"Emmy, what do you think?"
The coach said from the sidelines.
Emmy stared at himself, then turned to the people around him before standing up to meet the coach.
"The coach seems to favor him a lot,"
One of the boys on the bench said.
"Tsk! What's so special about him?"
Another added. They were, without a doubt, part of Blake's group. Blake, on the other hand, had separated himself from them, trying to focus on the match.
"Do you also think I should remove Fred? Everyone wants me to take him out. Do you feel the same?"
The coach asked with a smile.
Emmy never expected the coach to ask him this question. Yes, it was true that the coach favored him, but what did this have to do with him? If anything, he also wanted Fred to be removed, but he knew why the coach had kept Fred in the match.
Winning the match wasn't the coach's primary goal—it was a friendly match, after all. But to some of them, including Emmy, this match meant a lot. His answer might very well dictate the result of the game since the coach would likely follow his suggestion.
Emmy took a deep breath and said,
"If I didn't know why you have him in the match, I would definitely think like everyone else and urge you to remove him. But I understand your reason. Although Fred is the main flaw in the team—constantly losing the ball to the opponent and making the midfield a weak point—we're only holding on because of the defenders' and the keeper's skills and abilities. Otherwise, I'm afraid we would've conceded a dozen goals by now."
Emmy continued,
"But Fred is not the only problem in the team."
The coach raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? How so?"
He asked.
Emmy nodded and continued,
"Look at it this way. Let's assume Fred got a red card and we're one man down. Would his position be left uncovered? Absolutely not. The other two midfielders would cover for him, and one of the strikers would drop back. But that's not happening."
"Apart from the captain, who's everywhere, the other midfielder isn't doing his job properly. He's not covering the captain's back. And the strikers are just standing in the opponent's box, practically defending for them. They're not dropping back to help in the attack, putting all the pressure on the captain while Fred naturally gets the blame. The strikers don't even look like they're in the game—they don't even have a sweat on them."
The coach couldn't help but smile.
"I never knew you had this much insight into football. You sound like a coach with five years of experience."
Coach Enzo complimented him.
Meanwhile, Emmy stared at the system as a message suddenly appeared:
[You have provided a detailed analysis to the coach and pinpointed the team's flaw.]
[Your football insight has increased by 2 points.]
[New Quest Received]
[If you ever get the chance to play today, make a change to the game and lead your team to victory.]
[Reward: ???]
'Oh wow,'
Emmy exclaimed internally as he quickly turned his attention back to the coach.
"I just happened to pay close attention to the match, not a special skill,"
Emmy replied.
"So in my opinion, I think Fred should stay. The team just needs to restrategize, and the strikers should work more with the midfielders. If that happens, I'm sure Fred will achieve what you want him to."
The coach looked at him, the smile still on his face.
"But won't that feel humiliating for him if he stays on? Some people can't handle much embarrassment, and I can already see he's starting to feel dejected,"
The coach said.
Emmy looked at Fred on the field, his head down, his legs stumbling over each other. The boy really did look dejected. But if he let this kill his spirit, he couldn't become a great player.
However, that wasn't for Emmy to decide.
He looked back at the coach and nodded.
"Now I want you to get changed. It's time for you to go in,"
Coach Enzo said with a smile.
"Huh? I'm going in? Now?"
Emmy asked, surprised.
"What, you don't want to go in?"
The coach teased.
"No! I mean—yes, I'm going!"
Emmy stammered, quickly turning around to get changed. He did a quick warm-up before returning to the coach. His jersey had Number 20 boldly printed on the back, with no name. None of the players had their names on their jerseys.
"I want you to go in and coordinate the match. Help Karim reduce his burden and get the strikers more involved. You'll play as a 4 while Karim moves to 10. You must make a change,"
the coach instructed, signaling to the referee for a substitution.
"I just hope he can make a difference,"
Blake muttered as he watched Emmy prepare to enter. Originally, Blake was supposed to substitute Fred, but it seemed the coach had changed his mind.
Blake wasn't upset, though. He genuinely hoped Emmy could turn the game around. His opinion of Emmy had changed after training together for the past two days.
Everyone now recognized that Emmy had the qualities of a great leader—a future team captain. The way he coordinated and strategized during training had shown that.
On the field, Fred was already running forward, preparing to come off after hearing the whistle for the substitution. But he was shocked when the substitution board was raised, showing Number 10 going out for Number 20.
Not just Fred, but everyone was surprised—including Emmy, who turned to look at the coach.
"If he can't carry on, then he can't be a great midfielder,"
The coach said with a smile.
It was exactly what Emmy had thought.
Number 10 was the third midfielder. Fred played as 8, while the captain played as 4. But now that Emmy had entered, the captain would shift to 10, and Emmy would take over the 4 position.
There were only ten minutes left in the first half when Emmy entered, so he wasted no time passing on the coach's instructions. After the telepathic defender relayed the information, everyone regrouped, and the match resumed.
The possession was 60-40 in favor of Community High School. They had more shots than New Dawn College—both on and off target—more corners, more everything. Community High School was completely dominating the stats.
And that was exactly what Emmy was supposed to change.