such talent attractive?

Even Maxwell, who valued diligence above all else, couldn't deny this.

“Finally, I can go home.”

Seeing Johan quickly pack his bag to go home,

Maxwell felt a strong desire.

He knew a person's innate nature couldn't be changed.

But he had a strong desire to change this kid, somehow, in some way.