When Gregory called Manchester United's defense annoying, he was talking about his experience from last season.
They met in the league first and in that match, both teams went home with a goalless victory, that match was quite a heated battle.
Then, they met again in the league but this time, the Red Devils had to make the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
The match started out tough just like their first meeting and they ended up seeing the first half through with no goal for the fans to celebrate.
The match resumed in the second half, and with how both teams were constantly on each other's necks canceling out their attacks, everyone assumed that it was going to end with another goalless draw.
However, in the eighty-ninth minute, Merino managed to break through their defense thanks to a great pass from Peterson and the winger made no mistake in taking his chance.
It was a last-minute victory for them, something they were very proud and happy about but one thing was made clear to Gregory that day, Manchester United's defense was just too tough for his method, he had to try something different, and that was precisely his plan for this upcoming Manchester derby.
"Just like I said, their defense is a tough nut to crack, I'm sure everyone other than Axel has experienced that first hand." Gregory articulated.
'Well, I watched the highlights of those matches.'
"I thought they had lost their mojo after losing their first match of the season to Liverpool but after recent matches, I can confirm that their defense is back to the rock we know and we have to do something about that."
After saying that, he scanned the room for a while before turning his gaze to the board to place his hand on the pins representing the center backs.
"These two, Andriano and Marcel, they are the foundation of their defense so if we're going to get a goal, we're going to either find a way to beat them or remove them but since we've already tried to beat them several times with barely any success, I think we should try removing them and we're going to do that with a very simple method." The coach articulated with a grin on his face. "Both of them tend to always move up front to join the attack and that's when they leave spaces behind for us to do something. Tacky tried to take advantage of this in our last meeting and failed but this time, we'll prepare properly for the scenarios."
'I thought he was going to talk about something else, but yeah, counterattack is the most effective way to beat tough defenses.'
"With all that said, getting the right scenario is going to be tough depending on how they approach the game, and even if we manage to get things right, there is still another problem."
After saying that, he placed his finger on the pin representing the pivot which was the other problem he was talking about.
"As a defensive midfielder, Jack Alexander always finds a way to cause a lot of problems for us, he was the one who obstructed that perfect chance for a counterattack in our last game." He suddenly paused to scan the room until his gaze fell on Axel. "You're fast, Axel, so I want you to keep him busy whenever we get the right scenario, he's arguably their leader in midfield so keep that in mind."
"Okay, I'll try my best." The youngster responded with a nod.
He had already done his research on all their midfielders before coming here today for this training session but it was nice to hear what his coach had to say about them.
"He's not injured but I heard rumors that he won't be starting against us on Friday, if that turns out to be true then we'll have to make the most of it in the first half," Gregory revealed before putting his hand on his chin. "Just what are you plotting, Hernandez?" He muttered.
After that, he talked about their full backs who weren't really threats defensively but he made sure to note that they were very dangerous offensively.
"Then there's him, Paul Wanner, he's one of their most dangerous players this season. He's not that good offensively but watch out for his passes, especially the ones from the top. All we need to do is dominate their midfield with ours and he won't be able to do much."
Gregory continued to talk about other things regarding their tactics and once he was done with all that, the players were finally allowed to head home.
Axel was one of the players to head straight home because his body was starting to feel weak, and as soon as he walked into the house, he dropped his bag on the couch before crashing down on it.
"What a day?" He let out a deep sigh before bringing up his phone to his view to see that the time was 4:25 PM. "Looks like tomorrow's training session will be in the morning."
After saying that, he sank into the couch and submerged himself in the soothing silence of the room.
After a long day at the stadium, getting some rest always felt wonderful and he was just about to fall deep into it and doze off when he heard a small growl from his stomach.
He slowly opened his eyes and let out a sigh before sitting up on the couch.
"I have to eat something before dozing off."
With that said, he quickly got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen.
He opened the fridge to find a couple of things in there, but because he had failed to go shopping recently, there wasn't really anything there that he could eat without going through the normal cooking process and he didn't have the time for his trial and error cooking at this moment.
Well, there was a bottle of yogurt in there but he didn't feel like drinking something like that.
After staring at the fridge for a while, he slowly closed it before dragging his feet to the dining room which was just behind the living room.
There were about three apples and some bananas in the plate there, so he helped himself to an apple before bringing his phone up to his view.
"Maybe I should just order something." He muttered before taking a bite from the apple.
He was about to make the call when someone suddenly knocked on the door.
'Who could that be now?' He said subconsciously before making his way to the door.
He wasn't expecting anyone but he was subconsciously praying to open the door and find a particular someone standing there.
He opened the door to find a blonde-haired girl in a pink jacket and because the last time he saw Alice, she was in a similar jacket, he assumed it was her without even taking a proper look at her face.
"Alice." He didn't do anything to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"Is she all you think about?"
"Huh?"
He was taken aback by that voice because he was almost certain that it was Alice.
'I guess at the end of the day, I can't really tell them apart.'
"Aurora?"
"Yeah, it's me, sorry to disappoint you, it seems the hag has bewitched you." She remarked.
'Hag?'
"You shouldn't call something that and also, I have not been bewitched by anyone." He retorted.
"That's what every bewitched person says."
"Do you mind telling me why you're here?" Axel sighed.
"I'm just fulfilling the request of looking after you but don't get the wrong idea, I was just passing by when I decided to come see how you were doing, I didn't come all the way from my house to see you." She replied.
'Too easy to read.'
"Yeah, sure whatever you say."
"So, do you have anything to eat for dinner?" She inquired.
"You mean besides this apple." He said before taking a bite from the apple. "No, not really." He shook his head.
"And with that pathetic cooking skill of yours, you can't make anything for yourself, emphasis on the pathetic." She intoned with a straight face.
"You didn't have to add that last part."
"I guess I have no reason but to be your chef once again, however, you're giving me a hand today." She asserted before walking past him to enter the house.
'Just like I expected.' He said subconsciously before slowly closing the door.