My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 607

During a cheering practice led by young employees of the sponsoring company, the entire stadium was waving towels, turning most of the stadium yellow. It was quite a sight. For example, Totsuka was excitedly waving his towel.

Every performance was lavish, and the atmosphere was surprisingly lively.

It made me subconsciously feel that something was wrong.

Finally, two dog-shaped mascots (in mascot costumes) led a child, roughly the age of a primary school student, to recite the spirit of fair play. The child, full of energy, said:

"Since I was born, the Chiba team has never advanced. I really hope they will this year!"

In that instant, the bustling stadium fell silent. A child's candid words always deeply wound the hearts of adults…

Moreover, seeing kids who had been in the second division for the same amount of time as Chiba (Note 5) seemed to have traumatized the fans even before the match started. The group of fans behind Chiba's goal, who had been cheering loudly the whole time, became a little quieter... or rather, a little dejected.

"Hayama?"

"Um?"

Why can't Chiba return to the top tier?

I asked straight to the point.

That's right. Chiba is not in the top division of the domestic league, but in the second division.

This is the anomaly I noticed.

Why are they so excited even though they're in Group B?

"If this is just my wishful thinking, I apologize in advance. Chiba should be stronger, right? There are a lot of spectators at the stadium today, and they even have JR as a sponsor, so their funding should be plentiful. Even teams from more rural areas that seem to have little money are in the top division, right? Why—"

"Yes. Chiba was indeed very strong before, even the strongest in the domestic league. Although it was largely thanks to the strength of a certain famous player from Eastern Europe."

"Hayama-kun, are you talking about the one who was once the coach of the Japanese national team—"

"...I won't mention his name. Saying it would only create nostalgia. Chiba must move forward with pride, not cling to past glories..."

Even though I don't understand football, Totsuka and I could roughly guess who Hayama was talking about.

Because when I was a child... it was a time when soccer was very popular in Chiba.

That's why people like Hayama, who have the best athletic ability in school, and Hobe, who is the most frivolous person in school, both joined the soccer club.

Social organizations also have a class system.

Soccer is at the very top of the list. As a member of a higher-class citizen, the club Hayama joined was practically perfect... although Hayama himself probably didn't consider any of that, he just liked playing soccer.

Hayato Hayama is deeply in love with soccer.

Therefore, everything related to football must be precious and special to him.

Even though Totsuka and I can easily recall those names, they are certainly important figures that Hayama and the self-proclaimed fans gathered here cannot casually mention. They are treasures we want to quietly cherish in our hearts.

It's likely that it won't fade no matter how long it's been, and it might even remain as enduring as a romantic relationship.

But if that's the case, then for me it's a loss... um... I just don't want to talk about it because it's so annoying...

Therefore, I didn't mention the contestant's name and changed the subject.

"Today's opponent is... Gifu? What kind of team are they?"

I don't even know where Gifu is. Uh... is it a colony of Nagoya Prefecture?

"Hmm, it's hard to call her strong... right?"

The description of him not harming anyone is very much in line with Hayama's style.

"They've never been promoted to the top division. Every year they fight for last place in the second division, and they're currently at the bottom. However, their style of play is very interesting. Although they seem to have switched to a more realistic approach after changing coaches not long ago."

"Can a weak team still make the game interesting?"

"Playing football with ideals... I don't know if that's an accurate description, but they pass the ball around a lot, it's football in a very football-like way. You'll understand once you see it."

"oh--?"

It's like a football.

"So there are footballs that don't look like footballs?"

"You really are... really good at hitting people where it hurts."

Ye Shan wore a wry smile, but there was no smile in his eyes.

He then went on to illustrate "football that doesn't resemble a football".

"Send a bunch of guys to block the goal, making it impenetrable, and as soon as they get the ball, they immediately launch a long pass to the opponent's goal. Once they get the ball, they rush towards the goal before the opponent's formation can be reorganized. It probably wouldn't be interesting to watch."

"I think it makes perfect sense."

You think that if someone blocks your goal, you'll never concede a goal? Even laymen have probably thought that.

Totsuka listened to us talk silently for a while, then asked while eating potato chips:

"Hayama-kun, what tactics did Chiba use?"

"High-level pressure."

"High position...oppression?"

The unfamiliar words made Totsuka tilt her head in confusion, saying, "Huh?" "Huh...so cute..."

No, no, no. What is high-level oppression?

"Push the defensive line forward. This means shifting all defensive forces to the offensive tactic."

Hmm...

A very exciting tactic that ignites a youthful, chuunibyou (delusional) spirit. The name also has a feel of a classic science fiction novel.

"However, this tactic requires various conditions to be used effectively, and the risks are also very high. So it's currently a sealed-off dream tactic. When it was first used, it attracted a lot of attention and achieved good results, but it often fails when the opponent takes countermeasures."

"I'm not familiar with football tactics, but—"

I gave him a heads-up before expressing my own opinion.

"In short, wouldn't it be more advantageous to first pack a bunch of tall players in front of the opponent's goal, like in basketball?"

"I've tried it..."

"I've tried it..."

Totsuka, whose face instantly broke into a smile, let out a sigh-like sound.

"They brought in a foreign player from Northern Europe who is 204 centimeters tall, the tallest in league history, and had him stand in front of the goal."

He's over two meters tall and from Northern Europe—just hearing that makes me excited. I asked curiously:

"By the way, what was your ranking that year?"

"Sixth place. Only the top three can advance..."

According to Hayama, the player started off well, but then his injury affected his performance. Should we try again?

This time, the proposal to change to Totsuka is:

"Why not just go all out and hire the same coach for several years in a row?"

"I've tried it..."

"I've already tried that..."

Totsuka lowered his head, a sad look in his eyes.

In the past, the Chiba team would dismiss coaches in a frenzy whenever their performance was poor. But they finally realized that this couldn't go on, so they hired a seemingly promising coach and let him lead the team for a few years with the intention of developing talent.

"How did you rank?"

"Third place → Ninth place → Eleventh place"

"It's actually getting worse."

"As expected, they changed coaches again during the third year..."

Incidentally, there seems to be a mysterious rule in the football world: "the coach's dismissal brings a temporary boost to performance." Believe it or not, it's your choice.

However, since changing coaches didn't help—

"If things are still hopeless after all this, why not just replace all the players and see what happens?"

"Huh?! Hachiman... This is just too unreasonable! Soccer is a team sport, you know? This will cause the team to fall apart!"

"I've tried it..."

"Have you tried this too...?"

Totsuka's expression went beyond dumbfounded, even revealing a hint of pity.

Although it was my own idea, if replacing all the members could improve the current situation, every team would probably be changing members like crazy.

"Football is a sport with eleven players on a team, right? Even baseball, with its nine-player teams, places great emphasis on teamwork. I don't think there's a way to improve that aspect in the short term."

"Of course, they have also considered countermeasures in this regard."

"Oh? What countermeasures?"

"It seems that the team is trying to make up for the lack of chemistry between the players by implementing the strengthening policy of 'if the players are of equal strength, choose the one who likes Chiba more'."

"Go wash your face with MAX coffee before you come back."

If you love Chiba, your football skills will improve. Even Mr. Jaguar (Note 6) could become a J-League contracted player. Go Chiba!

Having run out of ideas, and with a touch of self-abandonment, I said:

"Then I think that's the only way. How about starting by changing the food?"

"That one too."

"I've already tried it..."

The same old conversation. A vicious cycle. Even Totsuka's tone was no longer surprised.

"So? How do you mean by changing it? Like switching from rice to bread or something?"

"Replace everything with brown rice."

"Do they want to marry Shinoda Mariko?" (Note 7)

The topic of brown rice weddings was quite popular recently.

The encounter sparked by brown rice was quite impactful; this marriage gave hope to everyone who eats rice. I also eat white rice every day, so I can marry a celebrity who eats white rice, right? Impossible? Oh, right.

"And what was the result?"

"Well, it seems to have an effect on some contestants, but unfortunately it doesn't have much impact on their rankings, so it's back to normal now."

"I see... This result is more acceptable than when you told me it was 'super effective'."

"Players who have transferred to other clubs will also be recommended to eat brown rice; it's practically their only salvation..."

"Is it simply because people make a laughing stock of us?"

The coach known as the "Rough Rice Mage" was fired around the time of the fourth game in his third year. As a result, the coach who led the team when they were relegated to the second division came back to lead the team, which seems to be the current situation.

This is Chiba's trajectory over the past ten years.

They changed coaches, frontline staff, and players; even the food was changed.

Still no results.

"I... have been thinking about how to get back what Chiba destroyed. But—"

"I can't believe it," Hayama said, squeezing out a sound of distress.

"...In the end, we'll still end up back in the same place."

Coincidentally, like Soga Station, which connects the Inner and Outer Lines, this stadium also seems to be governed by the Law of Circles.

The moment of kickoff was more boring than I had imagined.

"Huh? It's already started?"

Before the match even started, fans from both sides were jumping around and cheering, so there wasn't really a sense of "the match has started!" but rather "ah, the game is on."

The support for the home team, Chiba, far surpassed that for their opponents.

Gifu's support group also relies on the efforts of a few elites, but ultimately it is a local lower-level club, and it is clear in all aspects that they are willing but unable to do more.

But when it comes to the most important aspect of the competition—Chiba and Gifu are pretty much the same.

Chiba had the ball for longer than Gifu, but kept passing the ball instead of shooting.