Chapter 16: Man Marking

Every team has its own rhythm. Different advantages, different tactics make the team have a different attack rhythm. Although Southampton tried to control the ball, possession of the ball was not Southampton's advantage. Everton were able to take over possession of the ball from The Saints.

Everton have many players with high posture. The Toffees make good use of this advantage. They attack the Southampton defense with high passes, especially on the flanks, because the Southampton full-back has a shorter stature than the Everton winger. After dribbling into the wing area, they made a high cross. Their striker is Australian Adam Thompson. Adam is 191 cm tall, his figure stands out in the Southampton under-23 defense. Fortunately, Adam's header can still be ignored by Southampton.

Southampton tried to counterattack again by passing it to Kazuki as the center of the counter-attack. However, when Kazuki had control of the ball, he felt a very strong collision from behind his body causing Kazuki to fall and fail to control the ball.

"Hey, referee!" Kazuki raised his hand informing him that this was a violation. But the referee shook his head, letting the match continue. The ball that Kazuki failed to control fell to the feet of the Everton midfielder.

The midfielder carried the ball before finally releasing a high pass to the front of the penalty box. This time Adam did not head straight into the goalpost but into the left side of the Southampton defense. The Southampton goalkeeper did not expect it and jumped first. That makes the Everton winger who receives the ball score goals easily.

The Everton under-23 players celebrated the goal with great enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Kazuki apologized especially to Southampton U-23 captain Endo, a 33-year-old center-back.

"Sorry, I should have just chased the ball instead of complaining to the referee." Kazuki felt guilty. However, he did not know that such an act was not a violation.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. I also missed the Southampton defense earlier. Most importantly, you have learned that sometimes the referee's whistle is unreliable." Endo cheered on Kazuki and patted him on the shoulder.

The game continues. Southampton, of course just wanted to win, especially since they were playing at Saint Marry's stadium. However, Everton defended well. Kazuki was also closely followed, so he couldn't find the right opportunity. The player guarding Kazuki was Everton's defensive midfielder Nkuku. this player was also the one who bumped into Kazuki earlier.

It was a new feeling for Kazuki to be kept marking like this. Of course, he had to find a way to get rid of Nkuku's marking. Southampton are back on the attack. This time Rustan tried to break through the wing side of the Everton u-23 defense.

However, this time Everton played well. They closed the room for Rustan's breakthrough. Kazuki approached Rustan as a passing option, Rustan. Rustan passed the ball to Kazuki. Nkuku again interfered by clinging tightly to Kazuki. This time Kazuki pushed the ball through the gap between Nkuku's legs. He then ran after the ball again.

But the Nkuku that Kazuki had just passed did not give up. He held onto Kazuki's shirt tightly so that Kazuki couldn't pick up the ball. For the first time, Kazuki lost his composure. He turned and approached Nkuku "Are you only able to stop me with foul huh?"

Nkuku widened his smile and said, "That worked didn't it, little Samurai?"

Continuing the fight will only turn out to be a yellow card. Kazuki suppressed his emotions and moved away from Nkuku with an annoyed look.

While Kazuki and Nkuku confronted, Everton u-23 again stormed the Southampton defense. With the same attack, they provide a high pass for Adam's execution. But this time the Southampton keeper stepped up bravely and cut through the pass.

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Everton and Southampton's attacks were both deadlocked until at the end of the first half, Southampton launched an attack again. The bait returned to Kazuki's feet. As usual, Nkuku directly faced Kazuki.

Nkuku saw Kazuki staring towards the left. Kazuki slowly raised his leg and swung it. Nkuku stuck out a leg to cut off Kazuki's pass. However, nothing happened. It turned out that Kazuki's pass flowed to the right, which was then welcomed by Aspint.

No Look Pass. A technique that does not require high skill but requires the right moment and movement to deceive the opponent.

Kazuki immediately passed Nkuku. Aspint then passed the ball again to Kazuki. With one touch, Kazuki sent a breakthrough pass that went to the right. This time Rustan managed to get the ball. He cut towards the penalty box. The Everton under-23 goalkeeper ran forward trying to snatch the ball from Rustan but Rustan calmly poked the ball into the net.

Southampton is back ahead of Everton. The score of 2-1 was maintained until the first half was over.

At the break, Elen praised the Southampton U-23 players. He also gave orders to maintain the excellence play on halves two. Although Elen wants to be attacking but Southampton u-23s don't have an outstanding midfielder. Sticking to the counter-attack strategy is the best for now.

The second half started again. Southampton started the kick-off by playing the ball at the back, trying to get Everton to do the high pressing. What if Everton U-23s don't do high pressing? Let it go, Southampton will play the ball at the back until the game is over. Shame? What's that? As long as the team wins there is nothing to be ashamed of.

With that ideology, Southampton continued to play the ball behind without intending to attack until finally, Everton did high pressing. However, this is the moment Southampton U-23s have been waiting for. When Everton did pressing, Southampton immediately did a fast break. Southampton u-23 captain Endo makes a pass far forward. The pass was accepted by Kazuki.

Kazuki didn't hold the ball for too long, he immediately pass the ball back to Aspint. The Everton defense leaned to the right to close Rustan's running space but Aspint passed the ball to the left.

Although the left midfielder is not as fast as Rustan who plays on the right, Everton's right-leaning defense makes it easy for Southampton's left midfielder to break through the Everton defense. After that Southampton's left midfielder immediately gave a flat pass into the middle of the penalty box. Aspint ran quickly to receive the pass. He then faked a kick then give the ball to Kazuki.

Kazuki received the ball but it was immediately dropped by Nkuku. The referee's whistle sounded, Southampton got a penalty. The atmosphere in the penalty box was a bit heated, Kazuki's teammates approached Kazuki to make sure that the Japanese player was okay.

Of course, Kazuki was fine, after practicing so many times, Kazuki's reaction after being dropped was very fast to minimize the risk of injury. Instead, Kazuki purposely aimed his knees and elbows at Nkuku.

"Are you all right?" asked Aspint.

Kazuki nodded slowly, "I'm fine."

In the corner of his vision, Kazuki could see that the medical team was carrying Nkuku to the sidelines.. Of course, the wound that Nkuku had sustained wasn't that fatal, Kazuki avoided vital areas, after all, he wasn't that cruel to do so.

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