He only joined the school team yesterday, but he wishes to make his debut in the national competition tomorrow...it shouldn't be that straightforward.
First and foremost, Coach Carter is an exceptionally sophisticated and steadfast coach.
Secondly, even the notion of making an exception to let him play for the school team is beyond everyone's wildest dreams.
Moreover, the reason he performed well in today's intra-team training match is because of the brief playing time, which prevented his flaws from being exposed.
Playing at full force for only 10 minutes is significantly different from playing for 80 minutes.
If they had played the entire game, the left side would have undoubtedly been breached.
Coach Carter has likely noticed this limitation.
Consequently, in tomorrow's national competition, there is little hope of him appearing on stage... At the very least, he cannot start.
Julian considered this calmly and then smiled lightly, "...it's nothing."
Rusty Stripe took a deep breath and said in admiration, "Julian, you're so calm! I'm convinced! By the way...you...cough cough, never mind, never mind."
Rusty Stripe, this burly man, blushed and fidgeted.
Julian asked suspiciously, "What? If you have something to say, just spit it out."
Although Rusty Stripe and Julian are not yet brothers, their previous animosity has long since dissipated.
Rusty Stripe scratched his head awkwardly, "Ah, it's just...do you still have that little note?"
"What little note? Oh!" Julian finally understood, "You mean the cannon, ahem, love letter."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Rusty Stripe asked eagerly, "Do you still have it? Are you still keeping it?"
Julian nodded and said, "Yes, why, do you want it? If you do, just say so!"
Rusty Stripe hastily replied, "No! How could I! Haha! Julian, you're so funny! It's about the upcoming competition, and you're still thinking about that love letter!"
Julian smiled, "Don't worry, I know better."
Rusty Stripe hesitated again, "How about you give me the little note, and I'll get rid of it for you?"
What on earth!
After all that talk, you still want it...
Julian patted Rusty Stripe's broad shoulder and said earnestly, "Rusty Stripe, it's not that I won't give it to you, but I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."
Rusty Stripe blushed, "I, I can, I swear, I... can."
Julian said again, "You should focus on playing football well. Once you're famous, what does it matter about those things between a man and a woman? That's not what you should be thinking about right now."
Rusty Stripe nodded in agreement, "Julian, you're right. Just ignore what I said before—let's go, let's celebrate together!"
As he spoke, Rusty Stripe attempted to pull Julian along to tease Michael.
Julian quickly declined, "No, you guys go ahead and celebrate. I'll pass."
Rusty Stripe grinned, "It's fun, I'll show you a demonstration and you'll see—"
As Rusty Stripe said this, he rushed over like a football player, leaping into the air!
"Wow!"
"Ahh!"
"Mom Fuck..."
"Who the hell put a sausage up my nose..."
The players of the main team were sent flying by Rusty Stripes, rolling on the turf and shouting, making the scene quite lively.
Julian held his forehead, supporting himself as he took a few steps, not wanting to acknowledge that he knew them.
Michael struggled to get up from the turf, seizing the opportunity to taunt the disheartened practice team players:
"Oh, aren't these the substitute siblings who almost made it onto the starting list? Why so sad? Oh? It turns out we got fucked twice in 10 minutes! Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be like this either! But there's no way around it; the strength is here, you can see if you can score with a random kick?"
This was truly despicable.
Even the main team members wanted to beat him after hearing this.
Blind spoke quietly, "To be honest, we could win this time, thanks to that kid Julian! His two passes were really amazing."
Bread also couldn't help but nodded in agreement, saying, "Julian is indeed good at something! Especially the two times he worked with Michael, it's really like they have a tacit understanding! I even suspect that you, Michael, secretly practiced with him."
"If I had practiced with that kid," Michael swore, "I'd be your grandson!"
Rusty Stripe laughed, "Grandpa!"
"Get lost!" Michael retorted, his lip curling. "That kid Julian... I think he's just lucky! Look, Coach Carter, that obedient son of yours will definitely have something to say about this. After all, Julian didn't follow the rules and rushed inside, leaving such a huge gap behind him. We're just waiting for the new nickname he'll get."
All eyes turned to Coach Carter.
Though the main team had won, Coach Carter wasn't entirely satisfied with the training match. The wrinkles on his face remained, and his eyes weren't as fiery as usual.
Julian's performance, however, was quite bright.
Carter's instructions to Julian were to secure the left flank and not let it be breached. To his amazement, Julian not only defended well but also initiated three dangerous attacks and scored twice.
Julian had played for only 10 minutes but had managed 6 touches, 2 steals, 2 short passes, 1 save, 1 long pass from the side, and 2 deadly long passes into the interior, as well as 3 sprints over 20 meters...
Such an outcome in a first-team training match truly showcased his talent!
Carter waved to Julian, "Julian, come here."
"Yes, coach," Julian replied calmly, walking up to him.
Carter looked into Julian's eyes and spoke in a solemn tone, "It's your first training match with the first team. Tell me about your feelings."
Julian thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Coach, my first feeling is enjoyment. Yes, playing football is truly enjoyable, especially contributing to the team's advantage. This feeling is great— I truly love playing football, and I wish to continue playing and reach larger and more expansive fields."
"Of course," Julian added, "I've also noticed many areas where I can improve during the 10 minutes I played in this game."
Carter's eyes narrowed in interest, "Such as?"
"Well," Julian considered, "for example..."
Ah, crap~
Coach, do you really want to hear some self-criticism?
Okay then…
Julian took a moment to reflect, "The first issue is the lack of physical fitness."
Physical fitness is a problem that may not be immediately apparent to others, but with the discerning eye of a coach like Carter, who has dedicated most of his life to the stadium, he can spot it at a glance.
Thus, there was no point in Julian trying to conceal his shortcomings from Carter.
Carter nodded slightly, seemingly content with Julian's self-critique, "And what else?"
Julian took a deep breath and admitted, "Our school team is highly confrontational, with rapid transitions between offense and defense. It's my first time playing, and I'm not entirely comfortable yet. Plus, my tacit understanding with my teammates isn't strong enough, but please don't worry, coach. I'll work on improving in these areas systematically."
Coach Carter then smiled with approval, "You're able to identify these problems on your own, which indicates a clear understanding and self-awareness. That's excellent; it suggests that you are incredibly intelligent, certainly much more so than those other players."
Julian responded with admiration, "Thank you, coach."
Coach Carter's perceptiveness was indeed remarkable.
He could even gauge the level of a player's golf quotient, a term used in football to describe a player's natural talent and decision-making ability.
Fortunately, Julian had only played street football in his past life, so his golf quotient wasn't too overwhelming, which could have raised suspicions with Coach Carter. Instead, he was seen as highly talented in the sport.
Julian felt a silent complaint in his heart. If he had played professionally in his previous life, his golf quotient would have been... well, roughly the same.
Coach Carter went on, "Julian, you've also made a common mistake that full-backs tend to commit."
Julian's eyes brightened with interest, and instead of feeling disheartened, he eagerly asked, "Coach, please give me some advice!"
Carter was very pleased with Julian's eagerness, "That's the attitude a good football player should have! Julian, when you're being pressed on the sideline, you need to open your body to control the ball, giving yourself more time and space to advance it..."
As he spoke, Carter proceeded to demonstrate the move personally.
Once Julian experienced the demonstration, he immediately grasped the concept that Coach Carter was explaining.
The other players on the field couldn't believe their eyes as they watched.
"Isn't the coach showing him personally?"
"What happened to the nickname you guys agreed on? Why is he still coaching?"
"Wow... I haven't seen the coach work this hard in ages!"
"I thought the coach would never put in this much effort again after Orin's betrayal..."
"We're just not good enough."
"I'm so jealous of Julian!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-