#7 Navigating the Off-Season

[Metafiction]

Jude Greer Player Page
Career Task 1: Biography
Career Task 2: Rookie Season
Career Task 3: Media Day
Career Task 4: Versatility
Career Task 5: Representing Your Nation
Career Task 6: International Superstar

“Again!”

A shrill, metallic whistle split the misty Welsh morning--but then, it always seemed to be foggy here, much like how Seattle is always rainy or most places in Texas are always being scoured by the ever-intensifying rays of a vengeful star.

At the sound of the whistle, a figure--a little shorter than average, clad in an orange and pink training kit--burst into action, weaving through a set of cones before making a sharp cut to his right, where he hurdled over a miniature windmill lying prone on the ground as he received an incoming soccer ball at chest height. Taking only a split second to settle the ball at his feet, he dribbled forward, carefully maintaining possession among the field of random debris--knee-high castle turrets, an assortment of model train cars and, inexplicably, a life-size statue of Ryan Giggs--before unleashing a shot with his right foot. The ball blasted through the chilly early morning air, landing perfectly flush with the far goalpoast and rebounding off with a loud ping.

“Better,” said a second figure, a whistle dangling around his neck as his topknot swayed gently in the morning breeze. “But you’re still off target. You need to be able to find that bottom corner every time.”

“Yessir, Mr. Bale.” Jude Greer sheepishly walked back to the starting point. It was only about six a.m. Cardiff time, and yet they’d been at this for two hours, during which he’d accidentally kicked over half the obstacles on his trainer’s personal miniature golf course. Then again, it seemed a little garish anyway--in his experience, most minigolf courses didn’t feature a scale model of the Santiago Bernabeu as the 18th hole.

Gareth Bale studied his de facto student. “You’re quicker than when we started, I’ll give you that. But you can’t get complacent. If you want to play further forward, you have to be perfect every single time. One mistake and you’re gonna lose the ball--”

“--And losing the ball means losing the match,” Greer finished, the mantra having been driven into his head every month for three seasons now.

“Exactly. Right, one more rep, then we take five.” Bale put the whistle to his lips, and another sharp burst of noise rang out.

Greer was off like a shot. He darted in and out of the cones on the ground, looking positively weightless on his feet as he then cut hard right and leapt once more over the windmill. Cheating the incoming pass to his feet, he took a single touch to drift past the obstacles, evading the characteristically robust challenge from the facsimile Giggs. With all the power he had, he drew back his weaker right foot and hammered it into the ball, sending it flying toward the far goalpost again, where this time it hit just on the inside of the post before ricocheting back over the makeshift goal line and into the net.

“That’s the one!” Bale clapped. “That’s what I’m looking for. Tuck it bottom corner, and with that amount of power behind it, the keeper can’t get to it.” He looked at his watch. “Right, take a few minutes to get your wind back, then it’s dribbling next.”

Greer nodded, picking up his water bottle and squirting some of it into his mouth. Even for a temperate Welsh morning, he was working up a sweat.

“Mr. Bale,” he said eventually, having rehydrated, “I’ve gotta ask. What made you decide to join Tokyo/Cairo’s coaching staff?”

“It’s contract work, remember? I’m a bit short on golf funds, so I just needed something to pass the time. And I’m just here as a special consultant for the wide players. You, Kaido, Van Garritsen--and those newer guys down in Cairo too. Superhoops and Al-Turkis and…uh…Bushtit, I think it was?” Bale scratched his head. “That can’t be a real name…”

“There’s weirder ones for sure,” Greer pointed out. “Back in the academy, one of my teammates was a guy named Dohg Innim. Wonder whatever happened to him…” he added.

“Anyway, like I said, it’s purely out of money and boredom. Nothing else.” Bale paused. “Well, that and being able to stick it to Paul Merson’s always a treat.”

“Yeah.” Greer nodded. “Though lately he don’t even talk about me anymore. Whenever someone else brings me up, he changes the subject right away. Other day, he and Tim Sherwood were talking about Tokyo on his podcast, and the moment Sherwood said my name, Merse cut to commercial, and when they came back they were debating whether Jean-Claude Goddamn deserved the Ballon d’Or.”

“That’s ‘cause you’ve been proving him wrong, mate.” The Welshman smirked. “There’s two things Merse hates most in life: Spurs, and being proven wrong. And given how inconsistent Spurs have been of late…” he trailed off, as in real life the writer silently lamented what was shaping up to be yet another frustrating season.

“Well, in any case, I really appreciate everything,” Greer said, trying to recapture the flow of conversation. “I feel like I’m getting better than ever. And we’re really starting to click as a team, y’know? They’re even talking about playing me further forward next season.” He grinned. “I never woulda dreamed I’d be here--playing soccer for a living, reaching the top of my game, working with one of my idols--but here we are, huh?”

A genuine smile seemed to flirt with the edges of Bale’s mouth as he looked back at Greer. “Here we are,” he agreed.

It was a moment before Bale looked at his watch. “Anyway, break’s over. Grab the pylons, we’re doing dribbling.”

“But Mr. Bale,” Greer replied, “You don’t have pylons here, remember?”

“Right. Then go lug the statues of CR7 from the garden over here, we’ll use those.”

“But there’s eleven of them, and they’re all made of solid gold!”

“Think of it as bonus strength training, then. You’re welcome.”

Greer groaned. “All right, Mr. Bale.” He cursed his luck as he went to go schlep the huge statues to their new destination. What kind of person sends someone eleven statues of themself for Christmas, anyway? he wondered.

(1019 words)

APPROVED - please design Bale's personal field for FM24 use in our SSL games.

[Puppy]

Career Task #6
Player Page

Zhihao starts his yearly off season training generally by heading back to China as soon as possible. Once there and back with family, he’ll take a few days to meet with old friends and relatives while acclimating back. After that, it’s a lot of hitting the gym and doing runs and sprints on his own. For about a month he’ll work on physical fitness and rarely touch the ball in efforts to increase athleticism needed for the sport. During this time coaches back in Germany will update his personal training plan and ensure he follows through on fitness. This is some of Zhihao’s favorite training time, working in isolation while also getting to enjoy being in China and seeing family.
 
After that, it’ll be right back to Germany and to the SFV training fields. Here it’s a matter of getting back into ball control and working on more technical aspects with the ball. During this time, whoever is also on site training at the facility (regardless if they play for Schwarzwalder or Monteral) will generally join into team activities to work on some passing and set piece drills. This year there has been quite a few new faces from Montreal at the facility, and Zhihao has been more than happy to help them along and do drills to get them ready for their first pro season.
 
In attacking drills, he’s been spending most of his time with Sinclair, Volta, and Aleksandr Skovgaard. This young attacking unit while still unproven, would still cover positions Zhihao knows well, mostly at CAM and Winger. Attacking drills with the new players would have Dina Skovgaard and Zoe Clarke working in tandem to flush out attacks. Against their fellow new comers, these 2v2 and 3v2 drills would produce mixed results, with either side coming out on top. But growing near the peak of his form, Zhihao would usually push the young defenders past their limits and show the prowess of a Majors player.
 
Still, these off-season drills would help both young and old players grow, building up to hopefully successful campaigns for both eager clubs.

APPROVED - Look at the striker, almost all grown up!

[Froste39]

Career PT #6

Ah, the offseason. Finally some time to rest tired muscles, mend beaten bones and get a clear head, away from all the ruckus that usually comes with the job of being an international superstar athlete.

No? Well you would think so, but in case of Scotsman Duncan Maxwell this really is the case!

Maxwell's offseason routine rarely changes and helped him develop into the atout defender he is today.
As soon as the offseason starts there first and foremost will be a vacation completely alone in a tranquil place like for example a not much frequented beach area or in the mountains, many miles apart from large scale tourism. Wrll, some ammendities have to be included, Duncan is not a hermit...

After this sort of "retreat" where he refocusses on his body and his own needs of regeneration, there will be another vacation with loved ones, that promises to be more lively, while Duncan greatly prefers destinations that hold cumtural value and that he hasn't seen before.

After the vacationing, practice starts kicking off. While doing heavy amounts of cardio and musuclar training to stay in shape, Duncan ever since he came into the SSL, works with a mental health coach as well.
He learned the hard way that in today's times, especially as a figure of international media interest, joy and hate, it is very important to stay grounded and firm of mind.
This rings especially through for his position, that of the Central Defender. A position that has historically been one of the most stressful ones out of all the roles players can fill.
You always have to be on edge for a deep ball out of the defense  behind your line nowadays, you have to deal with high-octane wingers and strikers who aim to cut into the centre of the penalty area and you always have to be available to defend set pieces with your physique, or be a scoring threat through your own set pieces.

Composure, Determination, Decisions. These values, according to Duncan himself are what differntiates a good Centerback from an elite one.
And Duncan Maxwell always aims to be elite.

APPROVED - I think I know who beat his bones, too!

[Squid]

CPT 6
Player Page

Marco Tentacles has been improving every season at a remarkable pace, thanks to the development team at both Reykjavik United and North Shore United. The training team has worked with him day in and day out every day since he was drafted, trying to bring out his best performance on the pitch each season. After winning the SSL Cup with Reykjavik and the Majors title as well, Tentacles has decided to train this offseason with one of the best Reykjavik players of all time; Mikko Rashford. Rarely being spotted around the pitch now that he is retired, Tentacles contacted him and asked for advice. One of Tentacles' biggest weaknesses is his lack of ability to finish, always getting into the best position and jumping up into the attack but just hammering the ball into the keeper's chest or sending it miles wide.

Rashford told the leftback to meet him at a secret meeting spot in Iceland, where the greenery meets the volcanic plateau of northern iceland. Confused on how this was going to help his ability to score goals, Tentacles went deep into the heart of Iceland trying to find this place Rashford told him about. After driving for what seemed like forever, Tentacles reached a point where he had to get out and walk, leaving the car behind. He reached the base of one of Iceland's many volcanoes, where there was a small cave entrance with a Reykjavik United logo carved into the side. "This must be the place" Tentacles thought to himself.

After entering the cave, he found Mikko Rashford and a couple other old Reykjavik veterans in a small chamber, sitting and meditating around a campfire. "Come this way and we shall show you the source of Reykjavik United's power" Rashford said, gesturing towards a doorway at the back of the room.

The door opened into the heart of the volcano, but to Tentacles' surprise there was no lava to be found. The entirety of the volcano was hollowed out, with the sunlight shining in from the summit of the volcano, water, wildlife and grass filled the inside of the former volcano. In the middle of the open greenery stood a single 600ft tall tree, sprouting fruit on most branches and a variety of insects flying around and eating the apples on the tree.

Tentacles stood in awe, admiring this massive ancient wonder hiding in the middle of a volcano in northern Iceland. "What is this giant tree doing here?" Asks Tentacles. "This tree has been here since the formation of Iceland, and eating the fruit of the tree consistently has caused Reykjavik players to get better at football. We don't know what else it can do but we are sworn to water the tree and are rewarded by being able harvest it's fruit." Rashford says. "This is Treecko Rashford IV and it offers great footballing ability to those who help water it. Marco, would you be willing to help the tree by watering it weekly and helping us take care of it in exchange for improved footballing ability?" Mikko hands Marco an apple from the lowest tree branch, offering it to him. He accepts it and takes a bite, it tastes incredibly sweet and is incredibly satiating. "I will water the tree as often as it needs" replies Tentacles.