59 New Training Drills
Tony used his Sunday to properly rest and also think of other things to arrange or put in place in the arcade centre while he rested at home throughout the day
He also did some exercises to keep his body fit and stayed home throughout the day. His friends had watched the loss against United so they called to greet and ask him how he was feeling, before they invited him to hangout, which he had excused himself from.
He used his phone a lot as he also got in touch with the employment agency and fixed Tuesday and Wednesday for the interviews of recommended people for the positions he had filed with them.
He also called a graphics designer to print out flyers and some posters to be distributed to some places in some places to advertise the launching. Tony had thought about it and finally chose a date towards the end of the month when everything should have be properly set.
He also paid for a signpost about the Launching on October 29 to be boldly hung on the front of the arcade centre to further inform people.
The date was presently 4th of October and he still had some other things to put in place, so he thought about it for a while and finally decided on the 31st of October which was a Saturday.
****
The next day was a Monday as Tony quickly dressed up, had his breakfast and went to pick John up on his way to the academy. They discussed a lot about the weekend and finally about what they were going to expect in training from what Coach Taylor had hinted.
They got to training about 20 minutes before time and discovered that almost all the players had practically arrived and were eagerly waiting for the Coaches while they warmed up.
Tony and John quickly went to change up and join the players as they also warmed up as they waited for the Coaches. All the players were chattering about as some talked about their weekends while some made guesses about the national team or how the days training was going to go.
After a while the other players and the complete staffs had arrived as Assistant manager Coach Luca asked all the players to go to the seminar room as they wanted to first explain somethings to the players.
When the players and staffs all got there they brought out a white board and marker, before Coach Luca and Coach Taylor began to talk with the players.
"Morning, this season we have been pretty good attacking wise, which led to me deciding to focus your training on other aspects of the game to further improve your game" Coach Taylor began explaining.
"But our match against United showed that we really should now focus on attack especially when going against difficult teams. Today is 5th of October and I believe most of you will know about the upcoming break in schedule due to the Under 19 England international matches."
"So our next match is an home match on the 17th of October and I have been notified of only three players from the team that would be joining the national team training from Wednesday."
Coach Taylor explained and announced the names of the Man City players that had been called up. Tony or John were understandably not called up as they were still regarded as newbies who the national team coaches had not fully observed or studied properly due to their limited time in the academy.
It was understandable that Tony was not chosen as he had only been involved in competitive matches for about a month and even though he had been playing well, it was a common happening for a player to play well for a short period of time and suddenly lose his form for a longer period of time.
So most coaches or scouts would probably watch and observe a player for a period of time before they would then decide on the player.
"Due to the two week period of no matches, this is the best time for us to change our focus and begin our new training methods and drills. So for the nearest two weeks at least this is how we will be training. The attacking style is..."
Coach Taylor and Coach Luca both took turns as they began to extensively explain and breakdown the new drills that they would begin training using the white board and marker to draw and explain better to the players.
The new training was focused on attacking. They explained the concept of short passes as they were to be used in attacking plays.
They were also taught on the concept of give and go passes, which were short, quick and precise passes while the other players constantly moved and changed positions to confuse the opposition.
And also when to make use of incisive passes that could easily disstabilize or destroy a defense.
the Man City team were better trained the defense but had not been extensively trained on finding an attacking route against a well drilled defense.
After explaining with the board a little the Coaches took the players out to the training pitch to explain and visualize it better for them.
The atmosphere was serious and as the coaches sat the players on the grass of the training ground and began explaining using some of the players the concept of short attacking passes and off the ball movement while also making preparations on how to make interceptions and immediately go on the counter.
They divided the players into groups of teams of five attackers against five defenders and had 1 staff attached to each group as they took turns in performing attacking and defending roles against the other group.
Tony's group and the other group of five were being coached by the Fitness Coach as he instructed the players on how they were to begin the drills and had them start practicing it.
Tony and his other four teammates started the attacking drills and defended against the other team interchangeably. They slowly started to get the hang of it as they all moved around to confuse the opponent and then slip inconspicuous passes to release or create an opportunity for a teammate to get past the players.
There were no goalkeepers or even a post as the players were mostly focused on creating chances and just focused on building and stopping attacks.
Any time a team of Five lost the ball away or managed to go past the other team, they would then switch to defending against the opponent while the others would then begin an attack.
After a while the coaches changed the opponents of each team as they began to attack and defend against the new teams.
The entire training pitch was filled with the players grouped up and playing against each other with the staffs giving pointers and making demonstrations from the sides.
That was what they did for the whole day's training as all the players focused on attacking plays and also gathering defensive experience too.
After they were done Coach Taylor announced that there was no need to go to back to the seminar room as he released the players to do their own things.
Tony and the rest of the players all went to have there bathes and went to the canteen to eat some healthy foods before they began to go their separate ways.
"Good morning Mr Tony Lane, I am James Lake." A handsome man with average height who was sharply dressed in a black suit gave Tony a business card as he approached Tony at the gates of the academy.
