Glory Of The Football Manager System

Chapter 77: The Final Push II

I told JJ and our wingers to stay wide, to force their full-backs to make decisions, to create space in the channels. "They’re going to sit deep and make it difficult," I told the team. "We’re going to have seventy percent of the ball and it’s going to feel like we’re getting nowhere. Don’t panic. Don’t force it. The goal will come."

It did not come. Not in the first half. Not in the first twenty minutes of the second half. And then, in the sixty-fourth minute, disaster struck.

Droylsden launched a long ball forward. Our centre-back and our goalkeeper both went for it. Neither called. They collided. The ball fell to Droylsden’s striker, who had the simplest of tap-ins into an empty net. 1-0 down.

The crowd groaned. I could see the fear creeping into the players’ eyes. I made an immediate change, bringing on a second striker and switching to a 4-4-2. I pushed our full-backs higher. I told the midfield to take more risks, to play more direct balls into the box. "We have twenty-five minutes," I said. "Throw everything at them."

The pressure was relentless. Wave after wave of attacks. Droylsden were defending desperately, bodies on the line, blocking everything. And then, in the seventy-eighth minute, JJ picked up the ball thirty yards from goal. He looked up, saw space, and hit a thunderbolt that flew into the top corner.

The goalkeeper did not even move. 1-1. The stadium erupted. We kept pushing. In the eighty-sixth minute, Marcus Chen won the ball in midfield and slipped a perfect through-ball to JJ. JJ was one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

He rounded him calmly and slotted the ball into the empty net. 2-1. I punched the air so hard I nearly dislocated my shoulder. We held on, barely, and when the final whistle blew, I collapsed onto the bench. Emma, who was watching from the stands, texted me: "You look like you need a drink." I texted back: "I need ten drinks."

did not get ten drinks. I got a four-hour shift at the convenience store starting at midnight. Terry had given me a hundred-pound bonus for the win, which was nice, but it did not change the fact that I still needed to pay

one in the morning and spent twenty minutes deciding between two types of crisps. I smiled and nodded and thought about tactical

a group of night-shift nurses who were lovely and tipped me two pounds. I used the system to check JJ’s fitness levels. He was at ninety-two percent.

February 27th, away to Radcliffe Borough, and this was the one I had

Moss Side. They were also a team

but low "Positioning" and "Anticipation" scores. Their full-backs pushed high and rarely tracked back. They played a high

the ball, to let them pass it around in their own half, to

lot of space to run into today," I said. "When

completed over five hundred passes. They looked like Barcelona.

from the back. Tommo intercepted it, played a first-time ball over the top, and JJ was away. One-on-one with the goalkeeper. Finish.

minute when Radcliffe’s full-back pushed high to support an attack. We won the ball and countered. Our winger had acres of space

cut inside, and fired a low shot into the bottom corner. 2-0. The third