{This Story will be ready to read on my p-a-t-r-e-o-n. If you wish to interact with the story more or simply support me the link is /TrikoRex. Be sure to remove the dashes. I hope to see plenty of you there enjoying this novel.
I demand your power stones as I was deemed worthy by the singularity to present you with its hero's tale, so motivate me to write more and upload chapters faster.}
"Let's say my son joins you What difference is your help going to make in his future development? and why should he join your academy rather than going the traditional route as I'm sure his talent and hard work would carry him through?" I finally asked him since I was no longer interested in further listening to his sales pitch, especially since it looked like the Eagles were about to launch another attack after regaining possession.
He was about to answer me but the ongoings on the pitch captured his attention. Also paying attention I watched as Ben Walker the keeper promptly passed out the ball to Logan Foster. The defender had drifted into his familiar Right back position opening up the field of play and giving his keeper an excellent passing option.
Calmly receiving the ball, he scanned the area around him seemingly debating whether to go on a run or pass it to his teammates. However, upon noticing that the opposing left mid was sticking to Max and was not coming to close him down, he decided to throw caution to the wind.
Taking off the ball at his feet he narrowly avoided the tackle of the opposing striker who had raced over. Not minding the gust of wind, he felt behind him, he continued to speed down the wing. Since he hasn't gotten a chance to attack throughout the game he might as well go all out.
Max upon seeing him race towards his direction decided to get out of the way drifting towards the centre and opening up the right flank. Seeing his action Finn who was playing as the right central midfielder decided to drop back a little to cover his team's attack.
His movements caused a chain reaction as Ben his midfield partner decided to rush forward dragging his man with him. This whole set of actions left their markers scrambling to make a decision. Finn's man decided to follow him whilst Max's marker remained indecisive on whether to follow or close down Logan.
In the end, he decided to close down Logan as he stepped forward trying his best to halt his run. Seeing that the lane down the flank was blocked the right back wasn't discouraged in the slightest. Opting to send a quick pass to the now-open Max in the middle, he circumvented the defender in front of him as he continued his run forward.
Panicking the defender scrambled to try and win the ball from Max but the latter sent a through ball down the wing before he could even get close. Logan expecting to receive the ball back latched onto it speeding down the open flank. This set of simple actions caused an avalanche of chain reactions as his teammates started timing their runs trying to reach an advantage position.
With only the closest centre-back to beat on the right flank, he came to a sudden stop in front of him. Performing a quick fake shot that resulted in the defender turning away in fright he nimbly poked the ball past him. A second later he had a clear view of the box from the right flank.
Not hesitating in the slightest he sent a teasing cross into the middle of the box. Tom the Eagles striker seemed to smell the scent of another goal as he homed in on the ball close to the front post. Jumping up he managed to beat his man and use his head to send the ball in the direction of the goal.
A moment later the ball impacted the net with the keeper still rooted to his line. However, the crowd didn't exclaim in joy but instead sighed with frustration as the ball flew an inch over the bar and hit off the outside of the net. Tom shared the crowd's sentiment as sent a resentful look to the ball that rolled behind the goal.
Unlike Tom who was frustrated at missing a chance to expand his personal goal count the Tigers keeper heaved a sigh of relief. He had seemingly been ready to fish the ball out of his net again. really makes a difference for his opponent.
Whilst his keeper was relieved at not concerning another goal the defender that was marking Tom started questioning if his presence really makes a difference for his opponent.
"Uhh that was a close one, I am surprised though that they used an overlap play for the build that led to the goal opportunity," Mike commented from the side sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yeah, that is something, I don't think they even realised what they were doing and just instinctively moved with the flow," Oscar also commented as he once again took out his notepad from his quiet pocket.
The two of them seemingly drifted into their own world in the next few seconds as they jotted down notes. Occasionally they would say words like 'tactical awareness, or 'positional awareness. This continued for quite a while as I and Lisa continued to watch the match letting them finish their work.
"Mr Rex let me answer your question of what we can do for your son's development," Oscar said in a calm tone as he promptly straightened his grey suit making eye contact with me. The shift in demeanour made me subconsciously focus more on his next words.
"At Ace Academy, we offer the best football training possible from technical skills development to physical and mental training. Your son would get a tailor-made training plan that focuses on developing his strengths and fixing his weaknesses." He told me in a serious tone as he handed me a brochure that seemed to contain more details on it.
"Not only will we aim to continuously help him to surpass his limit by setting goals for him, but we will also give him a more challenging environment to hone his craft. That's not all once he is of age and manages to impress the head coaches, he can enter one of our teams and take part in tournaments all around the globe." He finished his speech with that as he gave me a second to take in his words.
Listening to him explain the entire Ace Academy it seems like something good for my son, but we will have to see it in person to make sure. I'm still more inclined to let him join one of the major team's youth echelons. However, I also know that this will give him more choices down the road once he makes a team for himself.
"I see, how about this we will come for a visit tomorrow and see your training base for ourselves so we can get a better idea of your academy," I finally said not wanting to make a definite decision right now. He seemed to expect my answer as he readily agreed to my suggestion.
"Sounds like a plan I will have Bob ready to meet you around 11 am, the under fifteen have a match scheduled around 13:00 pm so you can also spectate," He answered me with a happy smile that told me he had accomplished his goal in this conversation.
With the serious conversation out of the way, the atmosphere between us became amiable. He was actually an alright guy to talk to and seems to love the sport of football by how he felt the need to point out the strength of certain players. Normally I would be annoyed with someone talking while I'm watching football, but his words were accurate to a T.
Hearing him talk about a player's characteristics as he received the ball and then seeing it unfold is eye-opening, to say the least. This made me subconsciously trust in his abilities as a coach a little bit more.
"Wait if you are a PSG scout why are you helping him," I suddenly remembered the presence of the other man who had introduced Oscar. From what my wife told me he is a scout for PSG but ever since introducing his friend he has remained silent. He didn't even bother to interject when his friend is trying to poach my son to his academy.
"Actually, today I'm an Ace Academy scout," He replied with a sheepish smile that made me want to punch him for some reason.