Tyler’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest after Adi Hutter told him that he would be coming on soon. As if he wasn’t nervous enough, the gaffer also turned to stare directly at him when he said he hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.
By the time Adi Hutter walked away with a satisfied smile on his face when he saw the four teenagers’ reaction to his statement, Tyler had stopped paying attention to the match and started trying to hype himself up.
’You can do this. It’s just a training match’
’If you can’t do this, how are you supposed to make your debut’
He said a few other lines along the lines of his earlier statements, and less than ten minutes later, he found himself on the pitch... playing out of position on the right flank... against the starters. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novelꜰire.net
That was one thing that Tyler didn’t understand. He thought that the gaffer would’ve wanted to balance things up a bit and mix the teenagers in with the starters but he placed them in the reserve team instead.
"They’re going to get massacred". Julian said to Adi Hutter when the four teenagers stepped onto the field. "Why’d you play them against the regulars?"
"You see, football is like a game, in fact, I daresay it’s a game. I see it like a videogame, and the tactics are the various settings that you input into the game when you want to play". Adi Hutter said. "I also see the players, the footballers like videogame players. And when you’re playing a videogame, you don’t get better if you keep playing it in easy. No, you get better only when the difficulty is on the max. And that’s what I aim to achieve".
"This is a training match, not an actual game so here, there’s room for them to make mistakes, realize those mistakes, improve and grow".
Julian nodded slightly after hearing what Adi Hutter said. He would’ve been impressed if he didn’t already know what his boss was going to say next.
"I’m quite wise, Julian". Adi Hutter said. "That’s why I’m the head coach and you’re the assistant"
’Like clockwork’ Julian thought while rolling his eyes.
Tyler heaved a couple of sighs as he jugged down the right flank. There was no use getting nervous now, he was already playing.
A couple of minutes after coming on, Tyler got his first touch of the game. He was around the halfway line when play was switched and a long pass was sent hurling towards him.
Tyler got the ball under control with his first touch and turned towards the opposition half. He took a couple of steps forward with the ball, before turning around and passing it back.
Just like he realized that watching football matches on TV and watching it up close were two different experiences, he also realized that watching from the sidelines and actually playing were two different things.
Tyler was a direct winger. He liked to run at defenders and give them a run for their money when he started dribbling past them. He was a ball carrier, and an efficient one. Even just now, when he received the ball, his intention was to run down the flank. There was just one problem, the organized press that shut him down the moment he got the ball.
If it was just one man marking him, then he would’ve tried to take him on, but with the organized press that came at him, it was the same as him being triple marked. He simply had no choice but to pass the ball back.
At that moment, he started appreciating wingers that went on dribbling runs during buildup and not during transitions or during a breakaway whereby the opposition would be caught off guard and be a bit disorganized.
After that pass, he got the ball a few more times, but it almost always ended the same; he tried to progress, got jammed out and then passed the ball back. It was frustrating him.
Another thing that frustrated him was how easily the first team played through them. Adding four unexperienced youngsters to the weaker team definitely did not solve any problems. Instead, it made things difficult for them. Asides those first couple of steps he took with the ball, Tyler didn’t think that he had crossed into the opposition half since he came on.
Quite a few minutes passed, and the first team doubled the lead thanks to a header goal from Mika Biereth. Tyler was frustrated when the goal was scored but there wasn’t anything that he could do.
"I have to say, the kid’s kind of disappointing so far". Julian commented as Biereth did a small celebrations before the players arranged themselves for the restart.
"What makes you say that?" Adi Hutter raised a brow as he turned to face his assistanr. "He hasn’t misplaced a single pass and he hasn’t been dispossessed once. He’s doing well".
"He’d be doing well if he was a central midfielder". Julian replied. "But he’s a winger. He’s supposed to run at his man an-"
"You do realize that he’s coming from playing with kids that weren’t even signed to the academies of top clubs to playing with actual professional footballers in just a week. That’s why I want him to play with the under eighteens for a bit, so that he can adapt. He’s quite talented, very much so if I do say so myself. And he’ll be my secret weapon for next season".
"You seem to think highly of him". Julian commented.
"Of course I do. He’s very talented and also very hardworking. That’s a deadly combination. And he improves quite fast as well. I saw footages from his match in the semifinals of that tournament and from the final. It was like two different players. If he can continue along that growth trajectory then he can become quite a name in he near future".
"That’s quite a prediction". Julian said.
"Julian, I’m the coach, I-"
"You see things that I cannot ever notice. That’s why you’re the coach and I’m the assistant". Julian finished Adi Hutter’s sentence for him.
Adi Hutter wasn’t at all angry at the fact that he was cut off. In fact, a smile appeared on his face as he reached out and rumpled Julian’s hair as if he was a kid. "Good lad".
Tyler, the person in question had reached his limit. He was beyond frustrated with the way the match was going. Once again, he received the ball on the right.
This time though, instead of passing the ball backwards... he drove it forward!