It has been a week since my awakening. I would be underselling it if I said that things have been interesting.
Everything has been going smoothly. My integration with Kaká is seamless. I didn't have any emotional outbursts, or melancholy thoughts. Everything was calm. I suspect that the system has played a part in this. Kind of like a gamer's mind, where all the existential questions are dulled down.
I was calm about all this. If anything, I was happy about it. This is exactly the kind of second chance I have always wanted. To have wisdom from my past actions, but to start with a clean slate. The cherry on top is the body I was gifted with.
Kaká is a magnificent specimen. In my past life Kaká grew up to be 186cm(6ft1"). He was good looking. Great hair. Very fast, agile. Barring the injuries, in his prime at Milan, he was something else.
Now, at 15, I am 174cm. I have been going through a growth spurt. And if this continues, I should be able to achieve 185+cm. With the training tools available, I could focus on my growth and properly nurture it. If I cross 186cm, that is fine by me.
I still have what you would call a baby face. I look like a school kid. I am a school kid, but I didn't have facial hair yet. Maybe puberty hasn't hit properly yet. I had a lean physique. Well toned for a 15 year old. Got the outlines of abs because of the regular training. That is good. I want to maintain proper fitness and core strength.
In other good news, I was very very happy with my package as well. I was well above average. 7" is nothing to scoff at. And aesthetically pleasing.I was pretty well endowed in my past life as well and I didn't want to miss that.
I must have rolled with some insane luck for all of this. The looks. The physique. The body. The whole package. I was ecstatic with my build to put it mildly.
For the past few days, I have been following the training rigorously to improve my core strength, and work on my strength in general. I didn't want to be twig if I wanted to break out into the senior teams.
I asked my father to buy some weights for indoor training, he raised an eyebrow at that and asked me for my reasoning.
"I do not just want to play u15 papai. I know that I am asking for a lot, but I know that I am very good at this. I want the strength to fight for a place in the u17 team."
"I am not trying to pull you down Ricardo, but you must take it one step at a time. A call should come soon for a contract. Once you sign that, you shall have access to the gym and training area. If you're serious about this, I don't want you getting hurt by lifting weights at home. I would rather you have professionals helping you. I could talk to the coaches and see if we could arrange something"
I wanted to slam my head on the table. How could I not think about that? I had all the resources available to me at the club. Why should I do this alone? I could use the system guidance, make a plan, get it double checked by the trainers at the club and have them guide me as well. This is win/win.
"I did not think about that papai. Your idea is wonderful! Thank you! I can't wait to sign that contract. Do we know when they will call?"
"Easy there buddy! You just turned 15. Let them see you perform well for a while, and then you could worry about the contract."
"Oh they have seen me perform alright. In the last match, I had 4 successful dribbles. If the striker had converted my passes, I would have had two assists as well. I still scored once, that was good. Even though these are training matches, I cannot wait to participate in actual competitions."
"I have gotten feedback as well. They were waiting for my growth spurt to settle in. They were worried because I was only 163cm and 55kg 6months back, they thought that my growth spurt would affect my balance and performance. They want to see things settle down and that my performance hasn't dropped, so that they could get me into the team."
"I spoke to coach Joao. He was impressed with my pace and ability to take on players and dribble. My passing has been good as well. He wants me to work on my strength for now since he feels my shot power is a bit lacking. He wants my passing to be quicker as well. I need to impress them in the coming months so that by the next season, I am a regular starter knocking on the senior team"
"That is why I was so excited about the weight training, all the feedback has been good. Now, I just need to work on my passing, shots and strength. And still keep my pace and skills after I grow a couple of inches more."
"That is all good buddy. Patience is the key. You're still only 15. The calls will come. Concentrate on your basics first. If you run too quickly before you crawl, that is not going to be good. I have faith in you. But, also, one step at a time Ricardo."
"I will come to the next game and talk to your coaches about the contract and the training regimen. Don't worry about that"
"Thanks papai! I am leaving for school now. I shall be a bit later than usual, I am training today with the u17 boys. We are going to be working on passing. Bye!"
With that said, I left home with happy thoughts. I could workout at the club, that is indeed great! I did not need to worry about doing everything on my own.
Today, I wanted to try out a training exercise suggested by the system.
I should receive the ball from a passer while on the move, and before two players could close me down, I need to find a perfect weighted pass to a forward player who is also going to be trying to practice getting into proper positions, ball control.
I told this to the u17 guys Julio, Douglas, Gabriel and Oscar. Oscar was a CF reserve, Douglas and Gabriel were midfielders and Julio was a defender. This was the perfect group. I also enlisted the help of my friends Juan and Carlos. That way, we had a proper balance of players, some defending, some working on tackles, some working on passing at the same time.
Evening came and we left for training. Regular training today included speed drills again and a 5 a side match.
I wanted to make an impression, so I wanted to take some risks today.
During the 15th minute, when I received the ball in a tough spot, I collected the ball, controlled it, saw that a player was lunging at my feet for a tackle, so I casually moved the ball slightly away with my right foot and smoothly timed it so that I jumped over his slide, collected the ball again, saw two players coming at me in the distance, instead of slowing down, I picked up pace and ran at them. They were waiting to close me down, so when I picked up pace 40yards away from the goal instead of passing, they were surprised.
I didn't slow down, and took them head on. I dribbled past the first guy with ease, the second guy was stronger and was going to steal the ball from me. So I feinted going left by passing it to my left side with my right foot, but very quickly caught it with my left and ran to my right. That worked, and the guy lost his footing for a bit. That was all I needed, I was 20yards out and I saw that my forward was closed down by a defender. So, I took a look at the goal and let it fly. It was a very sweet connection and the ball flew past the goalie.
The coaches liked what they saw. I could tell by their raised eyebrows. I was taking things very seriously in training everyday and they could feel it. Even though it was a routine training match, I gave it my all, played intricate passes, cut through the defense a couple of times and it worked. By the end of the game, I had scored twice. And assisted twice.
With sweat dropping, I went to coach Joao.
Usually, they pull us up after the game and give us pointers. But today, they were talking amongst themselves and just said that it was a good game and to keep it up. All generic stuff. And they let us go.
I wanted to ask about personal pointers. Coach Joao entertained me by starting with how I have been improving with my passing. He liked what he saw with regards to my pass selection. He asked me why I was taking risks by trying to split defenses instead of going for a safe pass to other midfielders.
I replied "Why work on 5 passes and slow it down when one good one could do the job?"
"Are you not afraid that it would be intercepted and that you would lose position?"
"No coach. That risk is always there, but if I get good, I should be able to thread a pass. And if that works, the forward can skip past the backline and go for the goal. I want my passes to always be a threat. I know I am still working on my accuracy and weight on the ball, but today I felt like going for it and it worked."
"Hmmm. You're not going to be reprimanded because the passes worked, but not everyone would want someone who takes risks and loses the ball. Sometimes, playing those extra 5-10 passes and keeping the possession is very important. I am not telling you this to make you stop going for it. But, I want you to realise that you have both the choices. You need to make the right decision at that time. When it is okay to take a risk and when it isn't is something you will learn soon in competitive matches. We will work on it. But, good job with the passes today. They were something! And that banger you scored from 20yards out. Good job Kaká!"
"The coaches have been seeing you put in the effort. Let us just wait some more to let your height and weight settle, and we can start properly train you to be a starter"
I remembered what my dad said earlier about the contract and training facilities, but I didn't want to bring it up immediately. I would let my dad talk about it with the coaches. He said he would.
I thanked him for the feedback and went to stretch a bit. After match stretches are very important. To prevent injuries, proper care needs to be taken. I have been learning a lot of tips from the system about pre match routine and post game routine.
I waited for the other sessions to be finished, observed other players on the field and was talking strategy with Juan and Carlos till the session ended for the day. When we were allowed to go back home, me and my friends left towards the area where the u17 guys were training. We found the group of misfits Julio and others.
I already explained the drill to all the guys yesterday, so today we were ready and didn't want to waste any time. Since the field was empty, I received the ball at the half way line. I had my body angled a bit, so that I could see both the goal and the defense who were trying to close me down. I was scanning constantly, watching the players before the pass came to me. So when I received the ball, immediately Luis started to move into space on the right. I didn't even take an extra pass, I rolled the ball in front of me and just pinged it. I weighed the pass so that it would land a bit in front of Luis, so that he had the time to run to where the ball would land, instead of staying idle.
He read my intentions and he was able to collect the ball. His first touch was not the best, but he was able to collect the ball. But, that split second cost him because two defenders closed him down.
But, the main goal was achieved. I received the ball, controlled it, assessed where I wanted to pass, and pinged a very good long ball to a running striker. This is exactly what I wanted to practice.
We took turns. Continued like this for an hour. I could feel that my passes are getting stronger. Better. And since we have been practicing for a week now, Luis was also in sync with me. We made for a good duo. I failed only a couple of times to put in the perfect pass. But, overall, it was a success. Everyone was happy with what we achieved and we went home after that.
3rd POV
During all of this, coach Joao and coach Felipe Martinez were watching this from the sidelines at a distance. They have been keeping an eye on this group of players who were staying back daily and practicing these exercises.
Coach Felipe Martinez was the u17 training coach. Coach Joao was the u15 one. They were surprised to see these kids putting on a proper passing drill. They could see a connection between Kaká and Oscar. They have seen Kaká perfectly ping a 45yard pass. And they saw Oscar control it and get into space. These two were the standouts during the session.
But, they also liked the grit of the defense as well. Even though they were being outdone by Kaká's passing, they didn't give up and got back up to close them down many times. Joao talked about how he has seen a consistent improvement from Kaká. They were going to reach out to the higher management about offering him a proper contract. They felt that the time was right.
Not knowing about any of this, Kaká was humming a Michael Jackson tune on his way back, happy with the progress.
MC POV
I went home, had my dinner, went to bed and before sleeping off, as is my routine these days, opened up the system.
**********G.O.A.T System**********
Stats Missions Training Cards
**********G.O.A.T System**********
I selected the stats and wanted to check my stats to see if there have been any changes.
Name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka)
Age: 15
Height: 174.5cm
Weight: 70.2kg
Position: Attacking Midfielder/ Winger
Preferred Foot: Right
Weak Foot: ***
Skill Moves: ****
Work Rate: ***
Overall Rating: 78
Potential: 92
Pace: 85
#Acceleration: 86
#Sprint Speed: 84
Shooting: 73
#Positioning: 80
#Finishing: 70
#Shot Power: 72
#Long Shots: 74.2(+0.2)
#Volleys: 68
#Penalties: 78
Passing: 74
#Vision: 80
#Crossing: 68
#Free Kick Accuracy: 70
#Short Passing: 76.4(+0.4)
#Long Passing: 74.6(+0.6)
#Curve: 74
Dribbling: 82
#Agility: 86
#Balance: 82
#Reactions: 74
#Ball Control: 80.2(+0.2)
#Dribbling: 84
#Composure: 62
Defending: 37
#Interceptions: 32
#Heading: 54
#Defensive Awareness: 40
#Stand Tackle: 32
#Slide Tackle: 36
Physical: 53
#Jumping: 62
#Stamina: 65
#Strength: 50
#Aggression: 46
Traits:
#Speed Dribbles
#Playmaker
#Technical Dribbler
My eyes bulged out seeing this. The system keeps a track of my progress. This is unbelievable. I made a 0.6 improvement on my long passing, in a week. All I had done was spend an hour a day working on the long balls. And I did a 0.6 improvement. I wanted to whoop so loudly but I controlled myself.
This is a game-changer!