Rise of a Football God

Chapter 127 Rest, reset, refocus

After sending his family off at the airport, the next thing Sam did was focus on completing his daily system quest.

Once he was done, he went back to his hotel room where he spent less than 30 minutes before taking his car to Craven Cottage.

After over 2 months of staying in England, Sam finally got his first car.

It was a gray Lexus IS 350.

As for his reason for going to Craven Cottage that early? The answer was personal training, Sam went to the stadium to train.

Yes, Coach Marco Silva gave his players 2 days of rest but that did not mean that Sam was must do exactly as his coach said.

Yesterday was more than enough for him to rest. And after having such an enjoyable time with his family, he felt refreshed already.

He already rested to reset, shedding all the mental exhaustion of the past 2 months of grueling English football. And now, Sam was ready to refocus again.

Afterall, winning the EFL Cup was not the end of the world.

The premier league season was yet to come to an end.

Besides, after going through such a significant upgrade in terms of his football skills which resulted in his talent rating increasing to S tier, Sam was determined to live up to the expectations on his shoulders.

He wanted to use today to acclimatize with his new abilities and masteries, getting a full grasp over them before training resumed tomorrow.

And arriving at Craven Cottage, that was exactly what Sam did.

He trained from morning till afternoon and when the sun became scorching, he went home before returning around 5 in the evening. He trained for another hour and 30 minutes before finally retreating home for good.

With that training, Sam shrugged off any effects of the grueling final between Chelsea that still remained. He was back in tip-top shape.

That evening, Marco Silva who was already informed by the stadium staff about his star player who came for training today finally sent the next fixture details to his players.

Their next opponent was Brighton in the premier league.

(Premier League:)

(Fulham – Brighton)

(Date: 2nd March, 2024)

Due to the clashing schedule of the EFL Cup final, Fulham's league game against Manchester United was postponed and a new date was yet to be decided.

This was why they focused on the Brighton game next.

…

The next day, Sam returned to his normal schedule.

Waking up early, completing his daily system quest, getting to the stadium for training faster than every other player, Sam was back.

When coach Marco Silva came for training, he patted his young prodigy by the head, holding back the words he intended to say.

And when training commenced, it was clear that something changed.

To many of the Fulham players, the EFL Cup was their first ever won trophy and after winning it, it did something magical to their confidence.

All the Fulham players trained at a level higher than what they did before. It was clear that the mood in the Fulham camp was a positive one.

The next day, it was the same thing as all the players trained at a level higher than what they normally did and when they eventually welcomed Brighton to Craven Cottage on 2nd May, they taught Brighton football.

Very few people saw it coming despite Fulham's current form.

Muniz led the line from the front as the striker.

And having forced his way into Fulham's starting XI in the important game against Chelsea, Alex Iwobi retained his spot behind Muniz in the left wing.

The 4-man attack was completed by Sam's intimidating presence in attacking midfield and Harry Wilson on the right wing.

Reed and Lukic sat on top the defense as the double pivot for this game, while the 4-man defense comprised of Adarabioyo and Calvin Bassey in central defense. Robinson started as the left back, while Castagne started on the opposite side.

Unlike Fulham's 4-2-3-1 formation, Brighton started with a 3-4-2-1 formation and it was with this formation that Fulham thrashed their fellow English club.

Despite the likes of Evans Ferguson, Enciso, and Estupinian all starting with Lewis Dunk in central defense, none of them could stop what Fulham had for them.

It started early, as early as the 21st minute.

Muniz created the first goal, setting up his right winger, Wilson after some incredible hold up play as Wilson netted the first Fulham goal.

11 minutes later, Wilson turned provider as he set Muniz up after a mazy run down the right side of the pitch.

It was set up for Muniz perfectly, leaving the Fulham striker to tap into an empty net and with that, all Brighton momentum was killed.

For the rest of the first half, Fulham FC dominated.

When second half started though, Brighton improved their gameplay, rushing at Fulham with revenge in mind but the Fulham players stayed compact.

Lukic and Reed both had a decent game as defensive midfielders as they helped the defenders hold the fort, and when Lukic was eventually replaced by Palhinha, this game was killed for good.

The imposing defensive midfielder asserted his authority over the game immediately after he entered, snuffing off all Brighton attacks.

And of course, another stand-out was Sam.

He may not have played a big role in both goals in the first half, but Sam was having an amazing game still as he pinged the ball around in midfield, having an impressive 98% pass accuracy.

Fulham dominated the midfield battle with his help.

Despite the dominance, Brighton refused to give up until after 90 minutes the nail was added to the coffin, sealing their fates.

This time, it was Sam.

Having played a tidy game as more of a central midfielder this game, Sam finally did what he did best, floating a dangerous cross into the Brighton box from the right, igniting a chaotic scramble in the box.

Despite the chaos, a Fulham player dominated as Alex Iwobi rose above his marker, planting a firm header towards goal in the 90th plus 1 minute.

Alex Iwobi scored the goal that destroyed all Brighton spirits in the stadium.

The game ended 3-0 in Fulham's favor.

Muniz won the man of the match award for his incredible performance despite being subbed out of the game at some point in the second half.

It was a triumphant Fulham return to league play after their EFL Cup heroics.