*
All fourteen players trained on the pitch nearest to the dressing rooms. It was just gentle running and a bit of ball control. They had a match in three hours, so they didn’t want to use up too much energy. Steve had asked the three banned players – Craig and Sam and Daniel – to train too, even though they wouldn’t play later.
But Jake noticed that none of them were trying. Jake was surprised. If he’d been caught doing something wrong, he’d be doing his best to be good, not making it worse.
At one point, when Steve had gone back into the dressing rooms, Jake noticed Ryan go over to them. They talked for a while. Then Craig seemed to shout at Ryan, waving his arms about. Then Ryan walked away, shaking his head.
What’s the matter with Craig? Jake wondered. Why is he being so stupid?
*
After they had trained they went to watch the first game in the tournament.
West Ham had to play Chelsea, then it was Arsenal against United. The winners would play each other the following day for the trophy: the Christmas Cup. There would also be a losers’ final.
James and Jake stood with Connor and Ronan to watch the West Ham–Chelsea game. It was ten minutes in.
‘They’re good,’ Ronan said.
‘They are,’ Connor agreed.
‘I reckon we could beat West Ham,’ Jake said. ‘But Chelsea look amazing. They like to get lots of crosses into the box early, don’t they, James?’
James shrugged his shoulders. ‘Suppose,’ he said.
‘Steve thinks we need to play direct stuff against them,’ Connor said.
‘Yeah?’ Jake asked.
‘He said we need to be physical. Put them off a bit.’
Jake smiled. He liked Steve and how he was always thinking of ways to stop the other team. That was the difference between playing for a village team and a Premier League under-twelves team.
But if they were to play either of these teams, they had to beat Arsenal. And that was going to be the hardest game they’d had all season.
Arsenal v United
‘This is a good team we’re going to be playing,’ Steve said quietly. ‘And they’ve got a lot of fans.’
United were having their team talk on the pitch, in a huddle, twenty metres from the Arsenal players having their team talk.
Around the pitch there were at least two hundred people watching. They were families of the players and fans of the three London clubs.
‘Don’t be put off,’ Steve went on. ‘We can win this. Arsenal pass it like the men’s team. And they’re strong and fit. But here’s what I want you to do…’
On the pitch everyone had been given a job and some rules on how to play against Arsenal. The first rule was play deep, not to let the Arsenal players get behind them. Keep it very tight, so they had no room to pass in.
James was based in the centre of defence, as usual. And – also like usual recently – he felt only half interested in the game. In the last month he’d made some bad mistakes on the pitch because he wasn’t as up for it as he used to be. Something was missing.
But they were at West Ham, his dad’s old club. He knew his dad would be wanting him to do his best in front of all his friends.
So he put his confused thoughts to the back of his mind. He’d do this. Then tonight he would think. Think hard.
Arsenal scored their first goal within three minutes.
Their players were moving so quickly – and passing the ball so perfectly – it was impossible to get near them.
James did everything he could to get to the ball. He made two tackles before it ran loose and the Arsenal star player – Theo Bingley – was on to it. He collected the ball effortlessly and slotted it home.
One–nil.
After that, James, Ryan and Chi worked hard to get the United team to keep the ball more. And when Arsenal attacked, United managed to hold them off, packing the midfield, then the defence. But it was hard. If the United back line had lost their concentration for a second they would have conceded again.
At half-time it was still one–nil. And Steve was delighted.
‘Great stuff. You’re doing just what I asked. Defenders: excellent. James especially. Your heads could have dropped when the goal went in, but they didn’t. Great stuff.’
Steve paused and looked over at the Arsenal team.
‘The second half is about stamina,’ he said. ‘They look like they might get tired doing all this work. If we can hold them off, we only need to hit them on the break once. Jake? Yunis? I want you to be on the look-out for the opening. Everyone else, play deep. I want forty-five minutes more out of you. Remember, there are no subs for us. But I know you eleven can get a result here.’
The Deadly Duo
It was hard going. With ten minutes left to play, United had kept the score to one–nil. But it wasn’t good enough. They needed one goal. At least.
Ryan was talking to everyone, being a great captain.
‘Come on. Keep it up!’ he shouted. ‘You’re doing brilliant. Jake? Yunis? Be ready.’
And, five minutes later, Jake saw Ryan collect the ball after an Arsenal attack had broken down. Instinctively Jake ran wide up the pitch. He saw Yunis move up level with the Arsenal defenders at the same time.
Then Ryan fired the ball out to Jake. Jake took it in his stride and ran. This was great. They’d been defending for eighty-five minutes and he’d barely had a chance to use the ball. He moved wide to the edge of the area. Two big Arsenal defenders were ready to close him
