In the past three months, playing with the U15 team was fun. I still continued to practice with my U17 group as well. We kept in touch and still perfected our passing and practiced plays.
So, when the call came for me to join the U17 training, I was elated. I could finally learn how the team plays, whom I should target and develop an idea of how the midfield and forwards play. I wanted to get familiar with the players and the new coaching style.
I have only ever worked with coach Joao and the system. I have heard that coach Martinez is stricter and wants the players to listen to him. I thrive on freedom and unpredictability. So, I wanted to go in with a blank slate and see how I would be able to handle the new style.
Once school was done for the day, I had a skip in my step. I have been waiting for this day for a while now. I quickly got into my training gear and reported to coach Martinez.
"Welcome Kaká. Do you prefer Kaká or Ricardo?" Asked Mr. Martinez.
"Either is fine coach. I do not have a preference" I replied with a smile.
"I will stick to Kaká then, we already have a Ricardo in defense. So, that would make it easier. Follow me."
We walked for a few minutes in silence as he was busy looking at something in a stack of paper, into the training area where half of the U17 was assembled. There was a lively chatter going on.
They all stopped when the coach entered and it was silent.
"Listen up, this is Kaká. Many of you have seen him practice with the group and play U15, we have decided to give him a chance to play with us for a couple of weeks, we were very impressed with his performance so far, he scored 16 and assisted 13 goals in 13 matches at U15. So, we shall see if he can perform at our level."
"As usual we play 11 vs 11, you're not starting Kaká, but you will come on in the second half. Watch how we play and show us what you got."
He left me with the team, and immediately my group came up to me with a smile and welcomed me. They knew that I was a good passer and they knew that I would make the forwards shine.
A couple of guys from my group have already broke-through into the first team after our practice sessions and the coaches were impressed with their dedication.
So, with that, they introduced me to the others and told them to make their runs and to not be afraid to give me the ball.
After the drills, we were divided into two groups. A mix of starters and reserves. To keep things interesting. The practice matches are only 40minutes long. So, for the first 20 minutes I was on the bench. Observing.
The first thing that caught my eye was that the pace was different. At U15, I had time to think and thread through passes. Here, people were on to a player immediately. So, I either have to evade them or release the ball quickly. If I take a couple of touches extra, I will lose the ball.
I also noticed that things were more physical. Even in practice, the midfielders and defenders weren't afraid to play dirty. They would knee you, push you, go for tackles and even pull your shirt to stop you. And I saw that dribbling was harder as well.
This should be challenging. I wasn't the strongest around, and I have never tested myself against proper defense and press.
The other thing I noticed was that, even though the midfielders were good, they were not being creative enough. They were very good technically, they could hold the ball up, weave through players, but they lacked a sense of adventure with passes. That translated to the runs the forwards were making, because they are used to this kind of passing, that they don't take risks.
I knew immediately that it was my way in. If I could prove to the team that my creativity would help the forwards and contribute to better attack, I have a chance of starting. I wasn't overly confident because the current starting midfielders were very good on the ball. Their ball control, positioning, work rate and skills were top notch. I had a faint smile on my face as this is the first time I would face a challenge. My only thought was, bring it on!
It could be because people were used to each other's play styles or because of the quality in each team, it stayed 0-0 at half time. Both sides came close to scoring but they missed their chances.
After half time, several substitutions were made. I was asked to come on. Luckily for me, the striker in my team, Oscar, is one of the members of the group that practices with me in passing drills. As soon as I came on, I joined the huddle.
Once the captain of this team gave his talk about strategy, I asked for permission to speak.
"I hope you don't mind me giving my opinion, but they're dominating the possession and we are on the backfoot. We need to break that cycle"
I then looked at our DMs and told them, "You guys are doing great out there disrupting the plays, but nothing is coming out of it, please trust me once and give me the ball next time instead of passing back. Even if there are a couple of players around me, I would deal with it. Try to find me. Give me three chances. That's all I am asking."
"Oscar could vouch for me, I am not doing this to be cocky, but I want to win. And we have the potential to win."
I then looked at Oscar, "Remember the runs we practiced last week, where I would pass the ball above the two defenders and towards the corner, make that run when I have the ball, and look for me in the box after you control it. Once Oscar has the ball near the corner, I want us to go forward and look for spaces at the edge of the box near the right, I will make my run towards the left, whoever is open, we could play around that."
It could be because of my confidence, or because they wanted to see me play, they agreed and the captain, who is also the DM, gave a nod. He said, "Three chances, rookie. Don't waste them. Alright team, find him once you have the ball and make runs into space. It is his job to thread the passes"
"That's all I ask for! Thanks. You wouldn't regret this"
The game started with full force because of the fresh legs, and they dominated initially. I also wanted to prove that I am not a coaster, and joined in on the defensive work. My tackling and all needs improvement, but adding in a body into the mix could also help sometimes. I dropped deep to help our midfield and cleared the ball twice.
In the 32nd minute, a chance came. They mistimed a pass and our captain was able to intercept it. They expected him to play a side pass to the other midfielder, but he didn't even take an extra touch and just passed it forward towards me.
I saw two people closing me down, but I was not afraid. I controlled the ball with my right foot and when the first guy lunged, I smoothly nutmegged him. The other guy hesitated for a split second and that was all I needed, I immediately took off. They didn't expect me to burst through with such pace, the defense fell back into shape, but I was not aiming for running. With bodies surrounding me, Oscar was only marked by one defender.
So, after drawing in two more players, I pinged the ball diagonally over the defense. One mistake I made was, in our U15 games and in the practice, the defenders I play against have never been particularly tall. So, I miscalculated and the defender jumped high and cleared the ball for a throw in.
First chance wasted. But Oscar gave me a thumbs up because he could see the vision behind it. We have practiced it.
Undeterred, we controlled the possession for a while, and the ball came to me once again near the half way line on the left. This time, I didn't attempt the pass, Oscar made the same run as before and thinking that I would attempt the pass, two defenders went to him, that left a gap in the middle and I ran into the gap very quickly. I played a quick one-two with the secondary striker and I had only one defender between me and the keeper. Two guys made the run to the far post, and I executed a perfect elastic dribble and only the goal keeper remained. From this angle, people would normally attempt a shot, to beat the keeper and score, but knowing that there were bodies in the box, I decided to pass instead.
I used the outside of my right boot to put an outswinging ball into the box. To my absolute delight, Oscar made the perfect run, juked his marker and met my ball perfectly with a header. GOAL!
1-0.
He pointed immediately to me, because the goal was all me. I may not have scored it, but I made it happen. Our captain patted me and ruffled my hair and said "Not bad rookie. Beautiful work. Keep it up!"
I could see the appreciation from the coaching staff as well and they didn't show it outright but I could tell that they liked what they saw.
The game resumed, they came at us like wounded hyenas, and we held on. I lost possession a couple of times because of how physical it was. I didn't like it. I won the ball back once immediately, but I did not like that I was so easily dispossessed.
I was kicking myself because the second time I lost possession, they made a quick counter and scored a goal.
Oscar passed me by and said not to worry, but I was not having it. I blamed myself for the goal. It was 1-1 after 38 minutes.
That lit up a fire under me and I dropped deep to collect the ball next time we had possession. One glance at Oscar confirmed that he was ready and I let it fly. I executed it perfectly this time and Oscar, to his credit, controlled the ball perfectly on the volley, and took off into space.
Remembering what I have said earlier, three people joined me in making the run, and I decided to stay near the centre at the edge of the box. The ball fell to our midfielder on the right who went to support Oscar, and he spotted me at the edge ready to pounce. He gave me a perfect ball at my feet, and I didn't even take a touch to control it. I hit it perfectly, and my new improved finishing stats worked wonders this time, and the ball curled perfectly into the top left corner.
I let out a roar. I made up for my mistake and scored before the match could end. It was a beautiful goal, the captain found me again this time and he said "Your plan worked dude! Good job. Great finish! I have a feeling that we would be playing together sooner than you think"
I ran to Oscar and hugged him, because I knew that because he vouched for me, the team trusted me. Also for how well he played the last 10minutes. If he didn't control my pass, there would be no play. I was thankful for that.
Quickly the game ended, we kept possession for the last one minute and we won 2-1. I had a goal and an assist to my name in my first ever practice.
That was more than what I could ask for.
After the game, we had a debrief, and the coaching staff pointed out our mistakes and areas we should work on. Coach Martinez pointed out that I need to be ready for physicality, because if I play U17 matches, opponents will walk over me if I don't improve. He said that even though I lost possession twice, he noted that I worked to win it back and he appreciated the work rate. He wanted me to keep it up.
Then they asked about the good things. The captain told them that I came with that last play. A diagonal pass to Oscar and for a run into the box to score. They raised an eyebrow at that. They could have been surprised that I came with the plan or that the team trusted me enough to go with it.
They appreciated that I took risks to play the ball forward and that with time, I would figure out how to make perfect passes.
Coach Martinez appreciated the finishing on the second goal.
Overall, I was good. Made some mistakes but won in the end. This was just my first session. With time, I knew that I would develop chemistry with the others, just like I had with Oscar and we would change the way we play football.
We went to train a bit after doing our stretches. Everyone had a plan. Workout routines, drills designed specifically for them, one on one coaching. I didn't have any yet. I only had a nutritional and gym plan, which was pretty basic as well. I was still following the system for guidance and I didn't miss a day.
After it was done, I went and found coach Martinez and asked him about it. What should I work on and if I would get a plan. He said that I am not a part of the team yet, and this is still the trial period, so he said "You need to wait a bit Kaká. We need to figure out how you play and what you're good at and what you bring to the table. We shall see more training matches and only then we could plan a schedule for you. Have patience my boy. You did good today, so enjoy it and practice passing like you usually would."
"Once your two weeks are done, we shall have an answer for you"
"Thanks coach! I will do just that"
With that, I went and started practicing free kicks as I saw that no one was using it, and that a goal keeper was free. It is one of my lower stats and I wanted to increase my work load on free kicks and finishing. I wanted to practice 100 free kicks. So, I asked the goalkeeper, he readily agreed, we set up training dummies and practiced it.
I could feel the areas where I need to improve. My curve needs improvement and my power needs some work. He was able to save a lot of them easily because I was predictable, but I didn't let that deter me, in time, I would be a master.
One step at a time, one day at a time.
Bring it on!