After the signing ceremony, Maher and others came to the team's photo studio, put on new jerseys and took photos for the new season.
This is a moment full of laughter and joy. The two people either put their hands on their hips with serious expressions, or raise one fist high and pretend to roar with passion; sometimes they even imitate actions such as dribbling past opponents and shooting.
"Hahahaha" Even though the photographer has reminded them many times, the laughter still echoes throughout the room from time to time.
It's like brothers who spend every day together. When the teacher calls them to answer a question, they can pretend to be serious at first, but once they look into your eyes, they can't hold it anymore.
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon when we finished all this.
Led by Jolson, they went to the team's cafeteria for their first publicly funded meal.
Then, I went home to pack and prepare, waiting for the team training match in the afternoon.
Three o'clock in the afternoon, Sheffield first team training ground.
People wearing jerseys came closer one after another. Some of them were laughing and joking with a few friends, while others were alone and approached the equally lonely people next to them, trying to find their group.
The tense atmosphere began to spread from this moment on. Everyone knew what this training match meant for the new season.
Maher and Gilbert arrived together. Seeing that the training had not yet begun, they took the football and walked around doing basic passing exercises to warm up their feet.
After waiting for a while, a tall, slightly plump old man with snow-white hair arrived at the stadium with a tactical board.
He was followed by several assistant coaches, including Gary Speed, who was dressed in formal attire.
Maher knew that this should be the team's head coach, Mr. Kevin.
"Beep!"
Kevin blew a whistle, signaling everyone to gather around him, and then began to fiddle with the tactical board in his hand.
When everyone approached, he put down the tactical board and raised his head and said, "There are quite a few new faces in the team. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kevin Blackwell, and I am the head coach of the team.
"Maybe you are not familiar with me yet, but we have been together for a long time, so there is plenty of time to get to know each other slowly."
As he said this, Maher observed Gary Speed's expression and found that he was very calm, just like when they first met not long ago.
"Well, I have investigated all of you."
Kevin picked up the tactics board again, "You all know what to do today, here are the team arrangements."
He was decisive and seldom talked nonsense: "Formation 3-4-3, red uniforms, goalkeeper Aksaru, defenders Andy Taylor and Lorton. Midfielders Gilbert and Quinn."
The red team was quickly assigned. Maher didn't hear his name, so he thought he should be on the yellow team.
"come on."
When they parted, Gilbert smiled at him and clenched his fist: "Don't cycle on me again."
Maher smiled knowingly, "Sooner or later I'll use my bicycle to kill you."
Thinking of his speed of progress, Gilbert raised an eyebrow and nodded, "I believe it, but not now."
"Yellow logo uniform lineup."
Kevin's voice continued to sound, hoarse and high-pitched, "Goalkeeper Robert, defender Calvey, Chris Morgan, midfielder Januhans, Montgomery. Forward Maher, Evans, Ward!"
After all the names were read out, there were still two people left who were given a bye and sat on the bench waiting.
Kevin put away the tactical board and waved his hand, "Each team will organize their own warm-up, starting in fifteen minutes."
Maher put on the yellow jersey and came to the yellow team's half, where he did some simple jogging and stretching, passing the ball and shooting with his teammates.
During the entire process, there was only communication on the court and no one said anything privately.
With so many unfamiliar faces, this felt more like a tryout match than a pre-season training match for a professional team.
Maher has been observing his teammates in the new team, who are more in line with his stereotype of the Championship.
Most of them are strong and powerful, but there are few agile players.
I think their playing style is more reckless with long passes and lobs, and they don't need to control the ball too much in the backcourt.
He took a deep breath and adjusted his condition during the warm-up, hoping to get a good opportunity.
"Beep!"
Until Kevin's two whistles were blown, everyone finished warming up, jogged to their positions, and waited for the game to begin.
Maher played as left winger today, which is his best position. It should be that Jolson had communicated with the club and put him here.
He continued to adjust his breathing, hoping to leave a good first impression on the coaching staff and teammates.
Finally, Kevin blew the whistle to start the game.
The red team's center forward sent a ball from the center circle. Gilbert in the middle position received the ball, turned around, and kicked it to the side midfielder.
The formations of both sides moved quickly, and the defensive players moved from scattered positions towards the ball-holding area, compressing the space and restricting the opponent's passing.
The attacking team should expand the width as much as possible to create space for receiving the ball.
The game between the two sides is happening all the time. As long as one party is a little careless or negligent, the other party may be caught and dealt a fatal blow!
The higher the level of the game, the higher the cost of mistakes.
"Oh!"
Maher had just run a few steps forward when he saw the opponent's midfielder make a long pass behind him.
He quickly turned his gaze to the side midfielder who was close to him, and then saw the other party intercept the ball and head it towards his position.
Maher pushed off the ground and burst out, trying to control the ball before the opposing player behind him.
"Swish!" But he still didn't expect that the opponent would slide behind him, shovel the ball out of the sideline and knock him to the ground.
Since the ball was indeed touched while the tackle was being taken, the referee, head coach Kevin, did not blow the whistle. He believed that this kind of confrontation was normal in the Championship League.
"You all right young man?"
A clear voice came, and Maher looked up and saw the opponent midfielder who had just tackled him, stretching out his hand towards him: "Get up."
There was no other meaning in the other person's eyes, and he didn't seem to think it was a big deal.
Maher helped himself, stood up and ran back to his position.
Is this the rhythm of competition between Championship teams?
He swallowed, adrenaline secreted wildly, and some strength surged in his body, which was the instinctive desire for battle.
"Oh!"
After the team's throw-in was sent out, it quickly moved from the left to the right, and then a long pass was made to his side.
As expected, Maher failed to head the ball and it flew directly out of the sideline.
He waved to his teammates to apologize, then turned around and stared at the opponent's sideline midfielder who was throwing the ball out of bounds, with an excited attitude towards the game.
The opponent's midfielder also noticed this and deliberately chose a position away from Maher when throwing the ball out of bounds.
"mine!"
As a result, Evans, the center forward of the yellow team who was lying in ambush in the middle, suddenly rushed out, kicked the ball away in front of the red team's midfielder, and controlled it on the wing.
Maher reacted quickly and after seeing Evans steal the ball, he rushed towards the center position where he had just been.
There, because of Evans' running, there was a hollow area.
"here!"
After running to the position, he just shouted and saw Evans' precise pass coming to his feet.
After taking a look at the goal, he kicked the ball to the right.
It's now!
"Bang!!"
All the tension and excitement turned into strength and poured into the football in front of him.
Maher gritted his teeth, swung his leg, and fired an extremely violent shot with the instep of his foot. The football whizzed into the near corner of the goal.
"Don't." Red team midfielder Gilbert wanted to remind his teammates not to give Maher a pressure-free shooting environment, but as soon as he said a word, Maher's shot had already been kicked out.
The angle was not particularly tricky, but the force was too great, and the goalkeeper was not yet in shape, so he was caught off guard.
"Swish!" The football hit the net, making a crisp and pleasant sound.
One to zero!
The yellow team is leading!
"Oh!" Most of the players on the yellow team reacted quickly. The moment the football entered the net, they opened their arms and rushed towards Maher in exclamation.
(End of this chapter)