Changing play style

Thankfully, Neo was a very smart person, so findng a new play pattern wasn't going to be the most difficult thing in the world for him. For now, Neo was going to abandon all the skill trainings, and completely face his physicality. He needed as plenty stamina as he could get.

Neo's football IQ was definitely over a hundred percent, he could create better chances with his brains, using his eyes to scan the pitch and utilizing his meta-vision to the highest. With that, he could easily predict what plays his opponents were going to make and he could stand a better chance of stopping them.

Eric passed the ball back to his defense lines immediately the throw-in was made.

Liam controlled the high-flying pass with his chest and he passed the ball gently to Lida.

Lida passed the ball to Bice who threw a long pass to Miles.

They had reached the lock-zone. Any further movement was strictly prohibited by Marbles and they made sure to press tightly until Krystal Fc either returned or they lost the possession.

Miles retreated a little and he found that his markers didn't follow him. He tried to close in on the space again and he was met with very strong resistance that didn't even leave him with a passing opportunity.

It was almost as if Marbles left a confined space for their opponent's to play in, because whenever it looked like Krystal Fc was going to enter into a position that threatened Marbles, Marbles would suddenly increase their ferocity and a very strong pressure would be placed on Krystal Fc.

Miles returned and passed the ball to Eric. Eric ran towards the ball and on getting to the ball, he flicked the ball back to the defense lines, confusing Walter who thought he was marking him tightly. It was funny to watch how Walter stopped running before he even started.

As if wanting to humiliate Walter more, Liam looped the ball over Walter, allowing the ball to land right in front of Eric.

Eric used a simple feint to lose Claret who was behind him.

But that seemed to be all he could do, because Bose was nothing less than an battle ram as he charged towards Eric at the speed of light.

Bose knocked the ball off him, but the ball ended up going to Aesop who immediately carried out a beautiful hold-up play. Zoe was behind Aesop, trying to stick a foot to the ball as Aesop guarded the ball fiercely.

When Zoe realized that he couldn't push Aesop away, he decided to return and go man his penalty box instead. Zoe was surprised as he found that he couldn't move away. He looked down and saw Aesop's hand tightly gripping his cloth and restricting his movement.

Their bodies were very close, so no one could see this, even the referee failed to notice it. It was a smart, yet risky move from Aesop. If he successfully pulled this off, then it would be good, but he risked obtaining a yellow card here.

Zoe struggled almost desperately, but it was almost too late, Krystal Fc attackers had already launched themselves inside their opponent's penalty area. That was the familiar signature move of the hold-up play.

Aesop passed the ball backwards towards Eric. Eric had already found his target even before the pass was made. And his target was the short winger, Cai.

Cai accelerated at his max speed, steadily following the trajectory of the ball.

Cai instantly hit on his brakes as he saw Berry's huge figure suspended in the air, about to intercept the pass.

Just as I guessed...

Neo suddenly appeared in front of Berry and Cai, his leg outstretched as he controlled the ball beautifully. It was a wonderful sight for Krystal Fc fans as Neo hurled an inward spinning pass towards the other end of the pitch, which had a far lower concentration of defenders.

Neo made the last play seem easy, but it was in reality, the hardest thing he had done since this match began. He had to put his entire vision into use, he also utilized his sense of hearng and shockingly, his sense of smell. His brain proccessed everything at the same time, and while it did, he just ran towards the place that suddenly seeemd the brightest in his mind.

The theory was quite simple, Neo didn't have time to start analyzing slowly, so everything that just happened were all proccessed in a second, in a part of his head. And while it was being proccessed, his mind blurred out every excess information, making the field seem dark to him. Once he was done with his analysis, and he now knew where to go, the location would be very clear in his mind, so clear that it almost seemed brighter than the rest of the pitch.

Mark controlled the ball and he dribbled past the first defender that blocked his way.

Walter slid towards him but Mark retreated a little, allowing Walter enough space to slide out of the pitch if he wanted. Walter's sliding tackle didn't meet any interruption as he kept on going, struggling to stop himself.

Unobstructed, Mark saw a perfect shooting chance. Just before the shot was unleashed from the silent attacker, Soma as suddenly in his field of vision.

Soma managed to make a slight contact with the ball, completely changing it's course. The ball landed on Eric who delivered a high back-spin pass towards Aesop.

Aesop beat the shorter Paige(Marbles defender) with a strong header towards the top corner.

But was that enough to beat the hand of God?

Harry easily punched the ball back to the crowd, and again, the ball fell on Eric.

Eric quickly sent the ball coming towards Neo.

Neo had not yet looked up, but he felt it within that there was no shot route for him, everywhere was covered with desperate players.

Neo released another pass towards Mark, he had grown to trust the second year's shooting ability.

Without controlling it or even letting the ball land, Mark released the volley.

Everyone stared at the trajectory of the blitzing ball, the final outcome of the ball was clear and he didn't need more than that to beat the hand of God.