Chapter 34 - 32 - On the Same Sheet

Chapter 34: Chapter 32 - On the Same Sheet

Here, the covering player had already recognised the danger and crossed the distance before Rafael could complete the action.

"Reset," the assistant called.

Rafael returned to his starting position.

The next time he faced Vasseur, the route had already changed.

The centre-back angled his stance toward the blind side Rafael had used and left Rafael a different picture.

Caron looked forward.

Rafael stayed where he was.

The pass went elsewhere.

As they moved with the attack, Vasseur glanced toward him.

"Thought I’d give you that twice?"

Rafael almost smiled. "Was hoping."

"You can keep hoping."

The ball returned toward their side, and both players immediately turned their attention back to it.

By the time the session moved into a shortened game, the real difference between the levels had become harder to miss.

At U19 level, Rafael’s experience often allowed him to reach the answer before the defenders around him.

Here, being early sometimes only brought him level with everyone else.

Caron played passes before Rafael finished asking for them. Vasseur adjusted after seeing a movement once. Covering defenders reacted while the first duel was still developing, and the goalkeeper shifted before a shooting lane completely opened.

Renaud remained the more dependable option when the attack needed a forward who could receive directly with a defender already leaning through him. Rafael found more room when possession travelled quickly enough to keep the centre-backs from setting themselves first.

Neither forward dominated the session.

When the head coach ended the work, players began collecting the equipment without waiting to be asked.

Renaud passed Rafael with two balls under one arm.

"Vasseur?"

Rafael looked at him. "You knew?"

"He did the same thing to me the first year I came up."

Renaud continued toward the equipment trolley before Rafael could ask anything else.

That was enough information.

Rafael could not add three years of physical development before the next session, but he could decide how often Vasseur was allowed to use the advantage he already had.

The following morning, Renaud was still competing for every useful pass as though Monday’s conversation between them had never happened.

Rafael preferred it that way.

Over the next few sessions, Rafael stopped volunteering for physical contests that offered him little in return.

He learned that Caron released the ball almost as soon as a useful movement appeared, while another midfielder usually needed an extra touch before looking forward. Vasseur wanted contact established early, so Rafael offered him fewer stationary targets and started using the defender’s movement rather than fighting directly against his strength.

The level never became comfortable, but Rafael gradually wasted fewer actions trying to force academy solutions into senior situations.

By Friday, the sessions had shifted toward Sunday’s friendly.

Renaud spent more of the tactical work with the group containing the likely opening players, while Rafael trained with the other side.

There was no reason for Rafael to argue with the hierarchy.

Renaud had been the more reliable direct option all week.

Friday’s tactical game gave Rafael a different problem.

His side were defending without the ball when the goalkeeper passed short toward the centre-back nearest Rafael.

Rafael started forward but curved his run rather than attacking the player directly.

The angle removed the easiest pass back through midfield.

The centre-back looked toward the full-back.

Rafael’s winger was still several metres away.

"Go!" Rafael called.

The winger stepped.

The centre-back played wide anyway.

His full-back received with pressure arriving from the outside and Rafael blocking the simple return inside.

The first touch ran too far.

Caron stepped onto the loose ball.

Within seconds, the right winger had possession inside the penalty area and drove a low shot toward the goalkeeper.

The keeper blocked it with his legs.

"Good!" the assistant shouted. "Same trigger together."

Another ball was already being rolled into play.

Rafael turned and recovered his position.

He had not received the ball during the attack, but the senior staff had asked during the meeting whether he could remain useful when chances did not reach him.

This time, he had.

The tactical game continued without the coaches moving him into Renaud’s group or treating one correct press as anything larger than it was.

Rafael expected nothing else.

The preliminary plan for Sunday’s friendly appeared outside the senior changing area after training.

The opening group was listed first, followed by the remaining players selected for the match.

Several senior players checked it and continued toward the dressing room without much reaction.

Rafael waited until the space around the sheet cleared.

His eyes moved first toward centre-forward.

Mathieu Renaud.

Renaud would begin the match.

Rafael continued down until he found his own name among the players outside the opening eleven.

Rafael Morales.

He read it once more.

The decision made sense.

Whenever the senior attack needed a fixed target during the week, Renaud had provided one more reliably. He was stronger through contact, understood the rhythm of this group better and had already spent time in senior preseason environments.

Rafael’s opportunity would come later.

How much later was not written anywhere.

"Found it?"

Renaud had stopped beside him.

"Yeah."

Renaud looked toward the opening group.

"Fresh centre-backs for me, then."

"You’ve done it before."

"That doesn’t make them lighter."

Rafael smiled.

Renaud looked once toward Rafael’s name before walking into the dressing room.

There was no need for either of them to pretend the order did not matter.

Renaud remained ahead.

The first time Rafael had lived through this summer, that had been the entire story because Renaud entered the senior group while Rafael stayed behind.

Now Rafael’s name appeared on the same match plan.

The coaching staff had selected him because they intended to assess him, but the sheet did not tell him whether his opportunity would begin at halftime, after an hour or much later.

Sunday would answer that.

Renaud would start at centre-forward, while Rafael would have to wait for his turn.

However many minutes the coach eventually gave him would have to be enough.