The next day, 15th September
The Under 18 team of Sheffield are currently gathered in the video room, after their light fitness workouts in the morning. They are gathered here for the yesterday Nottingham game's review and video analysis with the staff.
As an integral part of first team manager Bronson's top to bottom schemes with the club, these video analysis meetings right after game days are introduced not only for the senior team, but also for the two youth teams. It's been in place for the last five years, and it's worked wonders for team cohesion and understanding.
The manager, Ryan Cassidy, was standing just beside a huge television that is playing a recorded version of the game. The players are either sitting in chairs of a U shaped table, or standing near it, just like the other staff.
The monitor was playing the second half of the game, something that these young players were very smug and proud of.
Who wouldn't be? They scored three and shut the Nottingham offense down!
Well, it's not all sunshines and rainbows in that second half performance. They might have not conceded a goal, but they got awfully close to it.
They gave up a penalty in the 80 minutes into the game.
In what Nigel Chapman called as the "No Look, Wrong Way" penalty that he attempted earlier… things didn't go to his plan. Instead of the keeper diving the wrong way to the left for his no look penalty, the keeper went the right way to the right.
"Oh, that's what he called the 'No Look, Wrong Way,' right?" After that part of the video was played, Terry Quinn rejoiced in the opposing midfielder's suffering. "No look, wrong way? More like, dumb look, no way! Am I right?"
The entire room fell silent as Quinn laughed his ass off like an unhinged mad man.
"Quinn, are you done?" The manager's stern eyes contrasted his missing patch of hair above the forehead as he looked at Quinn wiping away tears on his eyes.
"Yes, sir…"
The manager replayed another vital part of the second half performance. It was the build up to the first goal they scored in the second half.
The video zoomed in to Blaise Atkinson, who received the ball just inside the Nottingham half, a dangerous position already for someone like him who can make a play out of nothing and improvise.
The movement on both wings was impeccable. Both Quinn and Okojo manhandled their fullback matchups the exact moment Atkinson received the ball, so the effectiveness of a simple and speedy diagonal ball to either wing was sky high.
The two speedy wingers pulled the central defenders wider, allowing the first goalscorer Rowe a bigger wiggle room to attack the center of the pitch without much resistance.
The manager paused the video right there.
"Atkinson. What were you thinking at this point of time?" The manager called Atkinson, who is standing at the furthest back, near the door. "Why did you do what you did?"
"Uhhh… I just chose which place I think that the ball would have a better chance of ending up as a goal." He thought about it a little more. "Which is to the left, because Cameron from my perspective, had the better separation, and the central defender that covered on his side reacted a beat slower than on Terry's. Because of that slower center back, I also didn't think threading a ball to Callum was the best idea too, since he's closer to Callum than Cameron."
"Field awareness." The manager tossed out a single word that encapsulated what Atkinson had in that moment.
"Yeah, I do think if he sent that ball my way, I might have screwed up because both the left back and center back reacted pretty fast." Terry chipped in his actual situation at that moment in time.
"The mismatch on the left was evident to me from the middle. The right back was always getting burned. The center back closer to the right was also on the slower side." Blaise gave his own analysis of the situation. "So for the second goal I went to Cameron, who expertly cut it back to me for the finish."
"On the third one too. You sent it my way." Cameron finally talked. "That ball was delightful. Even if I cut inside and took the shot with my own individual skill, I couldn't have asked for a better setup than that."
The analysis session continued until it was almost six in the afternoon. By the end, the lively bunch of players were already all roasting Terry Quinn for his admission of jealousy on Chapman's naming sense.
"At least I didn't score a Moon Strike free kick version!" Terry glanced at the direction of his friend Blaise, who scored that free kick. "You should've shouted it after! What a waste!"
***
"I have a very good idea, friends! Whose house can I crash tonight?" Terry jumped to the front of the group of youth players about to go out of the Blades complex. "Please let me crash for a night!"
Almost everyone ignored his suggestion. It's not like this is a new idea he created out of the blue, so they really didn't care about it one bit.
"Guys, please! Let me! I've already crashed your house, your house, your…" He pointed at several of his teammates as if crossing them out from his list of houses he wanted to crash. "Oh! You two Manchester bastards. I haven't been to your houses yet!"
"Little friendly advice: Don't let him. He's a wrecking ball." Cameron's honest to goodness bluntness caught Terry off-guard. "If you don't want a chatterbox klutz raiding your home, don't let him. I made that mistake once."
"Hey now, mate, don't say it like that! I'm a good lad now! I won't even touch anything! Not even your fridge!" His plea was both annoying and untrustworthy.
Terry Quinn had the habit of randomly crashing his teammates' houses and staying the night ever since his academy days. Of course, Blaise had no idea that such a thing even existed in the first place, but he's curious enough to give it a try.
"Fine. You can crash at my house."
Every under 18 team player that is with them looked at Blaise as if he's dead meat.
"I love you." Terry jumped onto Blaise's back and made Blaise carry him piggyback. "Please carry me."
"Don't let him into your room, Blaise. You might lose some precious stuff." Cameron gave another piece of advice.
"Man, don't let him touch your fridge!"
"Don't let him use your clothes!"
"Don't give him the Wi-Fi password!"
"Make him wash the dishes! He's good at it!" Another said. "Oh… I take that back, don't let him do that! He'll break the dishes!"
"Fuck you, assholes!" Terry couldn't stand the 'slandering' any longer. "Is that how much you look down on me, huh? I'm a good person!"
And so, for one night only, the two man Atkinson household gained another member.