Greatest Of All Legends

62  Tactical Meeting

 Jason hadn't heard the last name on the list of players on the bench as he felt like an explosion had gone off in his head as soon as he heard his name finally being called among the team's line-up.

An involuntary smile broke out on his face and he felt Fabio's hand on his shoulders shaking him, but he couldn't be bothered to react as he was too happy for that right now.

Even though being called on the bench didn't come with the guarantee that he would end up gracing the field, at least it was a step in the right direction, but before he could immerse himself in his thoughts or before the members of the team that he was closer to could congratulate him on cracking the line-up, Sergio Conceicao had continued speaking.

"With that out of the way, I'm sure some of you will have noticed that some of the players I called will not be playing in their conventional positions, but it can't be helped as we have to rest some players for the upcoming Europa League game against Bayer Leverkusen,"

"Anyway… We've faced off against Vitoria de Guimares twice already this season and we've lost once while barely managing to win the second time, so this time I want a different result… a bolder result,"

"Thanks to our new wing-focused style of play that adds a lot of dynamism to our attacks, I believe it should be much easier to do this, so I'll be explaining what I need from you in the match,"

"Sergio, you'll be playing as the right back and what I need you to do is to keep a tight hold of your marker while making sure to always be able to support your teammates whenever they burst out on the attack," Sergio said to Sergio Oliveira while drawing out some markings on the board to further explain what he meant.

"As for you Mattheus, you'll be playing as an inverted wing-back, so you'll only stay on the left wing whenever we are in a defensive situation, but whenever we have possession or are on the attack, you will move to the central parts of the midfield to support our attacking endeavors,"

"Of course, this means that we may be subject to quick counters on the left side of the field whenever you're out of possession, but that's exactly what we should make them think as Danilo will be staying back with the other two center-backs to defend whenever you are not able to track back quick enough, so if they attack from the left, they will be met by a blockade in form of Diogo, Chancel, and Danilo while you close them down from behind,"

"It may sound like a clever idea, but I'll need your full efforts to pull this off as it wouldn't be easy to stop their attacks when they are that close to our goal, but I'm sure I can trust you guys, am I right?" Sergio asked generally while explaining the team's tactics.

"Yes coach," Mattheus Uribe, Diogo Leite, Chancel Mbemba, and Danilo Pereira echoed as they were the recipient of the head manager's question.

"Good, so for the attack, Romario will play as a center midfielder mostly but he will join the attack and play as an attacking midfielder whenever we are on the attack while I trust that Luiz and Jesus already know what to do on the wings as well, correct?" Sergio Conceicao continued explaining before asking another question again.

"Yes coach," this time it was Luiz Diaz and Jesus Corona who answered the head manager.

"Good, you'll have to make sure to keep the opposing team's defense on tenterhooks throughout the match, run at them whether you have the ball or not, and don't give them any time to catch their breath," Sergio Conceicao went on to explain despite their answers and even drew lines on the board to indicate what he wanted them to do.

"Finally, the two strikers will cooperate with the wingers and midfielders to find space to run in behind and free themselves from their markers. You have to make sure to keep up with the wingers whenever they're breaking through the opponents' defensive line, is that clear?" Sergio asked to see if his strikers were listening and they responded just in time for him to know that they were following his words.

"Yes, coach," Ze Luis and Moussa Marega quickly responded, eliciting a nod of approval from the head manager.

"As for the players on the bench, I hope you were listening to the roles I gave each position because when and if I bring you on, you would probably have to follow the same instructions unless I say otherwise," Sergio Conceicao continued, but even after speaking, he didn't give the bench players a chance to respond as he was already speaking again,

"I want you guys back on the pitch right now, you'll be playing a fifteen-minute scrimmage against other team members and be following the instructions I just gave you, so move quickly, we don't have much time and you guys need enough rest for the game tomorrow so double up," Sergio Conceicao hurriedly sent the players back on the field so they could test-run and adjust the tactics quickly.

The players trudged back to the field under the command of the coach and they soon began the scrimmage match with the head manager barking out instructions on the sidelines and correcting whichever player was not playing according to what he wanted.

Fifteen minutes quickly came and went and despite neither side managing to score a goal from the other during the scrimmage session, it could be seen that they were well organized and didn't have any problems defending or attacking with this formation.

As for whether the tactic would be able to earn them a win at the game remained to be seen, but they had done their parts by preparing for the game and they were finally dismissed to get some rest before the coming day as they would still have to travel to Guimares the next day, and even though it wouldn't be a long trip, being in a bus was still going to be a bit exhausting because of how cramped it was.

The bench players weren't opportune to take part in the scrimmage game, and they just watched from the side, but neither of them really cared at this point, especially Jason as he was still feeling bubbly at finally cracking the team's line-up.

But even though he had cracked the line-up, he still wasn't going to let up on his training so even after the team training ended and the players started leaving, Jason still stayed behind to do a few more individual drills before leaving the training grounds.