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***

Mourinho and Ferguson were embroiled in a nerve-wracking showdown over Mohamed Salah.

As for me, I hadn’t been able to go outside recently.

Every little thing I did was somehow being turned into news, just like you’d expect from a country of reporters.

This kind of situation was exacerbated after we triumphed in the North West Derby against Manchester United’s rivals, Liverpool.

Even though I didn’t rack up any attacking points in that match, I seemed to have made a favorable impression on the Manchester United fans with my outstanding performance.

“Well, it would have been fine if it stopped there.”

The real issue was that when it comes to premier league superstars, their spouses or family members become the center of attention too.

[SON, will he transfer to Chelsea next season? Hwang attending a Chelsea match in person.]

With no more interesting material about me to write, reporters started writing about the daily lives of my family members instead.

[Mino Raiola requests restraint from Manchester media. “The player is under a lot of stress from the British tabloids…”]

After an interview broadcasted through my agent Mino Raiola, things calmed down a bit, but articles were still popping up here and there.

“Oh wow, this picture turned out great! I have to brag about this to my friends.”

At least I was thankful that my mother-in-law and father-in-law seemed to enjoy the reporters’ attention.

[Son Jinho denying transfer rumors, “My mother-in-law is a Chelsea fan, so I just went to support her.”]

[Wife is a Manchester United fan, mother-in-law is a Chelsea fan?]

└ Is this what maternal love looks like?

└ Terrible! If my kid becomes a dumb Manchester United fan, I would kick them out of the house.

└ If it were my father, he would have disowned me by now.

└ Hey, isn’t that your dad up there?

└ Daddy?

└ I’ve never had a son like you.

Anyway, the news that Han Gyeouri and my mother-in-law supported different teams spread quickly across England.

It was quite surprising to have a family that supports different teams in a country where wishing for the rival team to be relegated is preferred over cheering for your own team’s victory.

[Shock! Infamous soccer player’s wife caught in an affair with teammate? A source claims she had dreamt of being a WAG since childhood.]

[What is the number one career aspiration for teenage girls in England? WAGs.]

Despite the negative perception of WAGs—wives or girlfriends of globally renowned soccer players—due to several recent incidents, the image of Gyeouri among Manchester United fans remained quite good.

This was largely because Gyeouri didn’t enjoy being in the limelight like other WAGs.

Plus, there was the story of her childhood friends following her to study in Germany.

Combine that with the Western fascination with the East, and Han Gyeouri was transformed into the devoted image of a housewife.

“Son Jinho, have you seen this?”

“You’re not about to show me something weird again, are you?”

The truth was, I was a hermit addicted to my room.

Anyway, this aura of mystique made Han Gyeouri even more special and, even better, more popular.

***

[A paparazzi reporter who followed Park Jisong for a month, while following Son Jinho, uttered curse words… “Koreans are no fun.”]

└ Hahahahaha!

└ Wow. But Son Jinho’s routine is pretty on point;;

└ Home – Games with Wife – Carrington Training Ground – Personal Training – Walk with Wife – Games with Wife – Sleep.

└ Devoted to family.

[“Has Son Jinho not forgotten Dortmund? Chooses Dortmund as his gaming team. Dortmund fans say, ‘We’d welcome Jinho anytime.’ ]

[“Son Jinho, the highest-paid player at Man Utd, wife’s beauty is the talk of the town. Netizens say, ‘A goddess has descended.’ ]

└ Damn, I’m so jealous of Son Jinho.

└ Son Jinho, please be a 3cm *anything*, Son Jinho, please be a 3cm *anything*.

***

“Community is my life~”

Han Gyeouri grinned as she read posts about herself on the community forum.

She seemed pleased by the compliments on her appearance.

But where there’s a beginning, there’s an end.

Posts praising Han Gyeouri’s looks began to lose their appeal on the community.

So, Han Gyeouri not only stopped reading them but also started posting herself.

[Title: Is Son Jinho’s girlfriend’s body good?]

Author: Anonymous.

“Seriously, isn’t Son Jinho’s girlfriend’s body kind of underwhelming?ㅠㅠ I have a similar body to Son Jinho’s girlfriend and my chest is just a lump of fat, it just weighs down; I don’t get why that’s goodㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

If Sir Alex Ferguson had seen Han Gyeouri posting anonymously like that, he probably would have said community forums are a waste of life’s time instead of social media.

Anyway, as Han Gyeouri was writing posts anonymously on the community, her mother-in-law was furiously writing a 5,700-character handwritten letter to Chelsea FC.

“If you’re going to play soccer like that, then disband!!”

This was because Chelsea’s performance and game quality had not been good in the early part of the 13/14 season.

– Chairman Hwang Geum-soon: (Arsenal, won big against Norwich with a score of 4 to 1.)

Meanwhile, Arsenal was soaring at the start of the season.

– Chairman Hwang Geum-soon: Ah… we’ve forgotten how to lose.

They started off shakily with a loss in the opening match but subsequently won all games, and recently, Chairman Hwang’s momentum was back.

– Gyeouri: Yep~ We’re unbeaten!

Currently, Manchester United in 1st place and Arsenal in 3rd shared a lot of similarities.

If one of them got injured, the squad would collapse, and their rank would plummet.

That’s why I actively taught the promising players; we couldn’t just win every match relying solely on the Trio of Destiny.

To put it bluntly, after Robin van Persie got injured last time, the burden on Ronaldo and me was no joke.

‘Even the match against Celtic where Ronaldo was out due to suspension was just sickening.’

Had it not been for the international break in mid-October, I might have hit the ground too.

If I had been injured, Ronaldo would have likely also been out, and Manchester United’s rank would have plummeted to 9th, no doubt.

‘Ah, now that I think about it, after an international break, it’s become second nature to consider it a break.’

Looking back now, I really feel the retirement announcement from the national team was a stroke of genius.

“I’m off.”

“Son Jinho! Go safely!”

Anyway, as training time approached, I headed to Carrington Training Ground, seeing Gyeouri off.

***

Upon arriving at Carrington Training Ground, Danny Welbeck came up to me.

“Jinho!”

Danny Welbeck, called the future of Manchester United and highly anticipated by Man Utd fans.

He had begun to imitate me after yielding his penalty kick.

Although Danny Welbeck used to spend a lot of time with girls, he started focusing more on soccer as he increased his shooting training.

I viewed this change in Welbeck positively.

Honestly, at this point in time, Danny Welbeck had the potential to be a decent player.

Though he had some issues with his physical balance and resulting goal-scoring ability.

When it came to goal-scoring ability, wasn’t Ronaldo, van Persie, and I simply unmatched?

“Stand straight, Danny Welbeck. Why aren’t you putting your ‘heart’ into your shots?”

“If you can’t shoot, just pass it to me. I’m the top scorer at Manchester United and a Ballon d’Or winner…”

“Welbeck, you seem fit for a counter.”

Welbeck was a player that could soar if only he could solve his goal-scoring troubles. The Trio of Destiny was rigorously training him to prepare for the Stoke City match.

***

[Manchester United inviting Stoke City to their home ground.]

[Starting lineup announced. Ronaldo, Son Jinho, Van Persie triangle attack deployed.]

└ Today, I think it would have been okay even if our brother was a candidateㅠㅠ

└ Your tone is rude, should I block you?

└ Ah, why isn’t that damn Welbeck a candidate? This match shouldn’t have been one to fake an injury for!

└ You crazy! Hahahahaha, what a turnabout!

[‘Rough Soccer’ Manchester United faces against Stoke City, the biggest worry is ‘injuries’]

└ Please don’t let us get injured, damn it.

└ Seriously, can these bastards just be relegated?

└ This feels more like watching UFC than football.

***

Premier League Round 9.

The match between the men’s team Stoke City and Manchester United was set to take place at Old Trafford.

In Korea, there’s a tradition that one doesn’t truly earn a Premier League title until they’ve faced Stoke City.

Today, I could finally become a true Premier League player.

A tense moment.

The players from Stoke City began to enter from the tunnel.

Peter Crouch, who was the best goalkeeper in FIFA 2.

And following behind him, the fake-zlatan, Marko Arnautović.

Then began to appear ‘that’ player.

A slightly gapped front tooth and a balding head.

Just existing there, he was expanding his territory in the entrance tunnel with his overwhelming visuals.

‘General Charlie Adam!’

Just appearing was enough to bring out a sense of intimidation.

Isn’t it said that you can tell a lot about a person just from how they walk in martial arts?

If that’s true in martial arts, then the basics of soccer can indeed be found in appearance.

Charlie Adam’s look was full of romance.

“Shawcross is coming in!”

And seeing Shawcross, who had come in after the authority of soccer 3, Charlie Adam, I lost the words to say.

“Beeep! Beep!”

‘Is he insane?’

 

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