"Hello, I'd like to ask what you think about Transfermarkt inviting an active player to serve as a market value assessor?"
"Hello. Your team faces Liverpool tomorrow. Liverpool struggled at the start of the season, but over the last two matches they seem to have found their form again. How would you rate your team's chances of winning?"
"Hello. Did you sleep well last night? You look a little worn out."
The press conference ahead of Matchweek 18 of the Premier League was underway. Newcastle United would be Liverpool's opponent, and their newly appointed head coach, Eddie Howe, certainly didn't look his best.
"When you know you're facing Leo the next day, you're not getting any sleep that night!"
"No one can sleep soundly knowing they have to face Leo the following day. So I barely slept at all last night."
"Of course, I wasn't thinking about the Newcastle-Liverpool match. I was actually thinking about Transfermarkt inviting an active player to become one of its market value assessors. It sounds like something that should annoy me, something that shouldn't make any sense to me, but somehow it feels completely reasonable simply because the person they invited was Leo."
Eddie Howe thought about Leo's market value. It seemed unbelievable, yet at the same time completely justified.
"When a player is already worth €300 million, doesn't he have the right to offer his opinion on the market values of other players?"
"Of course he does!"
"These days, plenty of teams, especially the top clubs, have starting lineups worth around €1.2 billion in total. Some of the more expensive ones can reach €1.3 billion. But Liverpool are different. Just look at the total value of their starting eleven."
"The main reason is that Leo alone is worth as much as three stars from the opposing team. Sometimes, even three key starters combined still aren't worth as much as he is!"
Eddie Howe had become Newcastle's new head coach after the club underwent a major transformation. Wealthier owners had taken over, injected more money into the club, and begun helping Newcastle bring in better players.
Howe was considered the right manager to build Newcastle into a stronger side because of the excellent work he had done before arriving at the club.
During nearly eight years in charge of Bournemouth, Howe had built them into a team capable of establishing themselves in the Premier League for the long term. That ability was exactly what Newcastle's new owners valued in him.
December 26, Newcastle's home ground.
"Newcastle have named their starting lineup, with key players such as Joelinton included!"
"Goalkeeper: Dubravka!"
"Defenders: Jamal, Lascelles, Fabian, Javier."
"Midfielders: Fraser, Joelinton, Hayden, Shelvey, Murphy."
"Center forward: Saint-Maximin."
Newcastle had only recently become wealthy, so it would still take time for them to spend all that new money. For now, whenever Saint-Maximin started, it was easy to guess what kind of football Newcastle intended to play.
At three o'clock that afternoon, the match kicked off.
Newcastle lined up in a 4-5-1 counterattacking formation and repeatedly fired through balls forward on the break.
Most of those passes were aimed at Saint-Maximin, one of the Premier League's best dribblers, a player with dreadlocks who possessed both tremendous pace and strength.
"Hayden sends a through ball from midfield! Saint-Maximin goes straight at Konaté, and Van Dijk is coming across to cover!"
"Saint-Maximin controls it. He has to do this himself because there's no Newcastle teammate nearby to combine with!"
Saint-Maximin constantly changed up his dribbling moves and beat Konaté with his very first move. But when he tried to get past Van Dijk next, he lost the ball.
"Van Dijk takes advantage of the time Konaté bought him and sticks out a foot to win it from Saint-Maximin!"
After making the interception, Van Dijk immediately launched a long ball toward Leo.
Five Newcastle players in the middle quickly converged on him.
One in front, two alongside him, and two behind. All five were drawn toward Leo, surrounding him in an attempt to stop him from receiving the ball.
Leo jumped in the middle of them.
The fans then saw one figure rise above the rest, higher than all five players around him.
"Leo wins the header against five players and knocks it down for Gakpo! Gakpo cuts inside!"
Javier quickly shifted across to block Gakpo's path inside, but Gakpo immediately cut the ball the other way, burst past him, and carried it into the left side of the penalty area before quickly pulling it back toward the center.
Núñez controlled the ball under pressure from Lascelles and gently laid it back toward the middle of the box.
Leo, who had just won the header while surrounded by five players, arrived.
Using the shooting lane Núñez had created for him, Leo drove his shot toward the right side of the goal.
Dubravka got a touch on it and did everything he could to change the ball's path.
His touch sent the ball toward the right post, but it struck the inside of the upright and bounced into the net.
"Leo's ninth Premier League goal of the season!"
"He's now only three goals behind Salah in the scoring charts!"
"It looks like even the tactics Eddie Howe spent a sleepless night coming up with still couldn't stop Leo from scoring. Newcastle United are behind now. Are they really going to continue relying on Saint-Maximin alone?"
Newcastle began committing more players forward, with Murphy moving up into a right-wing position.
But he was still the only extra player joining the attack.
That was right. Despite being a goal down, Newcastle United still only dared to send two players forward.
The reason was simple. Sending more players into attack meant leaving fewer behind to defend, and against Liverpool, reducing your defensive numbers was something you simply couldn't afford to do.
"As a Newcastle fan, conceding to Leo is something I've already accepted and gotten used to. He's scored far too many goals here over the past few seasons."
"The Premier League actually published the numbers. Over the past few seasons, Newcastle United rank second among the teams Leo has scored the most away goals against. Why do I suddenly feel kind of proud of that?"
"I'm not asking for much more this season. I just hope we can sign more outstanding players like Joelinton next season!"
By the 30th minute of the Premier League Matchweek 18 clash, Gakpo and Salah had combined with a long pass. Salah then sent the ball from the right into the middle of the penalty area, where Núñez finished it to extend Liverpool's lead to 2-0.
When the first half ended, Eddie Howe headed back to the dressing room while yawning.
Meanwhile, the manager of Liverpool's next opponent, Tottenham, was watching the match.
Seeing Howe yawn, he unconsciously yawned as well.
That strange feeling began to creep over him. He was clearly tired, yet somehow he didn't feel like going to sleep.
"Strange. We don't play Liverpool for another six days. Why do I already feel like I won't be able to sleep?"
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (60 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.