Football Lord - Chapter 28

Saturday was already here and there opponents for the day was Everton who were to come and play at man city.

Tony had trained with the team very well this week. He could only actively achieve a football skill from other players.

But could still achieve conditions for more than one skill a day that had conditions of training together for specific minutes, as most of them had the same number of minutes.

But couldn’t copy more than one skill that had required specific actions

Tony’s stat had also improved to a more than average player of a youth academy player even if he could not yet be considered to a player that could play for the first team. He was still considered to be a very good player in the academy.

Name: Tony Lane

Age: 18yrs old

Basic stats

Football Knowledge B-

Strength C-

Agility B+

Football Technique B+

Football Skills B+

Free Kick Taking C+

Heading C-

Long Shots C+

Finishing C+

Crossing C+

Passing B+

Speed C+

Stamina C-

Defending C-

Leadership C+

He had improved his skills a little during the week. He had improved his Leadership to C+, Defending to C- and his free kick taking to a C+.

He now no longer had any skill of a grade D, but still had plenty of skills in the C grade. He and Rose had now decided to improve the other skills with C grade to B grades.

The line up against Everton had been announced but Tony and John were still on the bench for the match.

Tony was still a little shocked about not being on the starting 11 but he had already prepared his heart for anything before the starting 11 were announced on Friday for the match against Everton.

He had no option than to accept the choice of the Coach. He could only wait till he had another opportunity to impress the coaches when he got on the pitch.

On Saturday, all the players in the match squad arrived early and prepared for the beginning of the match. Tony and John got to the academy early enough that morning together in his car.

The remaining Under 18 players that were not chosen to be in the match squad were all required to come watch the match like normal fans.

The players in the squad got ready and prepared for the match to begin. The match was man city first home game of the season and they wanted to win it in front of there fans.

The match was about to start as the stadium was about half filled with mostly fans of man city.

The Academy Stadium was filled with over a thousand fans, with the players family and friends mostly in the stands.

Tony’s Family also came for the match, as they came out to watch Tony play in the game.

Both starting 11 players came out as the match was about to begin. Tony who was among the substitute players sat at the bench with the other substitutes and Staffs as he watched the match.

It was still the same player that was chosen to play in the position of the attacking midfielder in the previous match against Wolves was the one that started this same match.

The match soon began with Everton kicking off the match. The Everton team was considered above average as they had many players with skills of Grade B and C’s.

They passed the ball accurately among themselves as they searched for opportunities to put the ball in the net.

Man City defended well as they were being concise and compact when they were not with the ball.

The atmosphere from the fans was nothing compared to the atmosphere and fanfare for the first teams. The fans usually only clapped or cheered occasionally when a player did something they liked or appreciated.

Around the 15th minute, the best chance of the match so far was wasted by Everton, as there striker was given a clean one on one opportunity against man city’s keeper.

The Everton striker rushed towards the keeper with the ball and took a shot that just skimmed the outside of the right upright bar.

Immediately after the missed chance a sigh of relief could be heard from fans of man city.

Both teams had similar amounts of possession as they both created chances for there teammates, but none of them was successfully buried.

The attacking midfielder of man city created a narrow chance for the right winger. But the shooting angle was tight as he could only send the ball straight to the keeper.

The Coaching team of man city discussed amongst themselves as they searched for an approach to get a goal.

They tweaked the set up of the team as the man city players moved there positions a little upward.

Man city which employed a tactics of 4-5-1 now changed the formation to a 4-4-2. With the attacking midfielder now also playing as a striker.

After the formation change there was a notable difference in the game play, as they now played mostly from the wing.

Around the 43rd minute a goal was finally scored by the attacking midfielder of man city.

The left winger of man city held the ball as he drove into the left defender of Everton and dribbled past him. His drive made the Everton players to be wary of him as the central defenders also paid attention to him.

As the left winger drove in, he saw an opportunity to shoot at goal but passed the ball towards the striker.

The striker saw the ball coming towards him but had the alertness to know that he was already being closed down and that the attacking midfielder of man city was perfectly positioned beside him.

He let the ball go past him towards the man city attacking midfielder who had the space to control the ball inside the 18 yard box before he released a powerful shot that went into the net.

Immediately there were cheers coming from the fans in the stadium who celebrated the goal as the players also gathered to celebrate around the attacking midfielder.

The game soon resumed as man city successfully defended there lead for the rest of the match, while Everton tried there best but couldn’t score a goal back.

Until the half time whistle was blown and the players went to the locker rooms for the half time.