My Goalkeeping System

Chapter 37 Looking Good Not Looking So Good

"And there you have it, the first half has come to a conclusion," Jim commented as soon as the referee had blown his whistle to mark the end of the second half.

"Unique FC had been the better side so far based on possession and gameplay but a little mistake was all that was needed to put them one goal behind," Steve said.

The match stats on the large screen now showed that Unique FC had sixty percent of the ball after the first half while Ronino FC had forty.

They had played seven shots and got two on target while Ronino FC had played five shots and got two on target.

The hosts were leading in the number of passes and passing accuracy but leading in all these stats didn't exactly matter as they were one goal behind.

The players from both teams were making their way down the tunnel.

Dave had stopped at the sideline to look up toward Emma, the two had immediately established eye contact as she smiled at him and gave him a nod of encouragement.

The goalkeeper walked into the locker room to find his teammates sitting at their designated spots while looking at Norman who was trying to give them some words of encouragement and change up a few things in the tactics.

"Fred, Carlos, I'm just not feeling the vibe from you two." He complained. "The midfielder has been the one doing most of the job so far in trying to get the ball into the back of the net.

He wasn't bluffing in any way when he said, three out of the team's seven shots had come from Ferran with the only two shots on target being among those shots even the one that was off target had come close to becoming a goal compared to the remaining four shots which was two wasted shots from Carlos, one from Edward and an over hit shot from Minino.

Fred had been very quiet in the first with the opposition defense not allowing him to do anything, Ferran had set him up with two through balls during the first half but he had failed to get to any of them before the opposition defenders.

He had also missed a lot of crosses from Carlos, he mistimed three crosses from the forward and had failed to get to a pass from him because he thought he wasn't going to pass, there was just a lack of understanding between the two.

"There's just a lack of understanding between the two of you, I want the two of you to talk to each other on the pitch, establish eye contact know where he is going to be and when he is going to be there." The coach said looking directly at Carlos. "I need that Mateo and Ferran link up from the both of you."

"Well, if you needed the Mateo and Ferran link up then you should have started Mateo," Minino said.

Norman quickly shot a dead stare at him as soon as he had finished saying that.

"I'm just saying." The Midfielder said raising both of his hands.

"And Jonas, I expected more from you." The coach said turning his gaze to Jonas. "I expected you to cause a lot of problems from that wing."

"I tried my best coach, causing problems for that defense isn't as easy as you think," Jonas said.

"I know and that's why I've come up with a way to beat them." The coach said before turning to face the board.

After explaining his new tactics to the players, it was time for them to head back into the pitch for the second half.

"Hey, Dave," Adolf said, stopping Dave just before he could leave the locker room with Mateo.

"Yeah," Dave said, turning to face him.

"The coach didn't tell you this but I think you should know it," Adolf said.

"Okay," Dave said, trying to guess what he was about to tell him in his mind.

"In case we ever make a mistake like that one again, you shouldn't make a mistake of running out like that when the player has the ball glued to his feet." The captain said. "You only attempt a sweep when the ball is away from the feet of a player and he is trying to get to it and shoot."

"Okay," Dave said with a nod. "Thanks for telling me."

<I've already told you that but he doesn't know that so it's okay>

"Just don't be too quick to run out of your line okay."

"Okay," Dave said as Adolf patted him on his shoulder before walking out of the locker room.

"The halftime break is over as we can see the players matching into the pitch now," Jim said. "Another forty-five minutes for Unique FC to try and get an equalizer."

"They are playing really good and have gotten a lot of chances to get that equalizer but if they don't figure out a way to break through Ronino FC's defense then it's going to be another goal drought half for them," Steve said.

Ferran had met up with the coach to ask him a question before stepping into the pitch.

"When are you bringing Mateo in?" The attacking midfielder asked as his gaze slowly shifted toward Mateo on the bench before turning back to him.

"I plan to bring him in before the seventieth minute but if there's no improvement in the finishing then I'm going to have to bring him in earlier than that," Norman said.

"Okay," Ferran said before jogging onto the pitch.

The players were all on the pitch now with Sandro standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee's whistle.

It didn't take long before the official blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the second half.

"The second half is in progress now," Jim said after the referee had blown his whistle.

Ronino FC passed the ball around in their own half to try and draw out Unique FC players and for about three minutes now, they had kept the ball away from the hosts.

Edward tried to dispossess a midfielder who had mistimed a pass from his teammate and had almost lost the ball but the Unique FC Midfielder wasn't successful as the midfielder got away from him with a swift turn before passing the ball to Sandro.

Sandro wasn't looking forward when the ball was passed to him and that was the reason why he didn't know when Adolf swooshed in from behind and stole the ball.

"Oh, that's a clever move from Adolf and now he's moving forward to try and create something," Jim said.

Adolf ran toward the opposition goal area through the middle and just before going deeper into their half, he passed the ball to Edward.

"Edward here!" Carlos yelled as he made a quick run down the right wing.

Edward did as the forward told him and quickly passed the ball to him.

Edward made a quick run down the wing as two defenders tried to close up any opportunity for him to make a cross into the box.

The forward still got an opening to make a cross and it looked like he was going to get a cross but he had feigned the shot to get the players out of the way before turning and rolling the ball to Ferran at the edge of the box.

"Oh, I thought he was going to cross that," Steve said.

Ferran could have gone for a direct short but his path was blocked by two Ronino FC players with another two quickly moving toward him.

He did the only thing he could do at that moment which was pushing the ball back to Edward with a backheel pass before running into the box.

Edward received the ball and quickly pushed it forward a little into the box before passing it back to Ferran just before he was brought down in the box.

His teammates around the area raised their hands for a foul but Ferran didn't mind as he quickly got his foot on the ball and with a swift three-sixty rotation, got away from the defender that was marking him.

"What a turn by Ferran and he's open on goal now!" Jim screamed.

The only thing standing between the midfielder and the goalpost now was the goalkeeper but before he could take the shot, he was brought down from behind under what could be described as a very nasty challenge.

Ferran had hit the floor quickly crouching up on his right leg as it had taken quite a blow from that tackle.

"Oh, no, that was a very nasty challenge from Zileven inside the eighteen-yard box." Jim expressed.

The referee blew his whistle as he quickly rushed to Zileven and showed him a straight red card.

"And he's been shown a straight red card," Jim said.

"The fans and the players on the bench had almost jumped because they knew he was going to score that and then he was brought down by that challenge, that was a very nasty challenge and I think he deserves that red card." Steve gave his opinion.

Ronino FC players had gathered around the referee now complaining about that decision but it didn't look like he was going to change his mind as Zileven was already walking off the pitch.

"This is the second time Zileven is being sent off with a straight red card this season, the defender has built quite a reputation for aggressiveness."

"You can say that again," Steve said.

The medical team had quickly made their way to Ferran with their first aid kits and his teammates were standing around him now.

The midfielder seemed to be in serious pain as he was lying on the floor with his right arm covering his face.

"I think things are starting to look good for Unique FC here, Ronino FC's defense will be weaker now with Zileven being sent off and they've got themselves a chance for an equalizer from the penalty spot," Jim said.

"Yeah, but Ferran is still on the floor and if he goes out under a serious injury, things won't be looking good for Unique FC, especially for the rest of the season," Steve stated.