Improving Off The Ball

The next day, the boys were back in Middlesbrough. The manager called them together and told them that those who didn't have school during the week should come in early for training. According to him, he wanted to straighten some things out.

Omari suddenly felt grateful that he had to go to school the next day. Whenever the manager says something like that, he just wants to scream at them and make them do extra training.

While that wasn't entirely a problem for Omari, he wasn't entirely sure that he would be able to take a thrashing from the manager and keep his mouth shut the entire time.

He dismissed the players and as usual, Omari walked with Ayanfe to the school dormitory then walked home all by himself.

Upon getting to his house, he met a familiar figure waiting for him at his door. A smile crept to his lips instantly.

"Hey!" Amber turned to her side and noticed that Omari was just coming home. He returned his greeting and handed him a folder without any words in between.

"What's this?" Omari asked.

"This is a flyer advertising the first ever female football match at Will Chamberlain High School". Amber looked down all of a sudden. "There's an ticket inside. I would uh… be much obliged if you find time to attend".

Omari smiled at her. "I wouldn't miss it for the world". His response made Amber smile. "There's no way I'm missing twenty two girls getting sweaty while wearing short shorts". He added which made Amber burst into laughter.

"You pervert!" She said as she playfully slapped his hand. "Don't forget to be there".

Omari nodded and entered his house. His dad, as usual, was sitting on the couch watching a match. Omari groaned when he saw the scores of the match. It was Holloway FC vs Manchester Red.

Manchester Red were currently two goals down and the match was going to end any moment from now. Omari dropped his bags down and released himself beside his dad on the couch.

"How was the match?" Chris asked without taking his eyes off the screen.

Omari shrugged. "Could've been better".

His answer made Chris smile. "So you lost then".

Omari nodded. "I was man of the match though".

"Did that change the full time Battering from Jurg?" His dad smiled amusedly.

Jurg was the name of the manager of the Teesside under eighteens. According to his father, he and Jurg used to be good friends when they were younger.

As they grew older, they gradually drifted apart. One wanted to be a football manager, the other was the son of a business tycoon. Naturally, he would take over when his father died.

Omari didn't answer the question, instead he pointed at the TV screen which displayed the score of the match. "It's over, why are you still watching?"

"I'm waiting for the post match analysis". He said while smiling bitterly. "I want to hear what they say about Varnacho's goal being ruled out. Fucking twats!"

Omari left his swearing father to himself and hauled his stuff to his room. After a long shower, he lay on his bed and began to think about the match against Manchester Red.

Although he didn't take any of Jurg' words to heart, he couldn't help but think about what Jurg had said after the first half break.

How was he so terrible off the ball?!

While at training, it might not be a problem. He was surrounded by mid players, except for one or two rare cases. But what about when he was playing against top talents, like what happened today at Manchester.

When he didn't have the ball, there was nothing that he could do. He could only get played around by Manchester Red's defense.

|Ding! Host has activated side mission|

|Mission; Increase off the ball stats by five|

|Time limit: One Month|

|Rewards: +5 Random Stats Increase|

|Repercussion of failure: -50 Stats for next five games|

|Ding! New stats loading…|

|Name: Omari Hutchingson|

|Club: Teesside F.C U18|

|Team role: key first team player|

|Shirt number: 10|

|Attributes|

|Speed: 72|

|Dribbling: 62|

|Shooting: 63|

|Passing: 67|

|Accuracy: 58|

|Physique: 73|

|Crossing: 63|

|Pace: 78|

{New Stats}

|Positioning: 72|

|Defending: 53|

|Overall Player Rating: 65|

|Overall Player Potential: 75|

|Skills: Stepover [Upgradable], Curler [Upgradable], Pinpoint finishing [Unupgradable], Quickfeet [Uogradable]|

|Titles: (Star player)|

|Awards: Nil|

Club: Teesside FC U18

|Games: 2|

|Goals: 2|

|Assists: 3|

|GxG: 1.00| (Goals per game ratio)

|G/IxG: 2.50| (Goal involvement per game ratio)

|Missions|

|Increase OPR by five to live up to title (Star player)|

|Status: Not completed|

|Time remaining: 22 days|

|Repercussion of failure: random loss of stats|

|Mission; Increase off the ball stats by five|

|Time limit: One Month|

|Rewards: +5 Random Stats Increase|

|Repercussion of failure: -50 Stats for next five games|

|Time Remaining: 31 days|

Omari almost committed when he saw the repercussion of failing to complete the mission. With fifty of his stats gone, he'd be like a ten year old playing in the midst of adults!

He remembered the Beginner's Assistance offered by the system and heaved a sigh. The mission was something that he could easily complete with a few extra sessions with Steve.

He saw the rewards attached to the mission and frowned. In the hidden mission, he didn't see the rewards attached to completing the mission.

As if the system could hear his thoughts, a notification popped up soon after he had that train of thought.

|Ding! It's a hidden mission, so the rewards are hidden|

"But the repercussions aren't?" Omari said sarcastically.

|Would host have preferred me to conceal the repercussions of failure so that host would slack off, fail to complete mission and end up losing stats|

Omari considered what the system said and nodded slightly. As much as he didn't want to admit being wrong, the system was right.

He thought about some other things before his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Bonus Chapter!

I happened to be in a good mood today.