"Alright, David plays as an all in one midfielder. He can play any role, while James is both footed so he can play as a left or right back". He stared at Tylen when he said this.
Omar immediately felt sorry for him. His days on the first team was over.
"A new center back is coming next week, and I would've asked for a striker but we're all out of funds". Jurg said.
Omari knew that Jurg wasn't really serious about the striker. There were some points in his past life when Anthony was going through a really poor run of form when he got promoted to the under twenty-one. Jurg was the only one who spoke on his behalf.
"Alright, we're doing box to box running today, so that you'll all be able to chase the ball properly in match days. Twenty fucking laps". He said to the boys causing dissatisfied groans to escape from their lips. The new signings looked at them with sympathy in their eyes.
Jurg walked off, and right as he was about to take his seat somewhere that provided shade from the sun, he smiled. "The new signings aren't excluded from this training exercise. Take it as a way to bond with your new teammates".
After twenty rounds of running back and forth (none of the players survived the ordeal), the boys were provided with twenty minutes of rest.
After that, they were taken to the theatre and watched Merseyside's previous match.
"As you can see, they've lost seven of their first team players, so they're not really at the same level they normally are". Jurg said while gesturing at the screen. "They play extremely cautious football, starting five at the back. This puts pressure on the wide players since the full backs will be able to easily move out and mark them if necessary. It also puts pressure on the striker. He's being marked by three defenders now".
The boys nodded solemnly at Jurg's new information. Basically, what he was telling them was that they would be allowed to dominate possession for the entire game, but converting possession into a goal was usually one of the hardest parts of football.
"Now, with this new defensive approach, they're going to focus on counterattack. This is made possible because they have really fast center forwards. To combat this, David is starting at right back. He's fast enough to keep up with the defenders".
Some of the players had qualms about a new signing immediately getting a start. Omari would've been one of them if that wasn't exactly what happened to him.
The other players didn't have a problem with Omari because they saw what he could do in training, but they hadn't even seen the new signings play at all. The fact that they played first team football in their old club didn't really help matters. They could've been playing in the third tier of some unknown country's league.
But even though they were disappointed, they didn't say anything. Nobody had the balls to challenge the manager.
"All in all what I'm saying is that we have to come away with the win against Liverpool. Even though we have a squad of less quality, over half of their first team are out, and I refuse to be the manager of a club that gets beaten by a bunch of squad players". Jurg said. "If you do, then you're all shit players".
As soon as he said that statement, Jurg chuckled. "I mean, you're all already shit players, but losing today would be crossing a whole new line".
After they were given the match tactics, they practiced high pressing attacking football. During the training session, they realized how good the new signings were. Nobody had any qualms about David starting the game anymore. Even Tylen couldn't say that he was better than James at playing right back.
According to Jurg, Ayanfe was going to start as a goalkeeper as a punishment to James Lawrence (initial goalkeeper) for conceding four goals in the match against Manchester Red. Blake Sheldon was also expected to start the match ahead of Conrad Bishop, as a center back.
Omari and the rest of the team retained their starting positions, including (to the shock of everyone) Tylen.
After the training session, while most of the team was already headed home, Omari went to talk to Steve.
"Hey, could you help me improve with my positioning?" Omari asked. "I've been thinking about what the manager said in the game against Manchester Red and I really want to get better off the ball".
Steve looked at Omari for a while then sighed. "Alright, help me get some of the training dummies".
Ayanfe also stayed back to wait for Omari.
Steve and Omari trained together for a few hours. Time seemed to pass so fast, Omari didn't realize that so much time had passed until his parents came to pick him up, worried about him.
He said goodbye to Steve and asked them to give Ayanfe a ride to the school dormitory. They dropped him home and gave him an earful for staying at the training facilities for so long.
He ate supper and collapsed on his bed almost immediately, he was really tired after the extra training that he did with Steve, he even forgot to take an ice bath.
A/N:
Remember guys, fifty power stones = I extra chapter.