Chapter 69 - 67 - Not Finished Yet

Chapter 69: Chapter 67 - Not Finished Yet

Tuesday’s recovery group had been inside for almost twenty minutes when Renaud dropped onto the empty mat beside Rafael.

"You get home before two?"

"Barely."

Renaud stretched one leg in front of him and reached toward his ankle. "I got into bed and just stared at the ceiling."

Rafael switched legs. "Couldn’t sleep?"

"That header." Renaud rubbed a hand down his calf. "I’ve changed how I finish it about six times since last night."

Rafael smiled faintly. "By tomorrow you’ll have scored all six."

"Exactly."

Across the room, Caron lifted himself halfway out of the ice bath.

The conditioning coach pointed at the clock without looking up from his tablet.

"Sit."

"I can’t feel my feet."

"You’ve got forty seconds."

Caron stared at him, then lowered himself back into the water while Perrin laughed from the mat beside the bikes.

Renaud watched him for a moment before taking a drink.

Rafael pulled his knee toward his chest again.

The room settled into the scrape of mats and the low whir of the bikes until Renaud spoke again.

"You weren’t very talkative after you came off."

Rafael turned his head.

Renaud was twisting the cap back onto his bottle.

"I’d just been taken off."

"Fair."

Rafael released the stretch and sat up.

A staff member walked between them carrying a crate of recovery drinks, and Renaud moved his bottle away before it was kicked over.

Rafael looked toward the windows facing the training pitches.

"I wanted the last fifteen."

Renaud nodded. "Course you did."

"Wasn’t about you."

"I didn’t think it was."

Rafael glanced back at him.

Renaud had already extended the other leg and was working through the next stretch.

After a few seconds, Rafael said, "You didn’t help."

That made Renaud look over.

"You came on and the first ball stuck."

The corner of Renaud’s mouth lifted. "What was I supposed to do, give it away?"

"Would’ve made the bus ride easier."

Renaud laughed.

A conditioning coach called his name from the other side of the room.

He pushed himself upright and picked up his bottle.

"You’ll get over it."

Rafael looked up at him. "Go stretch."

Renaud was still smiling when he joined the next group.

Rafael finished his own work and moved on when his name was called.

There were only five days between Bauer and Saint-Étienne’s visit, so the staff kept the week light.

Wednesday ended before the players who had started on Monday had fully shaken the match from their legs. Thursday brought more work with the ball, but the opposed block was cut while several players were still asking for another repetition.

The System never appeared, and Rafael left his four free attribute points untouched.

During Wednesday’s tactical work, the assistant threw him a yellow bib while Renaud joined Caron and Perrin in burgundy.

Thursday began differently, but when the main group was separated again, Renaud moved through the middle with the same players.

Friday morning settled the rest.

Rafael waited near halfway with the second unit while Renaud received a direct pass against the probable starting defence. The centre-back pressed hard through his back, but Renaud protected the ball and returned it toward Caron before turning toward the area.

Perrin had already started outside.

Caron released him, and the cross was headed away.

The assistant immediately rolled another ball toward midfield.

When Rafael’s group came in, his first involvement ended with a defender blocking the return pass. The next attack went through Loïc and finished on the opposite side before Rafael reached the box.

On the third, he received inside the area and got the shot away under pressure, but the goalkeeper gathered low.

The coach checked his watch.

"Set pieces."

Players moved toward the drinks.

Renaud passed Rafael near the crate.

"Tomorrow."

Rafael unscrewed his bottle. "Yeah."

Renaud continued toward the penalty area.

Rafael drank and followed when the assistant called his group across.

Saint-Symphorien was loud before either side had settled into the match.

Every spell of Saint-Étienne possession drew whistles from the stands, while Metz attacks were met by noise that climbed whenever the ball crossed halfway. The visitors handled both without changing their tempo.

Their midfield rarely stayed in the same shape for long. One player dropped alongside the centre-backs, another moved beyond the first Metz line, and the wide attackers kept appearing inside before a full-back used the space outside them.

Rafael watched from the bench with his jacket zipped high.

Renaud gave Metz their cleanest way forward whenever the middle became crowded.

A firm pass reached him near halfway with a centre-back already pressed against his back. Renaud widened his stance, kept the defender away and laid the ball into Caron’s path.

Caron turned before the nearest midfielder could close.

Perrin had already started down the right.

The pass found him in stride, but the full-back recovered quickly enough to block the cross behind.

Saint-Étienne cleared the resulting corner.

Several minutes later, they worked through Metz’s left with two quick passes and sent a low delivery across the area. Metz’s goalkeeper came out and gathered before the runner at the far post could reach it.

The match moved from one midfield battle to another, with neither side finding a clean opening before the halftime whistle sent them inside.

Rafael warmed with the other substitutes during the interval and again after the restart.

Ten minutes into the half, he had just pulled his jacket closed when the assistant turned toward the bench.

"Rafa."

Rafael stood immediately.

He stripped the jacket off as he jogged toward the technical area, and his eyes went first to Renaud.

The striker remained on the pitch.

Instead, the left-sided attacker had started crossing toward the touchline.

The head coach waited until Rafael reached him.

"You’re going beside Renaud. Two stay underneath you, and Caron starts from the left."

Rafael nodded.

"If Renaud comes for the first one, don’t come with him."

"Got it."

The fourth official raised the board.

Saint-Symphorien rose with it.

Rafael crossed the line and moved toward the front.

Renaud glanced across.

"Other side."

Rafael shifted several metres away. "You’ve got enough room."

Renaud shook his head as Saint-Étienne restarted.

Metz recovered almost immediately.

A midfielder came away from the first challenge with the ball bouncing a little ahead of him, and Rafael saw the nearest centre-back step toward it.

He went behind.

Three strides later, the midfielder was still fighting to get his head up.

Rafael had to slow and come back onside while the ball travelled toward Perrin instead.

He curved back across the defensive line.

A few minutes later, Caron found him near the edge of the attacking third.

Renaud had occupied the other centre-back, and Caron remained behind Rafael with two deeper midfielders supporting underneath.

The pass arrived firmly into Rafael’s right foot.

The defender pressed across his left shoulder.

Caron was available for the return.

Rafael felt the centre-back leaning and tried to take the ball across his body.

The defender stepped with him and took it cleanly.

"Set it!" Caron shouted.

Saint-Étienne were already carrying the ball away.

Rafael turned and chased until Metz forced the attack toward the touchline and recovered.

When he returned to the front, the next pass into him went straight back to Caron.

Caron switched play.