| FMF's Toon Army Spiderman and member of the Writers Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: wiltshire Posts: 2,491 Thanks: 309 Thanked 635 Times in 607 Posts Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | 
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We didnt have another match until the 15th of August, and that was our Champions League qualifier against Spartak Moscow. This at least gave me time to prepare the squad a bit better, considering our last match had been a disaster.
The board had been suprisingly good about the defeat, Keizer informing me they felt it had been one hell of a baptism of fire. The team itself were quite down about it, we had dominated the game and just not capitalised enough. On the training pitch for three sessions solid we worked on fitness and moving the ball around, and in particular finishing off team moves in front of goal.
Gerrie Muhren returned from Turun with two new signings, totalling just over £175k. He had managed to sign Aaritalo without any fuss, and revealed to me he felt the youngster would benefit more in the first team, he was good enough already. Jukka Lehtovaara had also made the move, and would play a stint in the under 19's until next season, where we would probably find him a club to gain some valuable first team experience at the start of the next one. He also had someone however, he wanted me to meet.
I made my way down to the training pitch, where the youth team coach Ad Koster had twenty or so youngsters doing aerobic training. Muhren was stood at the side of the pitch, tucking into the bucket of oranges on a small table, and as I joined him, he chucked me one.
"Morning Gerrie" I said as I stood next to him "How are you?"
"Good thanks" he replied "I'm sorry to drag you out here, but I feel you need to see this young man" he pointed to a wiry youth at the back, blonde hair, just under 6ft. "Believe it or not I spotted him kicking a football around in the carpark at Veritas, he was waiting for a friend to finish training."
"So what's so special about him?" I asked, I was struggling with my orange, it seemed to be made of kevlar.
"Well at the moment he's on the books at JIPPO, but at the moment they seem to be offloading players left right and centre. I had a chat with him and it appears the trials for their teams are closed, and he hasn't even been seen yet."
"Oh" I replied not sure why Muhren was so keen "So was he any good in the carpark?" Muhren looked at me "Every now and then you see something in one of these youngsters, you just get a feeling. I think it was the way he was controlling the ball...It was just effortless, kind of like the way you see Cesc or Ronaldo do it"
"Ok matey" I turned to him, "lets see what he can do. "Adie!" I shouted to the youth team manager "Get a game going mate!" He waved back and 5 minutes later they got a 10-a-side going.
In all fairness it didn't start too well for the new kid. His passing seemed wayward, and although his touch was superb as Muhren had said, it seemed he was aloof to the way the other kids were playing. After another pass failed to make its target and went out for a throw-in, Gerrie groaned. He was knocked over on several occasions, the players on his team were getting angry with him and his passing, and finally I could tell my scout was getting embarrassed. After ten more minutes of him playing he'd had enough. "I'm sorry Steve" he said "It was a mistake, he can't play. The guy's just are way above him, I'll ring his dad and tell him to pick him up at the airport" It wasn't til the kid hit another through ball that again failed to impress his striker, that it hit me as to what the problem was.
"Wait Gerrie" I said "I have a theory, just hold on, get him off the pitch and take him to where the reserves are playing over there" I pointed to pitch two, where the reserves were playing a hectic 7-a-side.
Gerrie looked at me like I was mad, but did as I asked. I had a quick word with the 2nd team coach, David Endt, who agreed and pulled Muhrat Yildirim off for a rest. We sent the new kid on, and he immediately slotted in behind Bogdan Stancu. The game restarted.
It was an immediate impact. Our newboy picked up the ball on half-way, and tried a threaded ball in between Greg van der Weil and Jeffrey Sarpong. Stancu was onto it like a flash and smashed the ball into the net past a hapless Verhoeff. He immediately ran to the new kid and hi-fived him. "Thank god for that" David Endt turned to me, "Thats his first goal today, I was wondering if he was ever gonna score" I looked at Muhren, who had the beginnings of a smile on his face. "I think his problem wasn't he couldn't handle the under 19's" I said to Gerrie, "He was just too damn good for them."
Again we turned our attention to the match. It became evident the new kid was starting to run the game, his passing was incredibly good, unlocking chances for Leonardo to net, and Stancu to score his second. Then in the dying seconds of the game he produced a moment of sheer magic, spinning off Marin Sterk, to play a one-two with Stancu, except he didn't collect the return pass, he just stepped over the ball, leaving Leonardo to run free and score his second. The outstanding piece of skill had us all clapping on the touchline, it was brilliant. "Call him over, I want a word" I said to Muhren. A minute later, he was with us.
"Whats your name, son?" I asked the lad
"Lauri Dalla Valle, sir" the kid replied. I smiled at him "We don't do sir round here sunshine, just boss or gaffer will do. Are you free to play in a reserve match on trial for us tommorow?" His eyes lit up and he nodded. "Good" I said "Muhren here will make the neccessary arrangements for you and your dad to stay for a few days, I look forward to seing how you get on" I nodded at Muhren, who was grinning from ear to ear, and walked back to my office mulling over what had unfolded.
As good as Cesc? More creative than Ronaldo? I guess time would tell. But for now I was glad Muhren spotted him before anyone else did. |
