Chapter 29 - Kazuki Debut Impact

[Beautiful but imperfect debut.

In the 24th week match of the premier league, Southampton was visited by Tottenham Hotspur at the St Marrys Stadium. In this match, both sides are determined to take the three points, whether it's Tottenham who had consecutive won or Southampton who hadn't won for a long time.

The game was exciting, in the 2nd minute Gareth Neill got a golden opportunity after the Southampton defender made a mistake. Unfortunately, Neill failed to turn the opportunity into a goal.

After that, both sides are attacking each other. Luminaire and Osmund both had chances to score although they failed to convert those chances into goals.

The first goal was created in the 12th minute, the teamwork of the Tottenham players managed to produce a goal. Gareth Neill got his name on the scoreboard after receiving Shradder's pass.

It was a tough game after Tottenham's first goal. Southampton chose to strengthen its defense. Until the 36th minute, Southampton got a chance. Denilson who was able to break into the Tottenham penalty box had a chance to score, it was a shame his shot could still be saved by Llorente.

Southampton got a corner kick but Tottenham defended well, they launched a quick counter-attack. The result they scored after Shradder hit the ball into the Southampton goalpost. 2-0 for Southampton advantage.

After the second goal, Tottenham continued to attack Southampton relentlessly. Until in the 44th minute, Tottenham managed to shoot the ball into Southampton's goalpost for the third time. This time, it was Luminaire who scored with a volley shoot.

In the second half, Southampton did a fierce high press, but the strategy failed after Tottenham was able to overcome Southampton's high press.

In the 72nd minute, Kazuki replaces Osmund while Wright-Phillips replaces Rudolf. What coach George Eastgate did this time was proved right. In the 75th minute, Wright-Phillips passed Zouma and made a cross pass, Kazuki managed to finish Wright-Phillips' pass nicely and scored his first goal. Five minutes later, Kazuki scored again after kicking the rebound ball. Southampton's momentum rise instantly, the fans cheered with glee.

But in the 87th minute, Gareth Neill silenced the Southampton public with his solo goal. The match ended with a score of 4-2. Kazuki Kazeshima managed to make his senior debut by scoring 2 goals. A perfect debut, too bad Kazuki failed to win the match.

It will be interesting to follow how this genius develops in the future.]

Bennett closed the Southampton Daily that he was reading.

"It's only been a few months. But progress is very fast," whispered Bennett.

Currently, Bennett plays for Manchester United under-23, his abilities are developing well so he can enter the Manchester United reserve team quickly. But seeing Kazuki who had made his debut, Bennet couldn't hide the envy that filled his heart. Even though he knew Kazuki would debut sooner or later, Bennett didn't expect Kazuki to debut so soon. Moreover, his debut was done beautifully. 2 goals in Kazuki's first match.

Bennett took his cell phone and called his agent. After a while, the phone connects successfully.

"Hey, is there a Premier League club that wants my sign? I don't care if it's a small club, but the important thing is that I can make my debut as soon as possible."

"Manchester United? I wait too much time, you know the competition is so intense in the first team, as long as I play well in other teams, I will come back here."

"Okay, I'll wait."

Bennett hung up his phone, he had decided to make his debut as soon as possible. At least, at the end of the season, he wants to enter the first team of an English Premier League club.

Kazuki's debut, not only affected Kazuki himself but also affected other young players.

***

Kazuki's goal in the match against Tottenham Hotspur did not necessarily make Kazuki more important than Osmund in the eyes of the coach. To prove his abilities further, Kazuki had to be able to maintain his good game in every practice and match.

Of course, Kazuki's 2 goals at least made Kazuki more closer to his comrade in the first team. Now, he is not a young player without status in the first team.

Meanwhile, Kazuki's training in [Dream Training] had also changed. Now, he is focused on mastering the skills and techniques that are important for a striker. For example, the Whiplash Turn that Kazuki did to bypass Gregor's defense, without that technique it was very difficult for Kazuki to get past Gregor. Gregor's factor of underestimating Kazuki became one of the elements of Kazuki's success in passing him.

After experiencing Lewandoski's [Experience], Kazuki realized that the ability to control the ball inside the penalty box was also an important thing. On the other hand, Kazuki also practiced his Dribble ability to make it easier for him to get past the opposing defenders.

Of course, basic training like shooting and receiving the ball was still Kazuki doing, because that was the basic ability of a striker. Refining other abilities is an option but strengthening basic abilities Is a necessity. The longer Kazuki's feet got used to the ball the more accurate his sense of football became.

***

George looked at Kazuki who was celebrating a goal.

Kazuki's progress in the practice match was always monitored by George. He was happy to see Kazuki did not being arrogant after scoring 2 goals in last week's match. George had seen many genius players fall for their arrogance.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and then continuing to practice to improve your abilities is an important thing for young players to do. George was happy that Kazuki was doing those things. Without feeling satisfied, Kazuki always increased his training portion, especially practicing headers and shoots. Kazuki's positive attitude made George decide to field Kazuki as the starting line-up for the next match.

"Is it all right coach? As you know, our strategy is centered on the counter-attack, and Osmund is a striker who fits perfectly into Southampton's strategy." Assistant Coach James Ward asked George.

George nodded saying softly, "It's fine, just think of it as an experiment. I want to see if Kazuki is more effective as a striker than Osmund, or are his 2 goals just luck?"

"But we are in the relegation zone, there is no time to bet."

"I believe we will soon be out of the relegation zone."

"Aren't you overconfident, coach?"

George ignored his assistant's rude remarks. He was focused on the ongoing training match. George frowned and whispered, "Southampton lacks reliable left-wingers, Kounde is too bad. His pace is good but his passes and shots are too bad. We also lack midfielders who can organize attacks. If we had creative midfielders Southampton wouldn't be so dependent on the counterattack."

George knows that Kazuki is a talented striker, but without good support from the midfielders, it is difficult for a striker to score goals.. This was proven during the 2010 World Cup when Spain beat Germany even though Germany had Phillips Zico as the top-scoring striker at the 2010 World Cup.