Chapter 15: Everton U-23

After the first training ended, Elen immediately sent a report regarding Kazuki to the main team. Seeing kazuki in person had different feelings than seeing the recording.

Although John's report stated that Kazuki had pretty good shooting ability, he didn't expect Kazuki to be able to do such an accurate shot in a short time. Kazuki's shooting ability was more like an accumulation of experience than talent. Each of Kazuki's kicks was very stable, although not all of his kicks were goals, none of them strayed far from the target.

On the other hand, Kazuki's pressing and intercepting abilities also impressed Elen. His pass was also very accurate and sharp. Several times Kazuki provided breakthrough passes on the flanks. Unfortunately, the pass failed to be controlled properly by Kazuki's partner.

Elen wondered why John didn't write about Kazuki's superiority in the passing and also defending.

The head coach of the Southampton first team, George Eastgate, has agreed that if Kazuki can perform brilliantly in the next 3 matches of the Southampton U-23 team, then Kazuki will be called up to the first team.

***

In the next few days, Kazuki joined Southampton u-23 training. There are several things that distinguish training here from the Manchester United under-18s. First, the intensity of the exercise is increased. Second, stamina training has always been the focus when it comes to physical training. Third, more intense tactical training. In contrast to the youth stages, the tactical training that Kazuki experienced at Southampton u-23 was definitely more thorough and more complicated. The training even involved some small details that Kazuki rarely paid attention to.

One example is the counter-attack scheme. When the team was defending, the front player was not Kazuki as a striker but Rustan Dust as the fastest player at Southampton u-23, Dust was a player who played as a left midfielder. In the counter-attack scheme, Kazuki's good passing ability was utilized as a fulcrum.

Southampton U-23s and the first team's tactics are not much different. The 4-4-2 formation remains the mainstay. Elen tried to pair Kazuki with Theodor but failed. Both are pure strikers, although Kazuki has good passing skills, his weakness in breaking through opponents makes him ineffective as a shadow striker.

After practicing for a few days, finally, Kazuki's first match as a member of Southampton u-23 came. In the starting lineup announced by Elen, Kazuki came on to replace Theodor, who had to settle for sitting on the bench. This was normal because in a few days Theodor who wanted to compete with Kazuki was slapped by reality. Kazuki's abilities were more comprehensive than his.

One of the things that distinguish premier league 2 matches from premier league academy is the home match. In some matches in a season, there will be matches where the venue is the home of the first team. Incidentally, this time the match will also be held at the home of Southampton F.C Stadium St Mary's. It's all to draw the public's attention to premier league 2.

After the warm-up was done, Elen gave instructions in the dressing room. The Southampton under-23 coach said: "We are playing at our home, there are many supporters who are willing to take their time to see the young Saints play. Don't let them down."

Elen looked at Kazuki, "Kazuki, you are a new player here. I hope you can adapt to the atmosphere of the match. Your opponent doesn't know you right now, so this is the best time for you to take advantage of your abilities for making the first goal."

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"Alright everyone, let's win this match." Elen cheers the Southampton u-23 team with energy.

Southampton's opponent this time is Everton u-23. An astonishing coincidence, Everton is the team that has 'taken' Belliand from Southampton. Of course, as a reserve team, Southampton u-23 should teach the toffees a lesson.

The kick-off match starts with Everton u-23. However, after they started the kick-off, the Southampton u-23 players went up to do high pressing up into 2/3 of the Everton u-23 defense area.

The shadow striker who became Kazuki's partner was Aspint Delmund, who was one of the veteran footballers who played in this match. Aspint went up high pressing the center-back to pass the ball to the central midfielder who came down to help. However, the midfielder didn't notice that he was being followed closely by Kazuki. Just as the midfielder was about to receive the ball, he suddenly saw a figure dressed in red and white, cutting off the center-back's pass.

Kazuki carried the ball for a while before making a long pass into the right area, where Rustan Dust was. The moment Kazuki grabbed the ball, Rustan had ran so fast that he made it past the Everton fullback. Rustan immediately took the ball into the Everton penalty box.

Rustan then crossed into the left area. On the left, Aspint Delmund receives Rustan's pass. He then shot the ball firmly. Unfortunately, the shot hit the crossbar. The ball is then thrown into the center of the penalty box. The center area of ​​the penalty box is rather empty because the Everton defenders tend to guard both of their wings area.

Kazuki who was standing there alone received the ball with his chest and make a volley shot. The shot was very fast and accurate piercing the side of the goal that the goalkeeper could not reach.

Just as Kazuki scored the goal, the Southampton fans cheered together. Kazuki ran to the sidelines followed by his comrades. They then embraced while congratulating Kazuki who scored his first goal as a member of the Southampton u-23 team.

The surprise attack had put Southampton 1 goal ahead of Everton but Southampton did not immediately use a counter-attack strategy because after all this is the St. Mary's, Southampton u-23s didn't want to look bad in front of their main stadium. But Southampton is not a team with a technical advantage, therefore to maintain dominance in midfield, Kazuki stepped down to help while Delmund stepped in to replace Kazuki as the main striker. They both switched roles when Southampton had the ball.

Meanwhile, Everton, who lost the ball in the early stages, quickly adjusted. They tried to do pressing to seize control of the ball from Southampton U-23.

Kazuki who was in control of the ball was immediately targeted by two Everton players at once. However, Kazuki did a one-two pass with his partner to escape the pressure that Everton put on him. He then returned to make a long pass into the right area. However, this time the opponent's full-back managed to snatch Kazuki's pass after he had a duel with Rustan. Rustan waved his hand apologizing for not successfully receiving Kazuki's pass.

Now it's Everton's turn to attack. All players descend to the back to make the transition from attack to defense quickly. Everton's players failed to counterattack because the transition made by Southampton U-23s was faster than Everton's counter-attack.. This is because Everton does not have very fast players like Rustan so their counter-attacks are very easy to break.

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