Throughout nearly a full year of rest, Guardiola had not missed a single day of watching football matches.
He made sure to watch every big match Ho-young played in, and in doing so, he developed one particularly interesting hobby.
That was to observe Ho-young closely.
Put badly, it was a nasty habit born from hatred.
But on the other hand, it was research born from respect.
From that day on, Guardiola made Ho-young his subject of observation and began studying him in earnest as though he were researching an alien life form.
If the day ever came when he had to face Ho-young in the future, it would surely be useful.
And now, in the present, it was helping him greatly in dealing with him.
Only this time, not as an enemy, but as a teammate.
That was also why Guardiola had declared that he would appoint Ho-young as captain.
After observing Ho-young for a year, he had realised many things, and the first of them was Ho-young's outstanding mentality.
When things were going well in a match, he lifted the team's synergy with lively play, and when the team was in difficulty, he stepped up himself and set his teammates' will on fire.
You only had to listen to the players who had spent time with him to know that.
For example, Breno and Oscar, who had gone through their youth days with him, had said this to the media right before last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony.
-Oscar: He was different from the time he was young. He was younger than me, but much more mature, and he even helped steady the mentality of young players who were rebellious like I was. I didn't realise it back then, but looking back now, he really was a mysterious player. Almost like an old man in a young body.
-Breno: A lot of people don't know this, but his greatest strength is actually his humility. Even with such immense talent, he never gets arrogant, and instead uses that ability to lift up his teammates. Thanks to him, I was able to stop a young Neymar.
No matter how much you dug, there were only good stories.
If Ho-young himself heard those comments, he might have been embarrassed, but all of them were facts, not fiction.
And that was not all.
Ho-young had more than enough qualities to be a leader, like Gerrard, Puyol, Del Piero, Totti, or Raúl.
Whatever he might be like off the pitch, on the field every teammate respected Ho-young.
Guardiola was certain of that.
You only had to watch Manchester City's matches a few times to see it.
With selfless play all over the pitch and all kinds of astonishing wonder plays, he was the kind of player who forced respect out of his teammates.
Invisible leadership.
In other words, leadership born from skill that no one else in the world could possess was his weapon.
For that reason, Guardiola appointed Ho-young as the club captain.
Of course, that did not mean there were no problems at all.
[Manchester City stumbling from the very start, Ho-young, who is not yet 18, appointed club captain... concerns continue that he is still too young...]
[Manchester City sporting director: "Ho-young has already shown many times that he has the qualities of a captain. I hope people spend their time on something more productive than worrying about that."]
After the press conference, opinions were split.
Some argued that Ho-young was too young to be club captain, while others disagreed.
But Guardiola did not think it was a problem at all.
The club's board had also given Guardiola full authority, so they did not interfere in the matter.
If anything, what they were worried about was not Ho-young being captain, but Guardiola being appointed manager.
And understandably so, because Guardiola was still an unproven manager.
His bizarre tactical ability was great enough to attract even big clubs, but the fact that he had no Champions League title to his name was a major flaw.
If not for Ho-young's request, they would not have looked twice at him.
Their biggest concern was the way he ran a club.
Sure enough, a problem arose from the very first day of the call-up.
"Damn it."
"It's only July 10, so why are we being called in already?"
This season's Premier League was scheduled to begin in the second week of August.
So there was not that much time.
Moreover, the FA Community Shield against Manchester United was scheduled for August 7, and from the third week of July they had to leave for the United States tour.
In that situation, Guardiola pulled a hard line by calling the players in early.
Since the team was about to undergo a major overhaul, he believed they needed more time than usual to prepare for the coming season.
He truly meant business.
Naturally, Tévez and Robinho, who were taking part in the Copa América tournament running from July 1 to July 24, were excluded.
But the players who had returned early from holiday felt like they were dying.
Of course, he excluded high-intensity training for their sake, but that alone was not enough to comfort them.
And if they refused the call-up, they had to be prepared to fall out of Guardiola's favour.
"At this rate, we're the only ones who'll end up dead."
"Pep was already famous for being ruthless back when he was at Barcelona."
A few players were too busy badmouthing Guardiola.
At the same time, there was also a mood of, if he's the manager Ho-young recommended, things will probably work out.
"But why isn't this guy here yet? He threatened us so much, saying anyone late on the first day would be severely punished."
Guardiola did not arrive until ten minutes past the appointed time.
For someone so strict and meticulous with himself, it was something that should never have happened.
But his lateness was intentional.
"So, have you united a bit now?"
"!"
Guardiola had deliberately arrived ten minutes late.
He already knew the team atmosphere would be ugly, so he wanted to unify them even if it meant making himself the scapegoat.
And now all that remained was to bring them all wholly into his grasp.
Instead of greeting them, Guardiola began with an introduction to himself.
"People describe me as a perfectionist. But I do not pursue perfection. I seek completeness."
"What the hell is the difference between those two words?"
When Adebayor asked in a crooked tone, Guardiola pulled his hand from his pocket and pointed at him.
"You might become perfect through individual effort, but becoming complete will be difficult."
"Sorry?"
"It's a vague statement. Just like you would say that shot was 'perfect', but not that it was 'complete'."
Guardiola began speaking in incomprehensible philosophical terms, like a philosopher lost in his own world.
"Perfection literally means being without flaw within a limited space. Completeness, on the other hand, belongs to another realm. It is not something that can be achieved through individual effort alone. It requires the help of others."
Vague, ambiguous words.
Yet that very ambiguity piqued the players' interest.
It made sense, because they were used to hearing things like, 'Let's work hard,' or 'Let's push for the title,' and now they were listening to something only a philosopher might say.
Some of them even began to see him differently.
It was the moment the players' eyes changed.
"Above all, we must realise that we can become complete."
Guardiola continued while glancing at Ho-young, who stood firmly in the middle of the group.
"No matter how complete any one person may be, the whole cannot become complete that way. Therefore, from today onward, you will train to become one complete unit."
From that day on, training to build team unity began in earnest.
The first thing was language.
Guardiola unified the language used by the players into English, and if they failed to follow it, he strictly controlled them through a penalty-point system.
The first measure was to throw them out of the training ground if they exceeded the point threshold, and if they still failed to obey, he warned them they would be sold.
The next thing Guardiola began to control was food.
He made sure the players could not touch pizza or potato chips, which they often enjoyed, nor greasy food or fizzy drinks.
If they failed to maintain the physical condition set by the medical staff, he would not even let them into the training ground.
He also created a rule that they had to arrive early in the morning and eat breakfast together in the clubhouse without exception.
And that was not all.
He banned internet use at the training ground, creating an environment where the players could focus only on training.
For the players who had trained in a relatively free atmosphere, it was pure misery.
When Guardiola had been at Barcelona, there had even been rumours that he sent spies to monitor certain players' private lives, so there was a reason people called him a freak.
Some players burned out and dropped off in just a few days.
And so, the squad list for the United States tour was trimmed down.
[Much anticipation and concern over whether Pep Guardiola's Manchester City landing operation can succeed... likely to be revealed during the upcoming United States tour]
Etihad Campus.
Ahead of the United States tour, proper team training began.
From this point, it was the stage of figuring out whether the players were useful to the team.
But as time passed, Guardiola grew disappointed again and again.
'This is incredibly frustrating.'
Compared to last year's Barcelona, they were no more than a disorganised rabble.
He could hardly believe these players had achieved a mini treble.
Of course, not every player was like that.
Some were better than expected, and some hardly needed polishing at all.
'Stay calm. It's only the beginning.'
Guardiola decided to be patient.
No one can be perfect from the start.
There have to be problems in order to solve them, and solving them is what makes a team better.
"Are the players following the rules properly?" Guardiola asked his assistant coach while looking at the players on the training ground.
The answer he got back was ambiguous.
"I think it will take time for them to adapt. For now, there are still more complaints than anything else."
"Naturally. Then what about Ho-young?"
"You don't need to worry about him separately."
"Why not?"
"He's a player with excellent self-management. For someone his age, he's extremely strict and meticulous. He even sets a limit on how much cola he'll drink in a year, and before important matches he eats plain spaghetti without any seasoning."
The very model of an example.
'So he's even more ruthless than I thought.'
In that respect, the two of them certainly had something in common.
"Heh."
Was it not rather amusing?
The player who was overwhelmingly the best in the team was also the one who worked the hardest.
'Then it's about time I started trying it.'
The tactics he had studied over the past year while watching Ho-young.
From here on, he intended to bring them out one by one.
'Maybe I can create the perfect tactics for him.'
He did not know for certain, but he felt that with Ho-young he could produce the greatest synergy possible.
And so pre-season approached.
The first item on the schedule was the United States tour planned for next week.
July 15.
The players left for California, United States, for the tour.
Their first match was against LA Galaxy.
July 17.
StubHub Center in Los Angeles, California.
The players entered the pitch to the loud cheers of roughly 30,000 spectators filling the stadium.
Then the captains of both teams came out and determined kick-off.
"I've wanted to meet you for a long time, and now it finally happens. I look forward to today's match."
"The same goes for me. Please take care of me."
Manchester City's captain, Ho-young, held out his hand.
And the man who shook it was LA Galaxy captain David Beckham.
The date was July 16.
The day Ho-young turned eighteen, and the day the shackles binding him were finally released.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)