We Go Again

The free kick that resulted from the foul on Ibrahim was wasted. It was high and wide, much to the disappointment of the Teesside fans who made their feelings known with a few 'boo' shouts.

'It sounds like the home crowd is quite frustrated with that miss. Understandably so. Teesside have managed to shape out a few quality chances in this offensive barrage by Beaton and have so far not been able to convert any of them. They've gone on the counter quite a few times and quite a few times, I almost thought that they scored but alas, it wasn't meant to be'

'Right now, it seems that everyone is just hoping that they won't be made to rue their missed chances. It seems like Beaton have been working on breaking down Teesside's defensive wall for the majority of the game. Their persistence has led to them creating some cracks but they've not been able to just bulldoze it like they would want'

For the rest of the first half, it was a one sided affair. Beaton were creating chances, and probably should've gone up by one goal or two by now, but it seemed lady luck were on Teesside's side. Somehow, Beaton ended up missing the plethora of chances that they had created.

After what seemed like forever for the Teesside players, the referee blew his whistle and signified the end of the first half. 

'And that's all for now. Beaton have come close on multiple occasions to take the lead. But it seems that Teesside's guardian angel is talking his shift today very seriously. Somehow, someway, it remains one nil here at halftime'

'Really though, I'm sure the Beaton players will be furious with themselves. They created a lot of chances, they should've scored from quite a few chances, but somehow, it's still goalless here at Middlesbrough'

…

When the last players entered the dressing room, Michael had a deep expression on his face. He heaved a little sigh of frustration before he started talking.

"You know what? I'm not even going to shout at you guys for conceding all those chances. I can see that you're doing your best out there" He sighed again. "It's my fault. I got the tactics wrong, I may have overestimated your abilities a bit too much. I mean, the best player out there is only seventeen" He loved at David who stifled a blossoming smile in response. "Alright then, for the second half, obviously we have to change tactics because whatever I told you to do obviously isn't working out there. Steve, please tell them what they're to do"

"Alright lads. Offensively, we're going to keep the 4-2-3-1 formation shape, although David will be playing as the sole pivot. As discussed in training, we will get on the offensive through counter attacks and playing the ball out wide. This puts a lot of pressure on the wingers to be productive with the ball because they are the core of the attack" Steve looked at Omari. "Defensively, we're going to turn into a 4-5-1 shape. The midfield has been a little stretched resulting in them exploiting, so increasing the numbers should reduce the space they have to exploit. If I had it my way then it would be a 0-6-5 formation, but Michael wanted there to be enough space for you lads to initiate a counterattack" 

Some of the players grumbled in response to what Steve said, but none of them dared to voice out their opinions. They knew that Steve was right. So far, they had managed to play the shittiest football that they had ever played.

"Now comes the hard part… The transition from defense to attack. This takes a toll on the wingers, so once again the pressure is on them to be able to get to their position quick enough" Steve said. "With all that I've said, it means any missed counter opportunity should have you all glaring at the wingers"

Michael said a few more self depressing words before the referee called them out to begin the second half.

46' 

It didn't take long for Teesside to get their first chance of the half. They restarted the play, so all it took was a little bit of tapping the ball in their half to draw the wingers out and another perfectly timed pass from David to find Omari on the left to initiate an offensive play.

Omari found himself one on one with the right back that injured Ibrahim. He had a confident smile on his face. The right back on the other hand, had a malicious smile.

Stepover. Stepover. Stepover.

Omari's legs flashed over the ball repeatedly, seemingly trying to find space to get past the right back. The right back shifted his body a bit to goad Omari into dribbling into the box. Omari had a smile on his face. He wasn't looking for space to dribble into the box.

Even though he wasn't going to listen to Michael, he listened to what Michael said. The right back definitely didn't have good intentions for him. If he could send Ibrahim definitely had stronger bones and muscles out of the pitch on a stretcher, then what would he do to him? Even if he got sent off or something, the red card wouldn't do anything to fix his broken bones.

Another thing was that he was trying to avoid any form of injuries. He didn't want to be like all those talents that blew up when coming out only to end up declining or something because of one bad injury. He didn't want to end up like Jack, and as such, there was no way he was going to put his career at risk because he wanted to show off a bit with the ball. He had priorities, one.of which was to force his way into the first team. Getting injured didn't help one do that.

He passed the ball to the edge of the box, placing it perfectly for David who was making a run to strike sweetly. Unfortunately, his shot curled wide of the bottom corner.

"Oh well, we go again" Omari muttered under his breath.