The "Beautiful" Brighton I Discovered Through Kaoru Mitoma

When you see something beautiful, your heart becomes gentle. And, when you become aware of such a soft part of your heart, don't you sometimes feel proud of your own sensibilities?

I thought about this when I watched the recent Premier League match "Brighton vs. Manchester City". The way both sides played was truly beautiful, and it was a refreshing match overflowing with mutual respect. However, I should clarify that I am a "newcomer" who only started watching this year because of my son. So, this article won't go too deep, so you don't need to be on guard. I don't want to talk about soccer professionally; I just wanted to think a little about the moments when people feel something is "beautiful".

The reason I felt that match was beautiful is likely because it was overflowing with "joy" and "trust". To provide a little background, Brighton had almost secured a top-6 finish, which grants entry to next season's Europa League, while City had already clinched this season's league title (their third in a row) before the match. Hearing that, it might seem like a situation where both sides could have considered it a dead rubber, but that is where the reason I was moved lies. When I looked into it with that in mind, I found a hint in the comments from both managers before the match.

[Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola]
"Brighton is the best team in the world at building up play."
"I am convinced that Manager De Zerbi is one of the most influential managers of the last 20 years."
"There is no team that plays like them; they are one of a kind."

[Brighton Manager Roberto De Zerbi]
"I became a manager because of him (Pep)."
"I loved the Barcelona he led, and I studied it a lot."
"I learned a lot from him. Pep is still No. 1."

For City, who are aiming for a treble this season including the Champions League and the domestic FA Cup, this was the perfect opponent to tighten up and make final adjustments after winning the title, and Brighton not only wanted to secure 6th place with a draw or better, but they also likely wanted to test with all their might just how well a team praised by Pep could compete against the strongest team of the season. The clash between the two was (as commentator Jong Tae-se said) a fierce battle where "there's no time to praise the play before the next highlight comes!". If you can watch the full match, please do! You can enjoy top-class soccer.

Furthermore, let's add a "seasoning" that makes this match even more beautiful. To do that, I need to introduce the team called Brighton in a little more detail. Despite having a 122-year history, they spent most of it in the third division, and 9th place last year was the team's best finish in the top flight. Don't you feel a gap between this fact and the aforementioned (as Pep said) "best team in the world"? The reason for that was the club's management.

Tony Bloom, who became the owner in 2009Tony Bloom is said to be a person who made a huge fortune as a professional gambler by eliminating elements of luck and applying mathematics. In 2006, he gathered statisticians and data engineers to collect and analyze player data from around the world and established a company to provide gambling advice, which has grown into an industry leader and is known for being a major weapon in player acquisition negotiations.

Using this data to cast a net for talent around the world, acquire them faster than anyone else, and furthermore, when necessary, have them gain experience at a top Belgian team under their umbrella, they have established a business model of "buying potential players cheaply, developing them, achieving results, and selling them high." They have established a business model. It was a hot topic for a while that Mitoma's "market value became 44 times what it was when he joined!", but beyond that, Brighton had the lowest total transfer fees among the 20 league teams to assemble this season's roster. This is said to be 1/9th the budget of the top team, and only 1/4th compared to the 6th place team (from YouTube "Soccer Summary Information"). Did I manage to convey, even a little, how high the barrier of the top 6 is and what a remarkable feat it is to have broken into it?

The sport is different, but it resembles the story of baseball in 2011 that was made into the movie "Moneyball" (starring Brad Pitt). I love developments like this where disadvantageous situations are overturned through wisdom and ingenuity. The fact that such a team fought on equal terms with one of the strongest forces in history that had even won three consecutive championships, and that Japan's Kaoru Mitoma was active there, will be permanently saved in my mind.

However, it makes me melancholy to think that such a scene stands out perhaps because darkness is spreading on the other side. Intentional referee errors, plays aimed at injuring opponents, racism, etc. There are those who, in order to win, do not think about their own improvement but first think about denigrating others and pulling them down. Since it is easier than training, it spreads easily, and when one even sees discourse that justifies it as if it were a necessary evil, it feels like I might even lose hope for the future.

As society becomes more anonymous, there are voices fearing that such malice will become even easier to spread... Honestly, I sometimes feel like giving up on everything too. But every time I watch a Brighton match, I can believe that "goodwill, too, will not lose and will connect like this!". And the sight of Mitoma at the center of that makes me proud, and I was helped to straighten out my mind, which was about to become distorted, by the thought that such "sincere and gentlemanly attitude" also spreads powerfully. I would be happy if I could share even a little of that feeling in this article.

By the way, I am currently entered in the no+e Creative Awards (Manga Original Work Category). As for the worldview, just as I have described, I depicted "goodwill that spreads precisely because it is anonymous". The name of the secret society "Gentlemen" is derived from "Be a gentleman," which was once the only school rule at Sapporo Agricultural College. That scientist guild encounters a person with the name of an ancient Indian scripture that means "hymn of knowledge," and they take on the challenge of abolishing nuclear weapons, which everyone gives up on as impossible. There is still time until the deadline, so if you would like to read it, I would be grateful for your opinions and impressions.

Thank you very much for reading until the end!
(A character based on Kaoru Mitoma also appears)
"Gentlemen" Episode 1: The Scientist Guild of Unknown Nationality Known as G
"Gentlemen" Episode 2: Human Development ① - Giichi and Chloe
"Gentlemen" Episode 3: Human Development ② - Leona and Kaoru