General pov
"History Made: Grayson Fires Two Past West Ham to Drag Brighton Into The Semi-Finals"
"Grayson Does It Again — Teen Wonder Scores a Screamer as Brighton Reach the Semis!"
It was the next day, and all that any news site with a sports segment was talking about was that Brighton beat West Ham. It was the biggest upset of the night, with almost all pundits saying that, while Brighton had a fantastic run, this was where they would fall short.
Dick had posted the photo of him hitting his celebration to his Instagram with the caption of
"And we're not stopping here"
And the comments were filled with fans, fangirls, footballers, and even some random celebrities.
@Matheusxkk: Man said Bend it like Beckham? Nah. Bend it like Grayson.
@BryndenRivers: This kid is Brighton's Messi + Beckham rolled into one.
@DaoistkTPdVa: 6 years old. 35-yard free kick. Brighton in the semis. Unreal.
@davidbeckham: Not bad for 16. Great technique on that free kick, kid
@garylineker: Brighton in the semis! And Grayson… What a strike. Just magnificent.
And Dick did appreciate all of the comments, especially from the other footballers. It just made him feel like he had made it and that he was an "official" football player. Dick also laughed when Ethen Payne sent him a very mean-worded message, which Dick knew was a joke, about how pissed he was that Dick beat West Ham. Then there were the Sky pundits talking about the game as well. David Jones spoke first and asked his fellow pundits about it.
"Jamie, Gary, Thierry, you've just watched a 16-year-old score a 35-yard free kick and send Brighton into their first-ever EFL Cup semi-final. How special is this?"
Jamie Carragher grinned widely before saying.
"It's ridiculous, Dave. Sixteen years old, and he's hitting free kicks like that? He's got no fear. The wall, the keeper, the pressure; none of it mattered. He just smashes it in the top corner. That's pure talent."
Thierry Henry nodded, agreeing with Jamie before saying.
"I've seen kids with ability, but what impresses me is the responsibility he takes. At 16, you don't usually step up from 35 yards. But he wants it, he believes, and then he delivers. That's a world-class mentality."
Gary Neville then, with a slightly more serious tone, said,
"I agree, but here's the thing: Brighton aren't just relying on him; he's actually dragging them forward. He's the difference. But, and it's a big but, they have to protect him. Nights like this are amazing, but it's still a long road. Look after him properly, and he'll be something extraordinary."
Dick was grinning as he watched that show with his dad; he was half-asleep, but the praise was nice all the same. However, Dick knew this was just the start of something great; he knew that he'd most likely be leaving Brighton next season, but if there was one thing that he was going to do before leaving, then it was getting Brighton some trophies. And that was what he spent the rest of the year trying to do.
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November was done, and Dick was given his second consecutive Player of the Month. But honestly, he didn't care too much about that; he was laser-focused for the coming months.
On the 2nd of December, Brighton faced Cardiff again, this time at the Cardiff City Stadium. They won 2-1. Dick scored 1 goal from a solo run and assisted one before he was subbed off. Cardiff stood no chance against Brighton. Then on the 9th of December, Brighton faced Leeds at AMEX Stadium, where they beat them 1-0 with Murray getting a clutch goal near the end.
After that, they faced Blackburn on the 13th, where Brighton took home a big win of 3-0. Dick scored 2, one from a tap-in and the other from a header, then got subbed off with Murray scoring the other goal for Brighton. After their win against Blackburn, they still remained top of the table, with only 1 loss in 20 games of the League. Then on the 17th, they faced Birmingham and won 2-0, in the game Dick scored and assisted 1. He scored from a beautiful volley from right outside the box, which just tapped the crossbar before going in. That night, after the game, Mendes had told him that a couple of big clubs were getting in contact with him about a possible transfer after the season.
Dick was happy to hear about the interest in him, but always told him the same thing.
"It will have to wait until the season is finished"
Although Mendes was a bit more focused on the business side of things and didn't want to wait too long, he relented. He only told Dick about the highlights of which big teams were interested. Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal were just the teams in the Premier League. Then there were Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Napoli for Serie A. Then Real Madrid and Barcelona were the only main ones for La Liga. And to cap it off, Bayern Munich and BVB were the main ones from the Bundesliga. So Mendes told Dick.
"Listen, there's no rush…well, a little rush, but all you need to do is read over their offers and think about who you can see yourself playing for in the future. Because as much as you like the football side of football, there's also the business side, and that can only last for a little while more"
After that conversation, Dick did get to thinking about his future, which got him wondering about where he should go. But after a couple of days of thinking and a very much enjoyed Christmas break, Dick returned to his competitive mindset. He let himself enjoy his Christmas, even his grandparents came out from Italy and spent Christmas with Dick and his dad. So the holiday was a very nice break from the constant training, playing matches, watching tapes, more training, personal training, etc. But almost immediately after Christmas, Dick was back on his grind shit, he went back to his training plan, and quickly after that, it was the last game of 2016.
On the 30th of December, Brighton faced QPR at the Amex Stadium, where they beat them 4-0. Dick scored 2 and assisted 1. He scored once from a penalty, and his other goal was from a header. This was the last game of the year, so Brighton were very happy to finish the year on a positive note. Speaking of which, Dick had been finishing every game with the Brighton fans' new nickname for him being "Super Dickie" The name was a bit childish, but it meant a lot to him
After the game, it was New Year's, but Dick could barely enjoy it as he had a game just a couple of days later. His Nonna and Nonno stayed after Christmas and until New Year's, so it was fun to be able to hang out with them, especially after he started playing for Italy. They were extremely proud of him, and they did not hesitate to show it.
Anyway, after the holiday, if you could even call it that, Brighton had a game against Fulham. They met on the second of January at Craven Cottage, where they managed a 2-0 win. Dick didn't score, but he did get an assist for Murray.
Brighton then faced Preston away at Deepdale Stadium on the 7th of January. They managed a 2 - 0 victory over the Preston team. Dick scored a brace before being subbed off at the 60-minute mark. Hughton wanted to rest Dicks legs for the next game, and the way that the Preston team kept hacking away at him. Their next game was their biggest challenge so far…A match versus Liverpool in the EFL Cup. Dick had been preparing for this game since Christmas; he had been studying Liverpool's games, their defence and everything in between. He'd been running drills, creating fake scenarios, and doing different training drills.
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10th of January, Brighton vs Liverpool, EFL Cup semi-finals, leg 1, Amex Stadium
General pov
Liverpool had come to the Amex Stadium, and where Liverpool was, the fans came. Though there weren't as many as the Brighton fans, they were almost as loud. Dick stood in the tunnel, ignoring the looks from the Liverpool players, all of whom were saying.
"Is he going to be one of us?"
It was like that classic Mike Tyson moment, where his eyes followed his opponent while he was moving around his mouth guard. In this scenario, Dicks brows were furrowed, as he chewed on some gum and tapped his leg rapidly against the floor. He had been practising for this game for a while now, so he was fucking locked in. He looked only forward, ignoring everything around him, stuck in his own mental headspace, relentlessly planning on different ways to break through the Liverpool defence. And it seemed that the other players noticed as they were all side-eyeing him, almost cautious as if something was warning them about Dick.
They then walked out, did the normal formalities, and the game started quickly after. Brighton started with the ball, so Dick stood in the middle right over the ball, looked over the ball before passing it back to Sidwell.
With that, the Liverpool players came rushing from their side, all doing some heavy pressing, so Brighton started passing the ball down in their half, to pull on Liverpool's formation and stretch them out of formation.
After a couple of minutes, Dick spotted an opening in the midfield of Liverpool. Dick then ran into it, receiving a long pass from Stockdale with just a beautiful first touch, right in front of Jurgen Klopp. Henderson started running towards him, but Dick was just much quicker. He got past Henderson and saw Trent and Lovren running towards him.
Trent got there first, but Dick did some rapid scissors and faints, and managed to bait out a leg from the Liverpool player, which Dick took advantage of and nutmegged him. Dick then quickly got past him, received the ball again and quickly faced off against Lovren. Dick fainted with the ball left, which Lovren bit on before dragging the ball back and going right, resulting in Lovren doing the splits. Dick then saw an opening and just hit the ball with as much power as he could, going for the far post.
Karius, the Liverpool goalkeeper, saw the ball flying towards him and thought it would go out. Only for it to curve at the last second and smash into the inner post before crashing into the net. The Liverpool away fans stood stunned, but Dick ignored them for the extremely loud shouting from the home fans, who were all chanting his name.
""HE SCORES WHEN HE WANTS
HE SCORES WHEN HE WAAAAAANNNTTTSSS
DICKIE GRAYSON
HE SCORES WHEN HE WANTS""
They were also chanting "Super Dickie" while Dick stood in the corner, staring at the fans and doing his classic celebration. It was like he was absorbing the sound from the fans and using that to replenish his energy. Dick then gave a large grin to the camera, lifted his shoe, and pretended to wipe some dust from it. He was then bombarded by his teammates, with all of them jumping on him and hyping him up, resulting in a Dick sandwich (pause), where all his teammates just surrounded him in a giant huddle. In the 11th minute, Dick had made the score 1-0, and it was a lead Brighton would try their best to keep.
The game then continued, and it seemed Liverpool were desperately attacking now; they were all rushing forward and keeping the pressure on as much as they could. Dick had dropped back, with Murray staying more forward. Dick had been sprinting up and down, running more and more, just trying his best to keep the defence. But sadly, it just wasn't enough as in the 45th minute, just a couple of minutes until the end of the first half. Liverpool managed to score from a defensive mistake, where they left themselves too open, and Coutinho managed to make it 1-1.
Brighton and Liverpool then went into the changing rooms, where both coaches would give their teams a pep talk as well as their tactics for the second half. All Jurgen said was "make sure you stick tight to Grayson, he is their only way to win"
Meanwhile, Hughton lifted the spirits of the Brighton side, while also telling them to stay tighter in defence, make sure they don't slip up again and to try to stretch the Liverpool side to open up space for the forwards. He didn't say it directly, but everyone thought it, pass to Dick when he is open. It had become an automatic response for them, and it showed how reliable Dick had become in their eyes, not knowing that the 16-year-old felt all the unsaid words. Dick just ate his banana and tapped his feet rapidly against the floor, looking at the board in front of him and taking in their new strategy.
The second half began, and Dick immediately sprinted forward after the ball, keeping the pressure on the Liverpool players who rapidly passed the ball around so Dick wouldn't get it. Dick didn't relent, even running into his own half to chase the ball. And, surprisingly, it actually paid off. One run, Lallana didn't notice Dick in time, who slid in and managed to hook the ball with his left foot while also getting Lallana down. Dick then jumped up, got the ball and quickly passed it to Murray, who stopped on a dime, got past one midfielder and passed it back to Dick, who had run past him and down the right-hand side. Dick took the ball in stride and just sprinted down the wing.
Milner came and tried to get him, but Dick managed to pull off a left-footed elastico, which left Milner stumbling. However, Milner recovered quickly and lumped himself on Dick, trying to get him off the ball. Dick wasn't letting him, though, using his strong core and leg muscles to push against Milner, which was when Matip came sliding in. Dick noticed it and pushed both the ball and Milner to the left, using his speed to take him by surprise. He avoided Matip and, using the inner part of his right foot, just placed the ball right through the legs of the approaching Karius.
The ball rolled into the goal, and Dick sprinted off while all the Liverpool players looked on in stunned shock. Dick tore off his shirt, swinging it above his head before sliding on the ground with his arms spread wide. His muscles were tense, and the training had for sure paid off. He then stopped short of the corner, but he could feel the cameras, the looks and everything on him. He was then jumped on by his teammates, and they created a giant dogpile with Dick at the bottom.
After that, they stopped celebrating, and the referee came in and gave Dick a yellow card, to which he just nodded before putting his shirt back on. Dick felt his heart pumping; he was very excited about the current 2-1 score, and he was ready to defend with his life.
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*TWEET TWEEET TWEEEEEET*
Dick jumped up and threw his fist in the air. The rest of the Brighton team all joined together in a celebration. With Dick in the centre. They knew this was just the first game, but that 1 goal lead going into the second leg would be massive.
Dick was about to leave to go to the locker room when he saw a kid on the ledge of the tunnel and heard him asking for an autograph. So, Dick went there and asked him for his pen. The kid, some random little Brighton fan, dropped his pen down and was about to drop his scarf when Dick took off his shirt and signed his autograph on the white part of the Brighton kit. He then tossed the shirt back up to the kid before giving him a smile and a thumbs up and walking into the tunnel.
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SO I've been thinking, I'm leaning towards a Liverpool transfer, and then him maybe being loaned out? Idk, I'm not that far yet in the planning process. But other than that, I think the story is pretty good, I'd love to hear your opinions on the story and what you think could be better.
ALSO, I was wondering if Dick should date pinkpantheress during the 2017-18 season and that be his last girlfriend before Billie. I mean it makes sense right, plus people usually have more than 1 girlfriend before they meet their partner for life. But yeah, this one would also be a bit more involved in the story compared to Rebecca because unlike Rebecca, pinkpantheress would actually want to be in the spotlight.
But yeah, tell me your opinions i'd love to hear them.