Chapter 38 - 36 - The New Question

Chapter 38: Chapter 36 - The New Question

He had played in enough versions of it during his first career that the basic principles needed no explanation. One striker could come toward possession while the other maintained depth, or one could occupy the centre-backs while the second worked between lines. The exact movements depended on the players involved.

That was the difficult part.

Rafael knew the system.

He did not know Renaud yet.

The coach pointed toward the midfield position they had removed.

"If we put both of you up there, someone comes out somewhere else. Today it’s a midfielder, which means this shape has to give us enough to justify what we’re giving up."

Rafael nodded.

"Mat, you’re still the reference if we have to go direct. Rafa, work around him, but don’t disappear into midfield. If one comes, the other gives us depth."

"Understood."

Renaud nodded as well.

The exercise restarted, and they immediately arrived in the same place.

Caron received centrally just as Rafael started toward the ball. Renaud moved short at almost the same moment, leaving both forwards in the same lane and neither threatening the space behind the defence.

Caron looked up and stopped his pass.

"One stay!"

Rafael checked his movement, but the moment had gone and Caron sent the ball wide.

As they recovered, Renaud moved closer.

"I was coming for that."

"I know."

"You moved too."

"Because you changed your run after I’d started mine."

Renaud shook his head. "Then tell me."

"You tell me. You’re the one changing it."

The ball went out on the opposite side before either could continue.

Renaud glanced over. "Fine. If I’m coming, I’ll call it."

"Good."

The disagreement ended there.

Rafael knew exactly why the first action had failed. The problem was not a lack of tactical understanding. He had played with strikers who called every movement, others who communicated with a hand, and some whose habits became so familiar that he could read their decision from the way they stood before the pass arrived.

He and Renaud had none of that yet.

On the next possession, Renaud stayed high.

Rafael dropped underneath him and received between midfield and defence, which forced the second centre-back to step forward while Vasseur remained occupied behind Renaud. Rafael returned the ball before pressure arrived, and for a moment the two defenders were separated.

Caron saw the space too late and switched play instead.

The next attack gave them another chance.

Rafael began centrally before drifting several metres toward the left. The second centre-back went with him, leaving Renaud alone against Vasseur.

Caron’s head came up.

"Mat!"

The pass went directly into him.

Vasseur pressed through Renaud’s back, but Renaud had already established his stance and cushioned the ball into Rafael’s path.

Rafael received facing goal with enough room to shoot from twenty metres.

His right foot was already preparing to set the ball when he saw Renaud continue beyond Vasseur.

Rafael slipped the pass into the channel.

Renaud reached it inside the penalty area, but Vasseur recovered quickly enough to force him away from goal. Instead of shooting from the poor angle, Renaud cut the ball back toward Caron, whose effort went over.

They jogged back together.

"Call me if you’re putting that through," Renaud said.

"You were already running."

"I didn’t know you’d seen me."

Rafael nodded. "All right."

Renaud glanced toward him. "That’s it?"

"What else do you want?"

"Nothing. Just checking."

The next ball was already in play.

The partnership remained rough.

Rafael dropped on one attack and Renaud followed out of habit, which left neither player threatening the defensive line. Several minutes later, Rafael expected Renaud to come short and delayed his own movement, only to find the striker staying high against Vasseur.

When the ball went out, Rafael approached him.

"You staying next time?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me before I start moving."

Renaud wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I thought you could see me."

"I could see you. I couldn’t tell whether you were staying there."

Renaud nodded. "Fine. I’m staying."

Caron restarted play.

"Staying!" Renaud called.

Rafael immediately dropped.

The second centre-back followed him, Caron used Rafael once and received the return before ignoring the obvious second pass and playing beyond him toward Renaud.

Vasseur had stepped tight expecting the ball into Renaud’s feet.

Renaud let it travel across his body instead.

Perrin was already cutting in from the right.

Renaud touched the ball into his path, and Perrin reached the penalty area before driving low toward the far corner.

The goalkeeper pushed it around the post.

"Better," the assistant coach called. "Again."

That was all they received.

When the staff expanded the exercise into a larger tactical game, Rafael expected the partnership test to end, but the two-forward shape remained.

Now the familiar tactical principles mattered less than how quickly Rafael and Renaud could learn each other’s habits.

When Renaud pinned Vasseur, Rafael stopped occupying the same line and worked around the duel instead. When Rafael pulled the second centre-back toward midfield, Renaud became more deliberate about staying high rather than following possession automatically.

It created attacking possibilities.

It also exposed exactly what Metz had sacrificed to create them.

Renaud protected a difficult pass midway through the game and found Rafael outside the box. Rafael saw the return route and tried to force it through a lane that had already narrowed.

Vasseur intercepted.

With one fewer midfielder underneath the attack, Metz had less protection against the transition. The defending side carried the ball through the centre and reached the edge of the area before Caron stopped the move with a foul.

The whistle went.

"Rafa."

Rafael was already looking toward the head coach.

The coach pointed through the space the counter had used. "You know?"

"I forced the pass. Nobody was underneath."

"Exactly. Don’t give them that for free."

"I won’t."

"Reset."

Rafael turned back toward position.

There was nothing else to say. He had recognised the mistake the instant Vasseur stepped into the lane.

Knowing better had not prevented him from forcing it.

A few minutes later, the same competitive impulse returned in a different form.

Renaud secured a direct pass against Vasseur and laid the ball into Rafael outside the penalty area. The defender had been dragged slightly toward Renaud, which opened the lane onto Rafael’s right foot.

The shot was there.

So was Renaud’s run.

Rafael hesitated for less than a second.

Renaud had spent the morning proving what Rafael already knew: if Metz wanted one lone striker today, he was ahead. Scoring now would have given Rafael something obvious to place beside that comparison.

The urge was embarrassingly familiar.

During his first career, another striker scoring had often felt like Rafael losing ground, and there had been matches when he knew the correct pass existed but took the shot anyway because sharing the chance felt too much like surrendering his own.

Thirty-four years of football knowledge did not stop the instinct from appearing.

It gave him enough experience to recognise what it was.

Renaud kept running.

Rafael slipped the ball between the defenders.

Renaud reached it inside the box and shot low, but the goalkeeper spread himself and blocked with his leg.

Renaud slowed as they turned back.

"I should finish that."

"Yes."

Renaud looked at him. "Nothing else?"

"You were one-on-one."

Renaud shook his head. "Forget I asked."

Rafael smiled and jogged back alongside him.

Later, Renaud made the same kind of decision without being asked.

Rafael dragged the second centre-back several metres away from the middle while Renaud received with Vasseur against his back. Earlier in preseason, Renaud would probably have taken an extra touch before releasing the ball, but this time Caron’s movement appeared and Renaud laid it off immediately.

Caron reached the pass in stride and found Perrin before the defence recovered.

The eventual cross was cleared.

As they turned, Rafael glanced toward Renaud.

"Better."

Renaud looked at him. "I know."

There was a small grin in the answer.

Rafael left it there.

By the time the head coach ended the tactical game, the partnership was nowhere near polished, but the coaches had kept testing it long enough for Rafael to know they had seen something useful.

The important question was what Thursday had decided about the original competition.

He did not have to wait long.

"Mat. Rafa."

They walked over while the rest of the group collected drinks.

The head coach looked at Renaud first.

"If we start with one nine Saturday, Mat is ahead."

Renaud’s posture changed almost imperceptibly. His shoulders came back and the corner of his mouth moved before he controlled it.

Rafael noticed.

He also noticed the irritation that rose in himself.

The coach was correct. That was the worst part.

Rafael had lived enough football to understand why Renaud was ahead and enough of his first career to know that one preseason comparison did not define anything.

His body reacted before all of that reasoning finished.

Jaw tight.

Stomach turning slightly.

Another striker ahead of him.

He had heard some version of that too many times once his first career started falling apart.

The head coach looked toward him.

"You disagree?"

Rafael rubbed the back of his neck and waited until his expression settled.

"No."

"You looked like you might."

"I don’t like it."

Renaud glanced across.

The coach’s expression barely changed. "You’re not required to."

Rafael nodded.

"When we have to play direct, Mat gives us more right now. You already know that."

"I do."

The coach let the answer sit for a moment before looking toward Renaud again.

"Enjoy it for about five minutes."

Renaud smiled properly this time. "Was planning on ten."

"You’ve got five."

Caron laughed from several metres away.

The coach turned back toward Rafael.

"When the game moves around you, you give us something Mat doesn’t. Together, you’ve given us another shape worth looking at."

Rafael listened without letting the second part erase the first.

Renaud had won the comparison.

That mattered.

The coach continued. "We’re going to keep working on the two of you together, but don’t confuse that with us becoming a two-striker team. We lose a player somewhere else when we use it, and if you don’t give us enough back, there’s no reason to make that trade."

Both nodded.

"All right. Get your recovery in. I’ll speak to you again before tomorrow."

The coach turned away.

For a moment, Rafael expected more.

Nothing came.

Renaud reached for a bottle from the crate nearby.

"You all right?"

Rafael looked toward him. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Because you look annoyed."

"I am."

Renaud took a drink, clearly trying not to look too pleased with himself.

Rafael noticed that too.

"You can smile," he said.

Renaud lowered the bottle. "Wasn’t going to."

"Liar."

The smile escaped anyway.

Rafael shook his head, although he could not really blame him.

Renaud had won something.

If their positions had been reversed, Rafael would have felt it too.

They headed toward the changing building without discussing the verdict further.

The rest-of-preseason decision came later.

Rafael had finished the recovery work and was sitting in the changing room with one boot off when an assistant coach appeared at the door.

"Renaud. Morales. Coach wants you before you leave."

Renaud looked over from the opposite row.

"Five minutes already up?"

Rafael stood. "Go ask him."

"I’m not risking the five I got."

They followed the assistant into the corridor and found the head coach near one of the meeting rooms.

This time he did not make them wait.

"We’re keeping both of you with the senior group through the rest of preseason."

Rafael looked at him.

The first time he had lived through this summer, he had never even entered the opening senior block. He had spent these weeks preparing to return to the academy while players like Renaud competed for opportunities Rafael still believed would arrive eventually.

Now the first-team staff had watched him train, tested him against senior players and decided they wanted more time.

The difference was larger than Rafael allowed onto his face.

Renaud nodded first. "All right."

The coach lifted a hand slightly. "Don’t make this bigger than it is. It isn’t a contract and it isn’t a promise that either of you stays with the first team when preseason ends."

"Understood," Rafael said.

"We’ve got Loïc returning, another striker coming back into training next week and decisions still to make across the squad. You’re here because you’ve both shown us something worth continuing with."

He glanced between them.

"That’s all you need to worry about for now."

Renaud nodded.

Rafael did the same.

"Good. See you tomorrow."

They turned back toward the changing room.

Neither spoke immediately.

Renaud eventually nudged Rafael’s shoulder lightly.

"Still annoyed?"

"Yes."

"At me?"

Rafael considered it. "A little."

Renaud laughed. "There we go."

"You’re ahead of me. I’m not going to enjoy that."

"Good. I don’t want you enjoying it."

Rafael looked over.

Renaud shrugged. "Would make competing with you weird."

That drew a small smile from Rafael.

"I want your minutes, Mat."

"I know."

"That doesn’t mean I need you playing badly."

Renaud pushed open the changing-room door. "Good, because I’m not planning to."

"Neither am I."

This time, when they went inside, Rafael allowed himself to think about the other part of what the coach had said.

In his first life, this stage of summer had passed without the senior staff needing another look at him.

Now they had extended the assessment.

It was not a contract or a squad place, and Rafael knew enough about professional football not to confuse access with security.

It was still another piece of his old career that had already changed.

Friday’s rehearsal was shorter, and Vautrin completed almost all of it with the likely opening group.

His striker profile became clearer the longer Rafael watched him. He was not as physically stubborn as Renaud and did not move around possession as often as Rafael, but his timing inside the penalty area was senior-level. He rarely made five movements when two would do, and Caron seemed to know where Vautrin wanted the ball before the striker looked at him.

The performance staff still checked his workload between blocks, although nobody removed him early.

The other senior centre-forward remained scheduled to begin rejoining parts of team training the following week.

Near the end of rehearsal, the head coach waved the attacking players closer.

"Come in."

They gathered around him.

"Loïc starts tomorrow. Forty-five if there are no problems."

Vautrin nodded. "Fine."

The coach looked toward Renaud.

"Mat, you take the nine at halftime."

Renaud answered with a quick nod. He did not look toward Rafael this time.

He already knew what Thursday had earned him.

Then the coach turned to Rafael.

"You begin outside the team. Around sixty, we’re taking a midfielder off and putting you next to Mat."

Rafael nodded.

"We want to see whether yesterday survives against an actual opponent. That’s the reason for the change, not because we’re trying to hand everyone minutes."

"What do you want from the press?" Rafael asked.

"Same basic idea you’ve played before. Two banks behind you. One closes, the other screens the pass into their six. We’ll go through who jumps from each side tomorrow once we know their shape."

That was enough.

Rafael already understood the structure.

Renaud asked, "Still want me as the reference if we go long?"

"Yes, but don’t stand there waiting for every ball. If Rafa threatens the line, you can come. If you come short, he stays higher. Talk before the movement instead of after you’ve both arrived in the same place."

Renaud nodded.

The coach looked around. "That’s it. Inside."

As the group broke apart, Renaud collected his bottle and waited until Rafael came alongside him.

"Fifteen minutes."

Rafael glanced over. "What?"

"I get fifteen minutes as the striker without you."

"You’ve been counting?"

"I got picked ahead. I’m allowed to enjoy it."

Rafael shook his head. "You sound seventeen."

Renaud slowed and stared at him.

Rafael realised what had escaped his mouth.

Renaud frowned. "I’m twenty."

"I know."

"Then what does that even mean?"

"Nothing."

"No, come back. Explain that."

Rafael kept walking.

Renaud followed him toward the building. "Rafa."

"Forget it."

"You’re the seventeen-year-old."

"That’s why it made no sense."

Renaud laughed behind him. "You’re strange sometimes."

Rafael could not argue with that.

Thirty-four years of memories occasionally made keeping seventeen straight more difficult than it should have been.

The laughter faded by the time they reached the changing building, but Rafael’s attention had already moved toward Saturday.

Renaud had won the right to enter the next friendly ahead of him, and Rafael disliked that even while accepting the football behind the decision.

His route had changed rather than disappeared.

For roughly thirty minutes, Metz intended to remove a midfielder and put both young strikers on the pitch together. By the following week, four centre-forwards could be training around the senior group, and Rafael knew from experience that preseason numbers never lasted forever.

When the competitive squad settled, somebody would lose minutes, status or the senior place altogether.

Saturday was Rafael’s first chance to give the coaches a reason why keeping him should create possibilities rather than another body on the depth chart.