My Football Legends Chat Group-Chapter 55: Southampton next
Rio was already motivated to improve at a fast pace thanks to his promise with his father.
He planned to win the Player of the Month award, which would require consistent assists and goals over the next few games.
This mission meant that he would also receive a tangible award from the System for his hard work—The Winter Grind rewards were waiting.
PEEEP!
The shrill sound of Farke’s whistle rang in his ears, pulling Rio out of his daze.
His eyes caught Gnonto jogging towards the touchline, looking frustrated that the session was ending. Archie Gray, who had just stepped up to take a free-kick, seemed crestfallen that his very first attempt was cut short by the whistle.
Despite scoring a brace in the practice match, Piroe did not look impressed. His eyes were drawn to Rio who was sitting on the grass, his hands still adjusting his shin pads.
Rio couldn’t help but smile at the striker’s competitiveness.
"Joel... Why aren’t you stretching?" The manager’s annoyed voice rang out as he stepped in between the two.
"A-Ah, sorry Boss!" Piroe must have forgotten that they were still in ’professional mode’, either that or he was too busy analyzing Rio’s stats on the GPS tracker. Rio was more inclined to believe the latter.
He quickly began his cool-down jog, but he looked a bit bored.
The rest of the session was standard recovery. Despite Rio dominating the tactical drill, the intensity did not drop until Farke sent everyone inside.
The final mood was positive, buzzing with the energy of the upcoming Hull match.
"Okay okay, I think we’ve seen enough for today." Farke stopped everyone as they were about to head to the showers.
Rio wasn’t too surprised considering the quality of the session. In his previous life simulations, he had managed to impress Farke, however, he never got this level of tactical focus.
"We’ll be running some role-specific video analysis to finish the rest of the day." He explained.
"Eddie will take the defenders and I’ll take the attackers. Dismissed."
A large portion of the players including Rodon headed over to the media room where the assistant coach was, while Archie, Piroe, and another two players headed their way.
They were Georginio Rutter the playmaker and Jaidon Anthony, the backup winger. Anthony looked a little down, probably because he knew that his opportunities would dwindle thanks to Rio’s explosion.
Once everyone had arrived in Farke’s office, the manager spoke up. "I’m going to pair you all up, let’s watch some clips so I can check up on your decision-making. Once that’s done I’ll create a playlist for you all to complete at home."
"I’ll be switching the partnerships every 20 clips. I want you to all be comfortable with each other’s movement in the coming weeks."
The manager continued, "First off, Archie you’re with Rio. Piroe you’re paired up with Rutter, Jaidon you’re with Summerville."
The players who were called walked over to the screens and took their positions.
"Um, Boss what about me?" Gnonto stood around awkwardly. It turned out that there were only five attackers while there were 6 screens setup? No, Farke had counted wrong intentionally.
"Hmm. Head over to the defensive squad for now, we’ll chat about your tracking back after practice today."
Rio overheard the conversation and felt a little sorry for Gnonto. Even in his previous life, Gnonto had not been given an opportunity to lead the attack.
"Ah okay, I understand."
Everyone could only watch as the Italian international left the vicinity. Of course, while most felt bad for him, they couldn’t allow another person’s situation to affect their own, especially if they wanted to keep their place in the team.
Archie especially looked determined. Seeing that Rio had been paired up with him, the rising midfield star, told him just how much the manager valued their chemistry. This served to light a fire under him, forcing him to evaluate his passing range.
"I’ve been wanting to dissect your runs... To think I’d get an opportunity to pick your brain so soon." Archie said with a friendly smile, patting Rio on the back.
Rio smiled in response, feeling his excitement peak. Archie was liked by everyone on the team thanks to his humble personality and family legacy. However, Rio knew just how hard he worked, especially when it came to researching opposition midfields.
"Let’s get some work in." He replied.
Just like that, the analysis commenced.
After around 20 clips the manager switched up the teams. This happened another 4 times, bringing the total number of scenarios analyzed close to 100.
Both Anthony and Rutter were showing visible signs of mental fatigue, their answers becoming slower and less accurate. Rio on the other hand, felt as if he could analyze another 100 more thanks to his S-Grade Mental stats.
"Rio, Archie, Joel, go and get some food. Wingers go and join the tail end of the defensive meeting."
Before Archie could leave, Farke tapped him on the shoulder, telling him to stay back. They waited in silence until the rest of the players left before speaking. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"So what do you think?"
Archie’s easygoing expression hardened a little before answering. "All I can say is he’s a genius... Not only was he sharp, he was consistently so, even as the tactical complexity got higher and higher."
"With both his vision and speed, he is only lacking in experience. If he were to master the tempo of the game, we might just have the best player in the Championship..."
The manager was a little shocked with Archie’s high praise, especially since the kid was a football nerd. He probably knew every notable wonderkid that was still in the academy right now thanks to his obsession with scouting potential rivals.
However, he had to agree with him for now. While there were some other veterans like Piroe who could finish better than Rio, they would generally run out of ideas rather quickly compared to others.
This was due to the conditioning of modern players. Their minds were drilled to follow systems, therefore they did not have the creativity to persist at the same level for 90+ minutes of problem-solving.
"Do you think he’ll be ready in 2 weeks for the Southampton game?" Farke asked seriously.
"I need to see if he is consistent enough first. If he’s not a hard worker then it will just be a waste of—"
Archie’s words were cut off by the sound of a ball hitting the wall outside. Both he and the manager looked out the window to see Rio just finishing up a passing drill against the rebound board before grabbing another ball from the bag next to him.
"Just a few more to reach 150." Rio mumbled, wanting to meet his Winter Grind mission goal for the day.
Silence stretched out between the two before they both looked at each other and smiled.
"Never mind," Archie chuckled. "He’s a machine."
Farke grinned. "A machine we built."
Rio wiped the sweat from his forehead. The wall passing drill was monotonous, but essential. The System demanded perfection.
[Task: 150/150 Passes Completed]
[Task: 150/150 Shots Completed]
[Daily Objective Complete]
[Reward: Silver Lottery Ticket]
Rio stopped, catching the ball under his foot.
He sat down on the grass, opening the interface in his mind.
"Use Ticket," he commanded silently.
[Spinning...]
The wheel spun. Skills, items, stat boosts flashed by.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked: ’The Scout’s Eye’ (Level 1)]
[Description: Allows you to see the current mood/morale of teammates and opponents during a match.]
Rio raised an eyebrow. Mood? That sounded useful. If he could see who was nervous, he could target them. Like Coyle in the last game.
"Rio!"
He turned to see Archie jogging over, holding two protein shakes.
"Boss says you can go home. But you have to drink this first."
Rio took the shake. "Thanks, Archie."
"So," Archie sat down next to him. "Southampton next. They pass the ball a lot. Russell Martin loves possession."
"Let them pass," Rio shrugged, drinking the shake. "We will press them until they cry."
Archie laughed. "You’re scary when you’re confident."
He stood up, offering a hand to Archie.
"Come on. I’ll drive you home. My dad left the car."
They walked to the car park. The sun was setting over Leeds.
