Bend It Like Becker
...
Chapter 29 - PROPER POSITIONS
...
It was almost noon before Becker felt completely human again. Jess spent all morning fussing over him and making him drink gallons of water, since she was worried that he was dehydrated. He clearly wasn't because he was constantly having to make trips to the loo. On his third trip up the stairs, he accidentally put his weight down on his foot and happily found that his ankle no longer hurt, so at least something was going well.
Make that two somethings - he and Jess were actually making real headway on their analysis of what to do with the team. Jess was right - last night's practice had gone much better, no doubt in part due to Becker not being there to argue with Chas over every call. The overall number of fouls had decreased, not only because of Becker's absence but because Chas had actually reviewed the rules with the team before play had begun. Abby and Lester were still too aggressive, but they had far fewer whistles blown on them now that they had a better grasp of what was and wasn't considered legal.
However, fouling wasn't their only problem.
"See how everyone simply follows the ball," Becker pointed out as they watched the footage together. "We've got to figure out a way to prevent that from happening."
Jess nodded. "And you're right about Emily really attacking her job as goalkeep. Maybe that's what we need to do with everyone else as well."
"Last time I checked, there was only room for one goalkeeper per team."
Jess laughed. "I don't mean that. I mean we need to give everyone a job to do. Something they can focus on, and hopefully something that they're relatively good at. That will help them feel good about their playing as well as giving them something to do besides mindlessly following the ball. I mean, that's what we do at the ARC, right? I'm not out there fighting the creatures - most of the time, anyway - because my skills are best served at the hub. And Connor is a scientific genius; Abby's great with animals; you...well, you're shooting champion of the world." She couldn't even say it with a straight face.
Becker nudged her playfully. "Okay, okay, I get your point. And you're right, as usual. But what kind of 'jobs' can we give them?"
Jess shrugged, jumping to her feet. "There's all sorts of different positions - that's what the internet's for. I'm sure there are sites that can tell us what skills are needed for each position and then we can assign them out accordingly."
Becker was thankful that Jess wasn't looking his way because his mind had gone someplace other than footy when she'd mentioned "different positions". He then flashed back to his late-night lecture from Abby and guessed that his mate probably wasn't suggesting he confess those sorts of feelings to Jess!
Instead of sitting down at her computer desk, Jess grabbed her laptop and returned to the couch, sitting back down next to him. "Let's see what sites we can find. I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier. Reading up on playing the sport is all well and good, but we really should've been studying how to assign positions and stuff instead."
Jess's fingers flew across the keyboard. Once she'd loaded several pages, she scooted closer to him and turned the laptop so they could both see the screen.
After much reading on assorted websites, many aimed how to coach kids' teams, they finally came to the conclusion that the best formation for their team, based upon the way they had to scrimmage against themselves at practice, would be a modified 5-3-2, with five defending backs (one playing as sweeper in the centre), three midfielders, and two forwards. Actually, it was Jess alone who had come to that conclusion, for Becker was having trouble concentrating on anything other than the fact that Jess's thigh was pressed up against his. Though that's not entirely true because he was also thinking about how soft Jess's lips had felt when they'd touched his forehead that morning and how those same lips might one day feel pressed against his own.
"I think we should assign the defensive positions based on which offenders they'll primarily be up against at practice," Jess said, hopping up from the couch and breaking the thigh-touching spell. "Then we can always move people around later, yeah?"
She came back in a moment with a notepad and several coloured pens and started drawing up potential arrangements of their players. She was still sat next to Becker, but their thighs were no longer touching. Although he was somewhat disappointed at this new seating arrangement, he realised it was probably for the best since he could now concentrate more clearly on the task at hand.
"Wait," Becker said, pointing to the label Jess had just assigned Scott. "If he's there, doesn't that make him the left midfielder, not the right?"
Jess shook her head. "No, the sides are named based on the direction when facing the...oh, you're right," Jess said, flipping her drawing around so that the goal was now at the top of the page. "It's so confusing when we're playing against ourselves!"
After drawing up many line-ups, they finally settled on one that would work. Abby and Ghani would be out front as the forwards; Becker, Scott, and O'Rourke would be midfield, and the rest would be defensive backs. Becker didn't bother pointing out that this was actually the same division as when he'd first split the team on Monday, since he assumed Jess no longer had a problem with it. And after much deliberation, they'd decided to make Matt the sweeper - thanks to all of the extra practices Emily had been forcing on him, he'd actually become quite adept at ball-handling and would make a good last line of defence.
The only real problem was where to put Connor. While everyone else seemed to have some skills, Connor only seemed capable of getting in the way. It was truly as if a giant target were painted on his forehead, for every single player on the team (including Emily) had crashed into him at some point. For the time being they placed him as the right back, hoping that having someone as aggressive as Lester next to him, and Matt behind as sweeper, would help prevent Connor from causing too much damage.
Once the positions were settled, Jess decided it was time for some lunch. Becker still didn't feel up to much, so he stuck with dry toast again, which he managed to keep down this time.
"Now that we understand a bit more about the different positions," Jess began after clearing away their dishes, "perhaps we should watch more of the Premier League games. Seeing how it's done in the real games might help us figure out a way to help explain it to our players."
It was a good plan. But even though it wasn't Bend It Like Beckham, Jess was clearly so exhausted from the stress of last night that she dozed off after only twenty minutes. Becker's arm was trapped behind her, which meant he couldn't get up to grab a blanket to put over her shivering form.
I guess I'll simply have to keep her warm myself, Becker thought to himself with a smile as he tenderly drew her in closer to him. After all, it was the least he could do after vomiting on her last night!
And he would've loved to revel in the feeling of holding her so close, his mind dwelling on the feel of her lips, but he, too, was asleep in a matter of minutes.
...
Practice tonight was going infinitely better than the previous ones. Before starting, Jess and Becker had explained to everyone their newly assigned positions and exactly what was expected of them. They pointed out that everyone had been assigned their position based on their individual skills, and each player had a very specific, very important job to do. Jess noticed the approving smiles they got from Chas and Neela, so she knew they were on the right track. She hoped, however, that Becker hadn't realised that their division of players was the exact same split that had caused her to have such a fit at the start of the week. Of course, now there was real purpose behind these assignments, so hopefully no one would feel singled out.
Unfortunately, Connor did end up getting singled out, again and again. Thanks to Becker sitting on the sidelines, where he was able to really watch the game and make suggestions and changes as they went, Connor was constantly being placed into different positions. It seemed like, no matter where on the field he was or which offensive players he was up against, Connor was constantly getting in the way. He'd played most of the game with tissue wadded up one nostril or the other, and Jess could only imagine how many bruises he must have by now. So after Scott ran him over for the zillionth time and Becker called Chas to stop the game (since he was actually calling him "Chas" and not "Whigham" tonight!), Jess wasn't surprised when Becker announced that Connor was being moved again. However, she was shocked at the position he was being moved to.
"A forward?" Jess repeated blankly, as if she'd misheard.
Becker nodded. "We're going to completely switch things around," he explained. "Instead of playing a 5-3-2 formation, we're going to try a 4-3-3."
But everyone still seemed confused, Connor most of all.
"So I'm gonna be out front, like Abby and Neela?" he asked, clearly not liking the idea. "I'm supposed to, like, score and stuff?"
"Yes, but in a different way," Becker confirmed. He then turned to the referee, asking, "Now Chas, if I understand the rules correctly, if an offensive player gets fouled within the penalty box, he gets awarded a free kick, correct?"
Chas gave a tentative nod. "A penalty kick is awarded, yes, if a defensive player commits a foul within his own penalty box. It's the location of the offence, and not the position of the ball, that determines whether a penalty kick or simply a direct free kick is awarded."
Becker looked confused, and Jess was glad she wasn't the only one. She quickly asked, "So what's the difference? Between a penalty kick and the other one, I mean?"
Neela jumped in to explain, "A penalty kick is a kick from the penalty spot, which is about 11 metres out, with the goal defended only by the keeper, whereas a direct free kick is simply from wherever the foul occurred and the opposing team can be in front of the goal, as long as they keep a minimum distance."
Becker smiled and then turned to Connor. "Have Neela remind you of the offside rules again. And then I want you to just concentrate on getting into the penalty box as often as you can."
Connor nodded. "So what your saying is I'm basically the team's punching bag?"
Although Jess understood the logic behind Becker's plan and thought it made good sense for the team, when put that way, it did seem a bit cruel. She was about to comment when Connor continued, "I can probably do that."
"Brilliant," Becker said. "Okay, everyone, let's take it back from the centre line again."
Jess flashed Becker an approving smile before running out to her place. As they began to play again, Jess tried to get back into her defensive mindset. She wasn't particularly good at defence, but she was certainly better at it than offence, and she was thankful to be able to concentrate on just one thing. What she lacked in aggression, she made up for in stamina, which was the exact opposite of Lester, so the two of them worked well together. Becker had obviously noticed this for he'd continued to keep them next to each other throughout all the various formation changes.
Now, as Neela came dribbling towards them, Jess saw Abby make a run off to the side, obviously trying to get in a good position to score. Jess instantly followed, hoping to stop any pass before it got to her.
Instead, Jess stopped Connor. She hadn't even seen him until she was suddenly shoving him and they were both tumbling to the ground.
"Oh Connor, I'm so sorry," Jess said as they disentangled their limbs. "Are you okay?"
Connor nodded and took Jess's proffered hand. "Yep, I'll be fine - my nose ain't even bleeding."
Jess gave Connor a friendly pat on the shoulder, finding it pathetic that that's how he was now gauging his well-being.
"So a penalty kick is awarded," Chas called out. "Now, who wants to take it? Just to be clear, it doesn't have to be the person who was fouled."
"It doesn't?" Connor asked, and Jess couldn't tell if he was relieved or disappointed. She felt bad, both for hurting him and for the fact that he was liable to take quite a beating on Saturday. However, she suddenly remembered how Connor had done surprisingly well with the passing drills last week when he'd merely thought of them as a physics experiment, so she turned to him and asked,
"Like to give it a shot?"
Connor shrugged. "Sure, what can it hurt? Besides me, of course," he joked as he headed over to the penalty spot.
...
to be continued