Chapter 59 - 57 - The Interview

Chapter 59: Chapter 57 - The Interview

"Did having longer change much for you?"

"You get more time to settle into what the game is doing. Guingamp was late, so there wasn’t much time for that."

"And Grenoble gave you enough time to affect it."

"A little more, yeah."

The reporter looked down at his notes again.

"You said last week that eventually you wanted to start. Do you think you’re ready now?"

"If they pick me, yeah."

"Even with Renaud starting both games and scoring already?"

Rafael shifted slightly in the chair.

"Renaud’s done well. That doesn’t change whether I think I can play."

"So you’re not saying he should come out of the team."

"No."

The reporter waited, but Rafael did not add anything until he asked the next question.

"If the coach puts you in from the start against Laval?"

"I’ll be ready."

The answer was enough.

They spoke briefly about Rafael feeling more comfortable around the senior squad now that competitive matches had begun, then the reporter switched off the recorder and closed his notebook.

"That’s everything. Thanks."

"No problem."

They shook hands, and Rafael left.

Nobody mentioned the interview the following morning.

By then, training gave him more immediate things to think about.

The attacking work for Laval became more specific through the middle of the week.

During one opposed block, Renaud received with a centre-back pressed tightly through his back. He held the contact, set the ball into Caron and turned quickly enough to meet the return just outside the penalty area. His shot travelled narrowly wide, and he was already jogging back into position by the time the goalkeeper retrieved the ball.

Several minutes later, Loïc dropped away from the defensive line to combine with Caron, then continued toward the box after releasing possession. A defender followed the movement and blocked his attempt before it could reach goal.

When Rafael’s group entered, Caron carried forward and found him underneath the defensive line. Rafael returned the pass first time and moved behind the defender, but possession went wide instead.

The staff reset the exercise.

Renaud had taken the first central repetitions that morning.

Later, Rafael found himself wearing the same coloured bib as Caron and Perrin. When the numbers changed and an assistant moved Loïc across to another group, Rafael caught that too.

He knew better than to trust any of it.

Years ago, a week like this would have turned every half-chance into an audition.

That version of him surfaced during the next attacking exercise.

Caron passed into Rafael just outside the box.

Rafael turned on his first touch, and the defender stayed square. Most of the goal disappeared behind him, but there was still a narrow route toward the near post and the ball had settled comfortably on Rafael’s right side.

For a moment, the shot looked tempting.

The midfielder outside him continued his run.

Rafael rolled the ball into his path instead.

The midfielder carried into the area and drove a low pass across goal, where Perrin arrived from the opposite side and struck first time. The goalkeeper dropped sharply and pushed the effort behind.

An assistant already had another ball.

"Reset."

Rafael turned and jogged back while the next group came through.

Nobody stopped the exercise.

Renaud received with a defender tight behind him, protected the ball and returned it into midfield before continuing toward the box. When the next pass came back, he finished low inside the near post.

He ran back for another repetition.

Loïc had another attempt blocked later in the session, and by the time the staff changed the groups again, whatever clue Rafael thought he had found in the bibs had disappeared with them.

Thursday brought more of the same.

Renaud trained like someone expecting to keep his place. Loïc remained part of every attacking block that mattered, and Rafael worked through the centre and left without anything being confirmed.

Friday was different.

The differences were still small, but they were harder to ignore.

Metz shortened the final session and reduced the amount of rotation through the attacking shape. Rafael began through the middle with Caron, Perrin and most of the players who had spent the morning around the likely starting group.

The first sequence came through Caron.

Rafael dropped several metres, returned the pass and moved into the space between centre-back and full-back as possession travelled wide. The delivery never came to him, and he moved back into position when the attack ended.

On the next repetition, both centre-backs stayed closer to him. Rafael remained high instead, leaving Caron room to receive underneath before Metz moved the ball outside.

The assistant put another ball down and restarted the shape.

Renaud rotated through after several repetitions and completed his work normally. He protected one pass under contact, released Perrin and turned toward the box for the next action.

Loïc took his own central repetitions before the session moved toward set pieces.

Nobody called Rafael aside when training ended.

He followed the others inside, showered and changed before heading into the tactical meeting.

The room sounded the same as it did most Fridays.

Caron was talking quietly with one of the midfielders near the back. Perrin sat with a bottle between his feet while checking his phone, and one of the defenders was searching beneath several chairs for a charger he had misplaced.

Renaud sat a few places away from Rafael.

Loïc took a seat across the room.

The assistant asked everyone to settle, and the lights dimmed as Laval appeared on the screen.

The coach started with their expected shape and worked through the opening press before moving onto Metz in possession.

"When the ball goes into the striker, we need movement around him straight away. If he comes underneath and the centre-back follows, somebody has to attack what he leaves."

He moved one magnet forward.

"If they stay with him, don’t bring everyone into the same area. Leave the centre-backs occupied and play in front."

A midfielder asked where Caron should position himself when Perrin moved inside from the right, and the coach adjusted the magnets before answering.

Rafael wrote down the parts that mattered to him.

The assistant moved into set pieces afterward, replaying one Laval corner when a defender asked about the second runner arriving near the edge of the area.

Then the head coach returned to Metz’s starting structure.

He began with the goalkeeper.

Rafael kept his notebook against one thigh while the names moved through defence and midfield.

The coach reached the attack.

"Perrin on the right. Morales through the middle."

Rafael’s fingers tightened around the pen.

The coach named the final attacker and continued before Rafael had done anything with the reaction.

"Rafa, same movements we’ve worked on this week. Give us the pass underneath when it’s available, but don’t spend the match chasing it. If their centre-backs stay with you, keep them there."

"All right."

The next clip appeared.

Rafael lowered his eyes to the notebook, found the line where he had stopped and wrote again.

His heartbeat had picked up.

The assistant paused the next Laval sequence and pointed toward the screen, forcing Rafael’s attention back to the meeting.

Against Guingamp, he had watched most of the match before the coach called him. Grenoble had given him more than an hour to study the defenders before he crossed the line.

Tomorrow there would be no waiting period.

The first duel would already belong to him.

A few seats away, Renaud had gone quieter.

He still followed the meeting and took notes, but when someone beside him made a brief comment during a pause, Renaud kept his eyes on the screen rather than joining in.

Rafael noticed and left him alone.

Later, when the staff moved onto possible second-half changes, Renaud raised his hand.

"If we go two up front, where do you want the second striker when the ball goes wide?"

The assistant moved one of the magnets.

"Start weak side. If the first striker comes toward the ball, don’t follow him into the same space."

Renaud nodded and wrote it down.

The meeting moved on.

When the head coach finally closed his folder, the lights came back up.

"Same reporting time tomorrow. Eat properly tonight, get some sleep and be on time."

Chairs scraped against the floor as players started packing.

The defender who had been searching for his charger found it beneath another chair, while Caron waited near the doorway for Perrin. Staff began collecting bottles and switching off the equipment. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Rafael closed his notebook and slid it into his bag.

Renaud was packing a few seats away. He zipped his bag, stood and briefly met Rafael’s eyes.

He gave Rafael a small nod.

Rafael returned it.

Another teammate called Renaud from the doorway, and he left with him.

Rafael checked that he had everything before pulling the strap over his shoulder.

Outside, several players were already heading toward the car park while staff cleared the final equipment from the nearest pitch.

Rafael joined them.

Tomorrow, Rafael is starting