Not Yet -3
“Then why don’t you go give it a shot?”
At first, I thought he was saying this in a “don’t get cocky” kind of tone.
Because I, a nobody, had dared to rattle off the shortcomings of the first-team seniors.
I thought he was saying it like, “You think that’s easy? Then since you know so much, you go try it.”
But that wasn’t it.
The Coach was asking me with a serious face.
“What do you think?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you think you could cut it in the first team too?”
“Ah, how could I dare…”
“A player who can breathe creativity into the attack. In my opinion, that’s exactly you, Jian.”
“Uh…”
I was so taken aback that I couldn’t answer and just stammered, so the Coach waved his hand and spoke.
“Ah, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not telling you to go up to the first team right this moment. That’s something Coach Vincenzo and the higher-ups will decide. I’m just asking whether you’ve ever felt like you wanted to play in the first team.”
Hmm…
I fell into thought for a moment at the Coach’s words.
To be honest, well.
If I imagine playing in the first team, the first thing that comes to mind is fear.
Because I saw what the atmosphere at the stadium was like yesterday.
Playing a match at the Artemio Stadium was on a completely different level from playing at the youth stadium.
At the youth stadium, there were at most a hundred spectators, but there it was tens of thousands.
Just imagining playing soccer in the middle of that was burdensome.
Besides, I wasn’t confident I would be any different.
In other words, unlike when I sat comfortably in the stands watching, I didn’t think I could read the game on the pitch, find solutions, and provide the answers.
How could someone like me do what even the first-team seniors couldn’t? I was only sixteen, and my skills were still far from enough.
But… that wasn’t what the Coach was asking right now.
He was asking whether I wanted to play.
If that was the answer…
“I—I have thought I wanted to play. Just for a moment, a very brief moment…”
It was brief, but I had thought it.
That I wanted to play out there.
Well… it was because of Jiu, after all.
If Jiu saw thousands, tens of thousands cheering for me…
Ah, no.
I can at least imagine it. Just imagine.
I just think it would be satisfying and nice.
I’m not saying I could score goals if I went to the first team…
Anyway.
I had thought that.
“Really? You’ve had thoughts like that?”
I nodded at the Coach’s words.
Then the Coach smiled faintly.
“That’s good. Good.”
With that faint smile, the Coach tapped the desk with a ballpoint pen, tap, tap, and sat there for a while before speaking with a serious face a moment later.
“The older people get, the more timid they become. They start avoiding challenges. Because they have more to lose. So they only choose the safe path. And nothing changes that way.”
“…”
“That’s what makes being young so great. You can challenge anything. Because you don’t have much to lose. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Change doesn’t happen without young blood taking on challenges like that.”
Hmm.
The words were a bit difficult, but since the Coach was speaking quite seriously, I listened closely.
It was the first time he’d spoken so seriously.
“In short, challenges with nothing to lose are the privilege of young players. While others are risking their lives diving, you alone can strap on a line and bungee jump. So there’s no need to be scared.”
The Coach looked at me subtly and smiled.
“No one criticizes a young player who takes on a challenge like that. Everyone cheers for him to do well. They even envy him. That’s what it means to be young… perhaps it’s animal instinct. I went off on a tangent, but what I want to say is this. There’s no need to fear challenges. If an opportunity comes, don’t hesitate. You don’t have anything to lose anyway, right?”
I fell into thought for a moment at the Coach’s words, then nodded.
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good, good. Go get some rest. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
I stood up from my seat, bowed politely, and left the coach’s office.
And I walked down the hallway, slowly chewing over what the Coach had said.
Challenge…
Yeah. Maybe there’s no need to be so scared.
But, Coach…
You might not know, but actually, I don’t have nothing at all to lose…
It’s because of that, somehow, that I’ve come this far.
Still, well…
When I trained with Coach Luca, and when I faced Juventus, I had felt something too.
That the joy you can gain from overcoming fear and challenging is great.
…But why did he suddenly say all that?
I don’t know.
I headed home with many thoughts.
. . .
Fiorentina A-Team training ground.
The training ground was quiet since training hours had ended.
“Why, you’ve been working hard.”
“Welcome.”
Someone had come to the coach’s office.
It was Coach Tony. Vincenzo Italiano, the A-Team coach who had even brewed coffee in advance to wait for him, welcomed him happily.
“Look at this, you’ve been working so hard your hair is falling out even more.”
“Shut up and sit down.”
Coach Vincenzo was a skinhead with a fearsome face, so Coach Tony, who threw over-the-line jokes without hesitation, looked like a madman, but the two were close friends.
Coach Vincenzo trusted Coach Tony as much as he trusted his own assistant coach.
“Lately, looking at you, you’ll live a very long life. Because you get cursed at so much.”
“I’m numb to it by now.”
“‘We’ve endured all we can! Vincenzo out!’ You can stay numb even when that happens?”
“I’ve endured all I can too.”
The two coaches chuckled and sipped strong espresso.
“Now, this is the taste.”
Furrowing his brow in admiration at the coffee’s taste, Coach Tony spoke.
“What do they say? At the front office.”
“Front office?”
“How much they said they’d spend in the winter.”
“Well… we’ll have to see, but they said if we can’t hold onto Dusan, we can reinvest about one-third of his transfer fee.”
“One-third? Why are they being so generous?”
“They say that, but I have to be able to believe it.”
Both coaches smiled bitterly at the same time.
Currently, Fiorentina’s results weren’t bad, but separate from the results, they were receiving a lot of criticism.
The cause was, of course, their performance.
Somehow they were barely eking out wins riding their luck, but the play itself was stifling.
To the point where watching fans complained of suffocation.
It was a time when something needed to change.
To make matters worse, with winter approaching, Fiorentina had to worry not about reinforcing the squad but about losing players.
It was because of the team’s star striker, Dusan Vlahovic.
Vlahovic, who had continued his decent performance this season following last season, was a player who could be said to be practically keeping the current Fiorentina afloat single-handedly.
But now, that very Vlahovic had refused to renew his contract.
Then clubs all over Europe had already started showing interest in him.
At the latest next summer, or as early as this winter, his transfer was virtually certain.
If even he left, it was truly a hopeless situation.
If winter reinforcements didn’t work out properly, they would have to write off this season early and prepare for next season.
That’s why Coach Vincenzo felt like even his nonexistent hair was falling out these days.
“So, do you have a replacement marked?”
“I have a list.”
“A striker, right?”
“Of course.”
The club president was said to be a skinflint, but he had promised investment anyway.
Fiorentina had to quickly find a replacement for Vlahovic starting now.
Coach Vincenzo was also pouring most of his free time into that.
Coach Tony, sipping his espresso, spoke.
“Do you still not have any intention of trusting me just once?”
“…Are you talking about what you said before?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Coach Vincenzo couldn’t answer easily at Coach Tony’s words and fell into thought.
It had been a few days ago.
A long message had come from Coach Tony.
The entire content of that message was about one young player, and according to Coach Tony, he was an enormous talent who could solve all of their current worries.
A talent who could become a commander in midfield who dictates the game, a fantasy star who can breathe creativity into the attack, or a solver who can resolve things alone when a goal is needed.
He said the future Fiorentina would definitely become a team centered around him, and that they needed to start preparing for that now.
However.
He was only sixteen, and still needed time and experience for that talent to fully bloom.
Coach Tony had asked him to exercise a bit more patience and take the long view.
He said it wouldn’t even take that long.
If he just gained experience in the youth team during this season, starting next season he could contribute to the first team immediately.
So instead of reinforcing the attack right away in winter, invest in a midfielder as the second priority.
Endure with that, and when he’s slowly ready around the latter half, bring him up to the first team briefly to give him a taste.
And then with the money saved in winter, make proper investments in summer to completely overhaul the team, and start fresh for real next season. That was Coach Tony’s opinion.
“…”
Coach Vincenzo had known Coach Tony for a long time. So he knew. That he wasn’t a man to make a fuss.
Since such a man was saying that, Coach Vincenzo couldn’t help but think it over again and again.
Even though it was an absurd opinion when you thought about it.
Wasn’t it, actually?
Enduring half a season trusting just one 16-year-old prospect?
If it hadn’t been Coach Tony who said it, it would have been nonsense not worth reconsidering. They would have dismissed it as the prattle of someone who doesn’t know this industry well.
It was only because it was Coach Tony who had said it that he could think it over once more.
Of course, it was also true that he couldn’t help but be negative even so.
“Well… I am giving it serious thought.”
“You’ve seen the records and video we sent, right?”
“Well, I’ve been so busy lately.”
“You haven’t watched it yet? Shall I leave a handprint on your head?”
“…”
See this.
No matter how close they were, someone who used to subtly cross the line was now blatantly stepping over it.
Just how good was that kid to make him so impatient?
By now Coach Vincenzo couldn’t help but be curious. The situation was already bad from the start, after all.
In the end, Coach Vincenzo let out a deep sigh, then nodded with a face that still showed reluctance.
“Then, I’ll take a look.”
“That’s a good decision. You at least have to take a look. Then you can judge, and you won’t be any worse off for it.”
“Send him sometime next week. To the training ground.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll watch him train once… well, let’s talk more with plenty of time.”
“Understood. Let’s do that.”
Only then did Coach Tony nod in satisfaction, and Coach Vincenzo burst into a short laugh at the sight.
They drained the rest of their coffee.
“Well, if things go well, I’ll give you the assistant coach spot. I can do that much.”
“Assistant coach?”
“Yeah. Come under me.”
“Hey. How does a male lion go under a female lio… ack!”
“Puhahahat!”
At the female lion joke, Coach Vincenzo pretended to throw coffee at him with his empty cup, and Coach Tony flinched, at which Coach Vincenzo cackled.
. . .
Over the weekend, I went on an away trip to a city called Modena located near Bologna.
They said Modena FC was the bottom team in our group, so perhaps because of that, the match felt easy.
Moreover, since the previous match had been an away game against Juventus, it felt even more so.
I only played the first half in that match, and recorded 2 goals and 1 assist in 45 minutes.
Well, it wasn’t a particularly standout record worth bragging about.
Because we ended up winning that match 7-1.
Anyway, I finished another week like that.
The following Monday was recovery training.
And today, the next day, I was heading to the training ground as usual.
“Yo—Jian.”
“Hello.”
As I entered the training ground entrance, Coach Luca greeted me. I also bowed in greeting and was about to head to the clubhouse when the coach called out to stop me.
“Jian. There’s somewhere I need to go with you today.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah. The Coach told me to.”
“Where?”
I tilted my head at the coach’s sudden words, and he said.
“The first team training ground. We’re training there today.”
“…Ah, yes…”
Maybe it was because there had been so many surprises lately.
That now no matter what I heard, it wasn’t very surpri—
“What!? Where did you say we’re going!?”
“The first team training ground.”
No, but still, this is a bit…!?
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