Chapter 149: Volume 2, - 149: Where the Second Ball Falls

Chapter 149: Volume 2, Chapter 149: Where the Second Ball Falls

The grey northern light filtered through the hotel dining room windows, catching the steam rising off heavy ceramic mugs of black coffee. Friday morning in Liverpool carried a brisk, damp bite that contrasted sharply with the stifling heat of Lisbon, prompting the travelling party to linger over breakfast while performance staff monitored hydration logs.

The room hummed with cutlery against porcelain and sleepy conversation. At the end of a long table, Afonso Morel slumped over his porridge, while Eduardo Quaresmo debated English toast thickness with a nutritionist.

Rayan sat midway down, nursing an Americano and checking his itinerary.

"If anyone tells me butter isn’t a carbohydrate, I’m locking myself in my room," Quaresmo muttered, tossing a piece of toast aside.

"You just can’t handle a proper breakfast, Eduardo," Rayan grinned.

A sudden clatter broke the murmurs. Pedro hurried into the room, sliding into an empty chair forty seconds past eight.

"Late," Morel announced. "That’s five hundred euros for the fine jar."

"My room key didn’t register," Pedro shot back, snatching a banana.

By ten to ten, the room shifted into sharp focus. The squad filtered down into the basement tactical room, cool and smelling of fresh printer toner. Rui Amorim leaned against the front desk, his gaze sweeping over the players.

"Let’s look at what we’re walking into tomorrow," Rui said. "Goodison is tight, and if you give them a loose ball in the middle third, they live off the chaos. André, cue up clip four."

The screen flickered, showing footage from Everton’s pre-season. Jordan Pickfort lined up a deep clearance launched toward the centre-circle. Dominic Calvert-Lewis charged forward to contest the aerial duel against the opposition central defender. The two rose together, and the header glanced down into the central zone.

André paused the frame.

Abdoulaye Ducoure had surged past the initial line of contact, reading the flight path, while Amadou Onano and James Garnet stepped aggressively toward the drop zone.

"First duel contested," Rui said. "Now look around the zone. Where is the second wave?"

Rayan stared at the screen, focusing initially only on the aerial challenge.

"Rayan," Rui’s voice snapped across the room. "If Calvert-Lewis disrupts that first contact, why are we under pressure three seconds later?"

"Because... the midfield isn’t tracking the runners arriving from deep?" Rayan offered.

"They aren’t tracking because they’re ball-watching," Rui corrected. "Football at this level isn’t decided in the air. It’s decided where the second ball falls. If you lose the knockdown in the central channel, the first duel meant nothing."

André unpaused the clip, showing Onano securing the knockdown and a swift vertical pass into the half-space.

Hidemasa Morino leaned forward. "If we step up too early to win the first header, the drop zone opens up behind our pivots. We need the holding midfielder dropping two yards deeper."

"Exactly," Rui nodded. "Inásio, what happens to your line if the second ball drops between you and the midfield?"

Gonçalo Inásio adjusted his collar. "We get pinned. We have to squeeze the pitch vertically."

Viktor Gyoker chimed in. "I don’t care where the first knockdown goes if our inside forwards aren’t running past me to collect the second phase. If I’m fighting their centre-backs for a direct ball, I need someone within five yards."

Pedro Gonsalves disagreed with a pressing trigger. "If we press the second ball too aggressively out wide, the switch opens up instantly. We have to trap them against the sideline."

"Hold on," Morino interjected, raising a hand to challenge Gonsalves’s assertion. "If we trap them too wide without closing the half-space, Garnet will just clip it diagonal to Iwoba. We need the ball-side pivot locking down the inside channel before we even think about the touchline."

"Only if the winger has already tucked in to cover the central rotation," Gonsalves countered, gesturing sharply at the tactical board overlay. "If the winger is caught high up the pitch, the pivot is left exposed against two runners."

Rui let the debate run for a few seconds, watching the senior players map out the geometric complications before holding up a hand. "Both of you are right, which means neither of you is safe if the communication breaks down. If the press is late by half a second, the second ball belongs to them. Control the drop zone or spend ninety minutes chasing shadows."

André advanced the presentation to a second sequence. The video showed Pickfort again striking a long clearance, but this time pressure from the opposition forced the clearance slightly wider towards the left channel. The ball dropped near the touchline, where Alex Iwoba had collapsed inward to collect the clearance.

"Look at the angle," Rui said, pausing the frame instantly. "When they can’t go through the middle, they flood the wide channel. Coatez, what is your trigger here?"

Coatez narrowed his eyes at the screen. "Shift across, squeeze the space, and don’t let Iwoba turn inside."

"Good," Rui said. "Now, André, cue clip six."

The new clip displayed a chaotic sequence where the opposition won the initial defensive header cleanly, yet failed to secure the resulting scramble. Everton’s midfield swarmed the loose ball, recycling possession immediately into the penalty area before the defensive line could recover its shape.

Rayan kept his pen moving across his notepad, logging the sequence of errors: the initial clearance lacked depth, the holding midfielder hesitated on the blind side, and the second wave capitalised instantly. He realised that against a side like Everton, defending didn’t end when the ball was cleared high; it only reset when a teammate safely secured the spot where the second ball landed.

Midway through the session, as André transitioned to Everton’s wide delivery patterns in open play, Rayan raised his hand.

"Boss," Rayan asked. "If the first cross gets half-cleared and the second ball drops outside the far-side centre-back, do you want the winger collapsing inside, or does the midfielder stay on that zone?"

Rui turned, his eyes locking onto Rayan. "Midfielder first if he can get there. Wing-back stays with the back-post runner. The winger tucks underneath so we don’t lose the next pass. If you’re out there tomorrow, read the clearance before it lands."

The manager didn’t elaborate. The instruction was conditional: ’If you’re out there.’

Rayan kept his pen moving, jotting down shorthand reminders. He replayed Rui’s phrasing in his mind. ’Was that a hint? Or just standard preparation for every travelling squad member?’

When the review concluded shortly before eleven, the players stood up. Rayan caught up with Pedro near the doorway. "Did the boss mention anything during individual meetings about who’s starting?"

Pedro gave him a flat look. "You’re on the travel group. Stop overthinking it. Just be ready when your name gets called, if it gets called."

Rayan swallowed an irritated sigh.

"Lunch in thirty minutes, then recovery and prep before we head over to Goodison for stadium familiarisation," a performance coach barked.

The squad transitioned toward the dining area, the rest of the match-eve routine waiting. Before turning away, Rayan cast one final glance at the paused frame on the screen where a contested header drifted toward the ground, waiting for someone to claim the second ball.