014- TRIALS - drills (1)

A while later the coach came and he called us to the side of the pitch.

" Hey lads, I'm Mr Alphonso and I'll be in charge of this trials hope yall is prepared only few makes it and if you're not sure you're part of those few then you'd better fuck off."

" Yes Mr alponso" some answered while the rest of us kept quiet, as for me actions were always better than words right.

"So name yourselves according to numbers from left to right"

At this point I started wondering if this was a military drill for freshers or a football trial cos you know it's sounding really tuff but we complied with all of his instructions and I got number 10 and after we each got a number we were waiting for his next Instructions"

" Numbers that feels they're best as attackers should step out" 16 people stepped out and they were divided into wingers and strikers.

" Numbers that feel like they're the best as midfielders should step out now" and all the midfielders came out, alongside me and we were divided into the attacking midfielders and the defensive midfielders, I personally explained to the man that I could perform best as a no 10 and he gave me the role. After all the division we were divided into 4 teams with 6 people left as substitutes.

All the teams were using a 3-4-3 formation, indicating that the coach wanted to see the full performance of the defenders and also the fact that the defenders were the least as most of us were either attackers or midfielders or wingbacks only few defenders. After we were all assigned, he called us all together again.

" Listen up gentlemen, if this ain't the true definition of your fate in your hands then I don't know what is. You have but a few matches to show me and the gentlemen over there that you stand out. Few are chosen, the rest fucks out that's always been the way of the world and my only advice to you is that make use of your teammates and play to the best of your abilities. Remember no stupid and overly risky actions an injury might not only ruin your carrier on the pitch but also ruin your life off the pitch as well so lads be careful"

" Also for today we're just going to be running through drills and also some set pieces so today for drills and tomorrow for the main trial matches that's how it going to be. Anyone has a question?"

" good now let's start today's business" he said even before the boy that was intending to ask a question could raise his hands.

As for me football drills were basically second nature, years of training and doing different type of drills had basically made it like I could do them half awake and as for tomorrow matches it would be very interesting if any of these players could outplay him tomorrow matter of fact he was also scouting for his agency so he was hoping to snag a talent or two.

He had been preparing for tomorrow for over 3years now and he prayed it went well as that would be the starting point of everything and the only thing he was scared of was having bad teammates because they were all teenagers and they all wanted to impress the scouts so they might end up making dumb decisions that might implicate him.

" well I think if that happens I'll have to rely on individual brilliance and that should be enough to get the scouts interested In me but it would be way better if my teammates could cooperate" he thought.

The coach kept scribbling away on the notepad in his hands before he looked up at everybody and started giving instructions and he instructed everyone to go through a warm up session for about a few minutes to prepare themselves. They did squats, jumps, short burst of speed and after a while the actual drill started.

The first thing they had to do was a 100 meter run which they had to do as fast as they could as that would determine their actual speed and acceleration range. Immediately they heard the instructions they all got pumped up waiting for their own chance to do it properly with some probably imagining a situation where they were the fastest in their young minds but too bad that was their minds not reality.

In his past life his weakness had always been his physicality and that was point blank one of the things that had ruined his career, too many injuries and ultimately that last injury that capped it up basically no player could walk safely away from that foul from van dijk but he doubted they'd be injured to a point were they couldn't get off the bed again, he had always played like kaka dribbling with short burst of speeds and...

" Denim Sterling...it's your turn now " the coach called out ending his thoughts that was flying all over the place.

Denim stepped on the tracks with a level of composure and steeze that was currently absent from the other boys and that raised the brows of the coach probably waiting to see how good this level headed boy was on the pitch.

He ran as fast as he could, when he was done the timer stopped at 10.4 seconds which was by far the best so far, the only dude that had come close was the one called Raheem Aveny he remembered that name because it was unique the kid stopped at 12.5 which was still impressive considering his age but then it's only drills so it was actually nothing particularly surprising and if there was anything surprising maybe it was the fact that even at his peak in previous life he was fast but not as fast as this and he had always marvel at how good his affinity with the ball was and how easy it was to control his body, his years of playing under pressure had thought that things like good body control and ball affinity and control was a game changer under pressure.

The coach let his gaze linger on denim for a while before facing everyone again and giving the next Instructions which would be a test of stamina and endurance where they all had to run over 5kms on the tracks and unsurprisingly he was the best this time around as well earning him wary looks from the other players and nods from the scouts and this time around the coach smiled at him while nodding as well but this didn't sit well with the other guys especially the ones that didn't manage to make an impression. Denim could only hope this doesn't get worse as his team mates might be stupid enough to try to isolate him who knows teenagers weren't always stupid right we'll just have to see.