Once the assistant coach blew the whistle, the reserve team kicked things off and the match got off to a start.
The beginning of a match, at least as Tyler was used to, was usually a probing session. Usually, they came up against an academy that they hadn't really heard of and they'd try to figure out what exactly they were capable of.
Here, it was totally different.
As soon as the whistle was blown, the reserves, even if they were the weaker team immediately went on the attack, moving the ball from the center circle into the final third of the opposition half with just three well stringed passes. The speed of play was so fast that Tyler nearly opened his mouth.
But he didn't. He couldn't show his marvel at what most of them probably thought as normal.
Another thing he realized was that there weren't a lot of what he'd call "pointless passes". Every pass played was made with purpose. There wasn't a usual side pass. Every pass was made with intent, either to draw players out and create space for another pass, to progress the ball or to create a chance.
Eventually, Tyler became grateful that Adi Hutter made him start on the sidelines. He couldn't begin to imagine how he'd have fared if he was thrown into either of the two teams without preparing himself mentally.
'I have to work harder'. Tyler thought as he watched the match progress.
In the next minutes, the difference between the two teams started to become evident. The starters slowly started dominating the proceedings, they started having a bit more of the ball and were creating good chances.
In the twentieth minute, as the order of the match went, the starters took the lead.
It came as a result of a very beautiful sequence of play. Lamine Camara and Denis Zakaria played a sequence of one-two passes, leading the former to retain possession on the right flank, just outside the penalty box.
He passed it towards the middle of the small encampment that had already formed, to Maghnes Akliouche. The attacking midfielder felt pressured from behind so he ran towards the ball, but instead of stopping it, he adjusted his body so that it was as if he was going to turn inside. His marker followed his movement, opening his legs and allowing the ball to flow through, going to Takumi Minamino who was just outside the left flank.
Minamino took one touch with the ball and found himself in a one-v-one situation with Wilfried Singo. Minamino drove the ball forward, causing Singo to backpedal a bit. When Minamino took his third step, Singo suddenly stretched out his leg to make a tackle.
It seemed like Minamino anticipated Singo's sudden movement, because he moved fasted and cut inside with his right foot, drove forward and cut inside again, moving the ball away from another outstretched leg, this time belonging to Christain Mawissa.
After Minamino cut past the two defenders, he took a shot, a very cute finesse shot towards the bottom of the near post.
Phillip Kohn immediately dove to his right, but even though the shot looked slow, he couldn't get to it on time. Minamino's shot went into the back of the net, and as was expected, the first team went ahead.
Tyler was stunned when he watched the goal. Although Adi Hutter had given them tactics and instruction to be implemented, most of the goal came down to the sheer individual quality from the players that were playing.
Maghnes Akilouche's spatial awareness. Minamino's direct dribbling and finish. Those were things that took a lot of personal effort to develop.
For the first time since he started training with them, it fully hit Tyler that he was playing against professional footballers with a lot more experience than him, and not people within the same age range.
For the upteenth time in what was just a training game, Tyler realized that he had o get better, and he had to do so very quickly.
"What the actual fuck?" Tyler muttered as soon as Minamino finished celebrating and the match started. He was still shocked by how fast the goal came about. Watching a match on the TV and witnessing it live were two completely different things. People said it a lot, but Tyler finally got the gist of it after watching a training session.
'Fuck me, this is just a training session. These guys are going easy on each other. What the fuck does an actual match look like then?'
"They're unbelievable right?" Tiago Ribeiero, one of the academy boys who, like Tyler, wasn't included in any one of the teams said after hearing Tyler swear.
"They really are". Tyler replied while not taking his eyes off the ongoing match.
"I can't believe how much the difference between youth football and the first team is. All they told me was that I was going to be introduced to a whole new level of football. They didn't tell me that it was going to be this much higher".
Tyler chuckled when he heard what Tiago said. It was the same for him.
"I was a bit pissed when I wasn't named, but not anymore. I think I'm going to need time to adjust to this". Tyler said.
The match continued after Minamino's goal. The reserve team started to play a lot better after picking up the ball from the back of the net, and if the match wasn't intense enough, things only went up from there.
The first half ended after thirty minutes, and the second half commenced. The two sides created a few chances, but ultimately, the score-line remained the same.
Tyler was busy admiring the football that he was watching when Adi Hutter walked over to where Tyler, Tiago and the other two youth players were and wrapped their arms around them.
"You guys get ready, you're going in soon". He said, he then turned to directly face Tyler. "I hope you don't disappoint me".
A/N: Second chapter coming later today