“Michael, this is Tomás, who just got promoted to the first team,” Steve Round said.
“You two are going to run some warm-up drills with the ball. Any questions?”
Tomás shook his head quickly.
“No problem.”
It’s Michael Carrick.
Carrick glanced at him, a mild curiosity in his expression, then smiled.
“No problem here either.”
Round nodded.
“Tomás has never played a high-intensity professional match before, but he’s talented. Excellent vision, passes beautifully. His football IQ is sky-high, like yours. David and I are hoping you can mentor him and help him adjust to top-level match intensity as fast as possible.”
Carrick raised an eyebrow.
Just how talented is this kid, getting promoted straight to the first team without a single U18 and U21 appearance?
Surprised as he was, Carrick nodded.
“If Tomás is willing, I’ll take good care of him.”
Round turned to Tomás.
Ding!
Manchester United assistant coach Steve Round has issued you a mentorship mission.
This mission requires you to remain Michael Carrick’s apprentice until either he retires or you leave Manchester United, learning from him throughout.
Mission rewards will be granted in real time based on your progress under Carrick’s teaching.
Tomás stared.
A mentorship mission?
With Carrick?
Only an idiot would say no.
“Mr. Round, I’d be honored to learn from Michael.”
Something was clearly happening with the first team.
Whatever this arrangement was, it didn’t feel like normal training.
“Tomás, let’s try some passing and movement,” Carrick said.
“Okay, Mr. Carrick.”
“Hahaha…just called me Michael kid”Carrick said easing the tension “Mind if we go one-touch only?”
“No problem. Michael”
Passing and movement drills required players to work in groups, passing and receiving continuously, usually with one or two touches.
The emphasis was heavily on off-the-ball movement and clean reception.
It was a test of basic passing and receiving.
Why hasn’t a mission triggered yet?
Puzzled but focused, Tomás braced himself.
Carrick set the rhythm of the drill.
It started smooth.
Tomás felt completely at ease.
Gradually, Carrick’s rhythm crept faster.
Tomás slowly started struggling, his accuracy wavering as he fought to keep adjusting his feet.
Wouldn’t it be embarrassing, losing this easily to a teammate old enough to be a veteran?
Losing in front of Carrick wouldn’t actually cost him anything.
Still, it stung.
He had been so confident there would be no issue.
Just when Tomás thought Carrick was about to blow him out of the water, the tension hit him.
The feeling of being pushed to his limit spiked his adrenaline.
His [Lion Heart] trait kicked in.
His heart hammered.
His muscles felt lighter, sharper.
Tomás’s unstable passing and receiving steadied.
He kept pace with Carrick’s rhythm.
Round, standing nearby, narrowed his eyes.
Tomás, locked entirely into the duel with Carrick, had no idea either of them was surprised.
He got the sense Carrick had found his exact limit now and had stopped pushing the pace higher.
Carrick held the rhythm right at the edge of his ability.
The feeling was uncanny.
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Ding!
Your Passing attribute can be improved automatically.
Ding!
Your Passing attribute has increased to 68.
Finally, an attribute upgrade.
Passing mattered more to him right now than anything else.
Tomás could feel clearly that his passing had hit its new limit.
And at that same moment, the uncanny feeling shifted.
Carrick seemed to sense it too.
The pace ticked up slightly, just enough to match his new limit exactly.
What does it mean to be a master?
This.
This is what it means.
Tomás sank into total, focused concentration.
The pace picked up again, Round thought, watching from the sideline.
Is his talent really this frightening?
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Ding!
Your mentor Carrick is teaching you the secrets of Passing.
Passing experience +10.
Maybe he was too locked in, or maybe the system knew when to go quiet, but the notifications faded to the back of his mind.
Tomás, absorbed in pushing his limits, had no idea his Passing experience was climbing steadily.
Nobody noticed how much sweat was building on Carrick’s face as he maintained the drill.
A minute passed.
Two.
Three.
Five.
With a whoosh, Tomás swung and missed his kick entirely.
Tomás snapped out of his trance, chest heaving.
Michael Carrick, you’re unbelievable.
You gave me an epiphany.
Then he noticed the heavy exhaustion on Carrick’s face.
The weariness of a player who still recovering from his injuries.
Carrick sighed inwardly.
Ever since coming back from the serious injury, his body just couldn’t keep pace with his own awareness and technique anymore.
Good to be young, Carrick thought.
And his talent is genuinely astonishing.
“Tomás, sorry. I hit my limit,” Carrick said, resting his hands on his knees.
“That mistake just now was on me.”
“No, it’s my fault,” Tomás said quickly.
“I can’t sense the limits of your body the way you sense mine.”
Carrick could sense the limits of Tomás’s skill perfectly.
Tomás just couldn’t sense the limits of Carrick’s body.
Carrick had been protecting him the whole time, holding a rhythm that let Tomás improve.
Except Carrick’s body had nearly broken down doing it.
If Carrick, just back from a serious injury, ended up sidelined again from training with him, it would be a disaster.
The rhythm that suited Tomás best wasn’t the rhythm that suited Carrick anymore.
Carrick had essentially been hunching over the entire time, awkwardly folding himself down to play at a lower level.
Picture a grown man crouching low to play football with a kid, and it’s obvious who will give out first.
“Michael, take a rest,” Round called out.
“Tomás, Michael is fine. Your warm-up is done. Come back to the group.”
After seeing off a reluctant Tomás, who kept looking back, Carrick and Round sat down together on a water cooler crate.
“Michael, how is he?” Round asked.
“A top genius. A good kid too.”
Precious few had the ability Carrick did, and precious few new player had talent like Tomás’s.
Besides that, he was just a good kid.
Carrick liked him.
“Michael, you know what I’m asking.”
Carrick leaned back.
“The Premier League’s still a bit of a stretch.”
Round frowned.
“But,” Carrick added, looking over at Tomás’s retreating figure.
He smiled.
“Good enough for Olympiacos.”
Round exhaled slowly.
Back with the first team, Tomás looked at the two starkly different groups ahead of him.
He wished he had stayed with Carrick.
On one side, David Moyes stood with Wayne Rooney, working on crosses.
On the other side, assistant coach Paul Scholes ran Ryan Giggs and Rashford through a small-sided session.
Left?
Or right?
He caught Rashford’s eager look from Scholes’s group.
Tomás took a deep breath.
Coach Tom Martin’s words to Joe Palmer filled his head.
Is this the professionalism I taught you?
Unconditional obedience to the manager’s decisions is exactly what United professionalism means.
Sorry, Marcus.
This time, I won’t be following you around.