#which also happen to be where we need a stronger midfield

[probayern]

i think part of why i'm not that upset about our performances this year is because i'm honestly not expecting that much, i don't think this team will ever be That kind of bayern team and i don't think that even the best coach could change it. we're missing too many key positions and maybe there's a way to make it work with our current squad, but i think it would require sacrifices our players aren't willing to make

[pitchsidestories]

God, it's brutal out here II Aitana Bonmati x Reader

barcelona women masterlist

"How do I look? What if I mess up my speech and people misunderstood the message?', Aitana asked you, licking her lips nervously and playing with her already done hair.

With the most soothing voice you replied:" First of all, you look beautiful as always, love. Second of all, don't forget to breathe, the audience will understand what you're trying to say." 

"And I can look at you while I'm delivering my speech.", she reminded herself, regaining her inner confidence and calmness.

"Exactly, I'll be there the whole time."

"In a sea full of men, I can easily spot you.", the midfielder remarked while hugging you from the side, resting her head on your shoulder.

Because of your injury you stayed at home in Barcelona, watching your girlfriend and your national team succed through the tournament.

The drama surrounding the  coach Vilda was only bringing the players closer together, making the team stronger than ever before.

On the final game, Spain against England you were in the stadium, seeing Aitana and her teammates lifting up the trophy.

Now, you would be watching her being named Europes player of the year by the UEFA. Well deserved in your opinion.

You knew how much work she put into the last season at Barcelona and that she had an amazing tournament.

Even as her girlfriend, you sometimes were in awe of her playing style. So to you, nothing made more sense than her winning this award.

Aitana, however, let go of your hug, bringing you back into the dressing room in Monaco where the award ceremony would take place.

There was still a glint of nervousness in her eyes when they searched for yours. You smiled softly as you gave her a confident nod, “Come on, love. Just get out there and get what you deserve.“

Your girlfriend wrinkled her nose, “Do I?“ “Don’t even question it. You know you do.“, you laughed, knowing that Aitana just wanted to hear it again from you.

She blew out a breath as if to say that she gave in and you were obviously right when the dressing room door opened.

One woman who was taking care of the organization part of this ceremony asked politely: "Miss Bonmati, are you ready?" "Yes, I am.", Aitana replied, her excitement was not audible anymore, only visible to your eyes as she tried to smooth out her sparkly dark dress. 

A few minutes later they announced her as the winner of the female UEFA Player of the season.

With confident steps the spanish midfielder went on to the stage, knowing all too well what she would do with her moment in the spotlight.

During her speech, she paused for a moment, before continuing, letting her heart speak the words she wanted to say the most tonight:

"I would like to speak a bit about what has happened. I think as a society we shouldn’t allow abuses of power in a work relationship, as well as a lack of respect. So from my teammate Jenni to all the women who suffer the same, we are with you."

You could not help but be moved by the sentences your girlfriend said out loud in a room which needed to hear it more than ever.

But you could also tell Aitanas relief  when she returned to her seat, immediately taking your hand in hers to watch the cerenomy continue.

She beamed as you whispered into her ear:" I'm so proud of you, the men in this room but also of the world needed to hear this and I love you so much." "I love you too.", the midfielder mouthed back, not letting your hand go.

Meanwhile Sarina Wiegman received her award for coach of the year. The dutch woman ended her speech with a dedication, you personally found very admirable considering her team lost against spain in the final:

"I would like to dedicate this award to the Spanish team. This team deserves to be celebrated and deserves to be listened to, and I'm going to give them again a big applause and I hope you will join [me]."

Immediately you joined the applause and so did the other guests. You could tell Aitana was clearly moved by the female coaches words, showing a female solidarity within the women's football community.

At the after party she thanked Sarina Wiegman for her speech in person.

Silently you observed the hug between those two small women, giving them a moment of peace before their fight would continue in the following days, maybe weeks.

But before that you promised to dance the night away with Aitana because her achievements should be celebrated.

[0alanasworld0]

morocco v south africa rant

amallah, ounahi and amrabat were sorely missed today.

its time to bring bilal and abde^2 back up because lord knows we need the depth.

raihani would do a good job fulfilling ounahi's role and keep that moroccan tiki taka thing going on with ziyech.

abde is a fantastic winger that is very reminiscent of what boufal usually does, albeit a bit raw. he would have been valuable today and against cabo verde imo. i think he would link up well with en-neysri because they both thrive in chaos and are wonderful at putting pressure on the opposing defences. perhaps abde is better suited to a super-sub than a starter for now tho. i hope his time at barca transforms him into a starter because a full 90 minutes of his playing style (with the barca refinement) would really bring some energy to the attack and take a little bit of pressure off boufal. the same for sabiri but i would argue he would work as a starting player already.

bilal is very young and a very raw talent but he's proven his quality on the national team plenty of times so i see no problem in having him start games. he's clearly miles ahead of today's midfield.

as for the amrabat situation, i genuinely don't know if its even possible for anyone else to fill his role. to the point where i wonder whether its worth even looking. the easiest course of action would be to simply figure out a different system for when he can't play. which is probably best anyway for longevity.

zakaria and anass r good players. they've shown their level in their respective clubs throughout the season but they lack the confidence to deliver those performances for the national team. i think they should remain as subs and if they are to start, it should be for games like today that don't put any kind of tournament at risk. they'll grow into monsters for the team eventually.

defensively, i would say that they're near flawless. aguerd and saiss top notch as always. attiyat allah and the other one do well in terms of pushing forward. mazraoui is usually fantastic so i will put today down to post-season fatigue and also wager a guess that he would have improved if he'd stayed on a bit longer. el yamiq and dari and fantastic as subs or even starters for when aguerd and saiss arent available. chadi riad will eventually be ready too.

munir didn't have a great game today but thats kinda the nature of goalkeeping. he has a plethora of outstanding performances to comfortably call today a fluke. bounou has had those days too. not worth worrying about the goalkeeping because it genuinely doesn't get better than those 2.

this team is far from perfect or invincible but most teams are in that position atm. i would actually argue that morocco is in a much better position than most national teams because they have an incredibly strong, clear starting lineup. that starting lineup from the brazil match is undoubtably the ideal going forward. today proved that and also showed everyone which players should be kept on the squad should anything happen to that starting XI. we know which players are currently best fitted for the starting XI and the subs. a lot of today's starters have some work to do before they come back. hopefully they can improve at their clubs or international friendlies and come back a lot stronger.

in conclusion, it'll all be fine. deadass, theres nothing to worry about. we would rather come to these conclusions now than during the knockouts. its good that different players got a chance because its clear what works and what doesn't moving forward.

[locahaz]

shoot your shot - a one shot

a/n: hiiii this is my first posted fic on my refurbished account soon if you see this and you like it, lemme know!! Request some things, I would love to go back into writing. Enjoy x ..................................................................................................................................................................... harry plays on the football team where you are the medic helping out and things get quite interesting when he invites you to his party

warnings: mature content

word count: 11,1k

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I felt it from the moment I had walked on the field with the others. 

Someone was staring at me. Or everyone was. I didn’t look behind me to see if it was true, but I could feel their eyes staring straight at my ass. They asked me to wear athletic clothing for this, so I just chose the first thing in my dresser that I saw, picking out some black yoga pants. The material clung to my butt and I regretted I had put them on the moment I had arrived here. My oversized sweater I chose to wear over it luckily covered my upper half, a decision I did appreciate I made now.

Walking onto the sports centre was nerve-wracking in itself. I liked sports, I liked watching it, but having the possibility of someone else watching you do something was disturbing. I couldn’t find the way I was supposed to go. I didn’t bring my hair tie so I was forced to keep my hair floating around my face and this place was huge. There were several buildings and a squala of fields for specific sports. Indoors, outdoors, you name it. The college was probably sponsored by some wealthy upper class fathers who wanted their sons to be on the radar for new opportunities.

Luckily, I was led right to the canteen which was easily locatable since it had a terrace. A terrace! Lord, I feel like I should’ve worn other clothing for this. 

I approached a team player who had blond hair, feeling the nerves floating around in my stomach, “Uhh… Hi.” 

The boy who was filling up his water bottle turned around, raising his eyebrows, “Hi there.” 

Shit, he was nice. I inhaled, “I was looking for uhh, the football team…” He gave me the same look, “I was asked to help.., or I need to help with their inju-”

“Ahh!” He exclaimed, disregarding his bottle and he turned to fully face me, “You’re the one!”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess I am?”

“My name’s Niall.” He held out his hand, “I’m the star player of the time you’ve been assigned to!” 

I shook his hand, smiling a little. “Hi,” We still held hands, “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?” 

Still holding my hand, he began shaking it up and down. “I’m glad we finally have someone.”

“You are?”

“Yeh, we desperately need new people to liven things up a little.” 

I pried my hands from his grip, which wasn’t that strong. But I was already sweating, I didn’t need more reasons to be nervous. “Alright, that sounds good.” 

The pregnant pause that followed made him inhale and pack his bottle in his bag, “You are probably wanted by the football field, which is right there.” 

He pointed out somewhere behind me, making me turn my head. I already saw some players dribbling with the ball, so that was easily recognisable. “Go to the coach, he’s the tallest and biggest one. Has a loud voice too, probably won’t miss him.” He grinned, making me smile up at him. 

“I’ll meet you there in a second, we’re starting in like two minutes.” 

I nodded, “Alright, thanks…”

“Niall.” He answered for me, giving me a wink. “But you can call me anytime.” 

I rolled my eyes at his remark, but by the look on his face and the laugh that followed his statement, I knew it was to lighten my mood and assure me. 

I walked towards the field with a small smile on my face and with a lot less nerves. The players were now assembling and putting their heads together so I walked towards the dug-out and waited for them. There weren’t a lot of spectators or bystanders standing around the field, since it was a friendly game. I inhaled again. This should be fine. I recognized some of the players. They were all from the same college after all. Why did I sign up for this? I’m such an idiot.

When the team was done with sharing strategy and doing their, what appeared to be a yell, the trainer walked towards me. I was nervous when he approached me, he towered over everyone. 

“Hi Mattie,” he said, “You ready?”

I stood there, with my own little bag of supplies in my hand. I nodded. Luckily he spoke to me when I got drafted for this, so I already knew him. What if it was someone else who ended up being the coach? Since our conversation was very brief, you’re a nurse, I’m in need of a carer for the team, the deal was easily made. I didn’t know exactly what to take with me for this, but it was a college football team anyways, so nothing was really high-class. I had put some aspirin, plasters, scissors, antiseptic wipes, bandages and tweezers in my supply bag. That should be enough for a college team right? Surely they wouldn’t crash and fall every single game. He saw me fiddling with the bag, and smiled at me, “Good luck.” 

I nodded at him in gratitude and looked around the field. Gosh, couldn’t I talk? I was punching myself in my head. The trainer, whose name I seemed to have forgotten the second after the interview, sat down on his seat. 

Right now, all the players on the field were starting to go to their positions, other members of staff, the referee, seconds officials and the trainers and staff of the opposing team, all seemed ready to go. It wasn't hot or cold, but the slight breeze that blew over the field chilled me just slightly, making the tip of my nose go red. My job was already halfway done, which is just waiting for something to happen and providing the supplies they needed. If something did happen, I was the chosen person to help the players and fix their injuries. I didn't expect that these games would be very intense anyways. The players often knew each other since the teams were always against other colleges. Today it was just a practise match to start off the season, so I should be fine. 

The minute everyone started and the whistle blew, I wondered where Niall even was. Wasn’t he one of the players? As everyone was running and shouting on the field, I felt like he fit right in. I let my eyes wander. I didn’t know that much about football. I rarely watched the Champions League, I could just about name all the rules. The players, however, were something that did interested me. Especially the ones I already knew.

As I was sitting there, everyone seemed to be in the right place and doing exactly what everyone expected of them. The coach shouted an obnoxious loud praise towards his team, making me jump in my seat. The referee whistled at what suggestiably were the right times. No-one seemed to be getting angry at him. They were getting into it already. It'll probably go fine tonight, and my nerves I had bubbling in my stomach would probably be for nothing. At least, I was hoping for that. I watched the players going for the ball intensely, running after it and passing each other the ball. 

Right as the spirits of the team heightened and they almost scored, Niall crept up from behind me. “You didn’t even give me your name.” 

I shrieked, startling even the trainer who was deep into the game, “Jesus, Niall. Don’t scare me like that.” 

He sat down next to me, “Sorry, babe.” 

“My name’s Mattie.” I said, looking at him briefly. He nodded his head, “Like that.” 

I smiled, turning my head towards the field. “Aren’t you playing?”

He pointed towards his knee, that was covered by his track pants, “This annoying thing won’t let me.” 

“Ahh, that’s too bad.” I grimaced. 

“It’s alright,” he shrugged, “get to sit next to you.” 

I rolled my eyes again. “You’re not getting any.” 

He burst out laughing, “What! How could you resist me?” 

I playfully smiled at him. I was glad he was here to ease my nerves, “Dunno,” I glanced at the field, “quite like the others.” 

“You already know them?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” I nodded, “same college.”

Liam was the goalie. He was broad, quick and could move fast so he was the one that suited that job the most. He was also rough, and shouted really loudly which was a benefit when he would have to coach the team from the goal. He scared opponents off easily, grabbing the ball before they could shoot to keep the score at zero. Liam shared a house with Zayn, Louis and Brad, who were also playing tonight. Zayn was a little bit more of an introvert, and I didn’t really speak to him much. He did show he was a good midfielder though. He was quick and could pass the ball to his teammates effortlessly. When he did score though, he wouldn’t hesitate to cheer loudly and scare everyone with his intensity. 

Brad was a little bit older than the rest, but he was great nonetheless. He was very broad in the shoulders and had legs every gym boy would be jealous of. He was the ex-boyfriend of my sister’s, who also attended this college a few years ago. But to me, he still felt more like an older brother than someone who had been in my sister’s life for years. 

Louis was very serious. He was known for only having one thing on his mind, and that was to score goals. He was quick, could dribble fast and made the stronger players against him look back at him in surprise. Others called him Suarez because he was just that good, and his name was close to Luiz’, which made it easier for his teammates to choose a name. He was actually the only one, alongside Harry, to maybe get upgraded to a higher team. From what I heard of some girls on campus, was that he was a bit snarky. He had some quick-witted comebacks, and he didn’t care if he would hurt your feelings.

The house right next to their one, was filled with other boys from the team. This one was occupied with Josh, Ben and Harry. They had been friends since they were around sixteen, and now had the best bond you could have as college brothers. The three boys were always seen with each other, going out together and even doing groceries together. It wouldn’t surprise me if they also fucked the same girls. 

I actually didn’t know them that well, they were just known around campus. That house was classed as the party house and had a reputation of being used to shag a new girl every week. Don’t get me wrong, they were also good at their sport, but the girls they pulled mostly went for their looks rather than for their skills. 

It wasn’t a surprise that two of the boys that I knew, Louis and Harry, played as strikers, in the centre forward position. Harry was the only one that I had never actually spoken to before but knew from the parties. He was in the team because he was good, but also because he could easily show off to the ladies that way. He was popular amongst the college, mainly because he offered up his house to all the party-goers that wanted to celebrate a win that he created. No-one complained about that, seeing as he was gifted with the most attractive face on the campus. He could dribble the ball, yes, and he had the skill of a young Neymar when it came to approaching the goal. But with those eyes and smile with dimples, and his full head of curls that were covered in a backwards snap-back most of the time, I couldn’t help but check him out instead of his moves on the field. He was the captain of the team, living up to his name. He was also a leader of the group outside of football, which made all the girls like him even more.

“Ahh,” Niall exhaled, “shame I don’t know you.” 

This time, I shoved him, making him laugh. He was already a pain in my arse. “Fuck off.”

The boys were playing for around fifteen minutes now, without something happening that would probably make me do some work. The coach was getting into it, standing up every so often and giving the players some tips. He had really created a team, I felt like. You could feel the bond and fondness between them. When a player fell down, another player helped him up and patted him to ask if he was okay. When it almost went wrong and the opposing team had a shot at the goal, everyone from the team would shout positives to each other. It felt like a real team. This team wasn’t only together while playing, though. I had seen them all at parties together and they also liked to play outside of the games they already had. 

I was really into it the first fifteen minutes, but now I was growing kind of bored. Sure, watching boys play was fun, but with no work or particular action, it was kind of boring. Especially since it was a friendly match. The one form of entertainment I got, however, was Niall, who was really into the game.

“Fuck’s sake, Leon! You’re a defender! You should play in the back!” He shouted profanities to his team mates, cheering them on. 

When Niall saw that Leon didn’t comply, he nudged another player next to him and said something in his ear with a scowl on his face. It made me grin lightly in my seat, him being so serious. I liked watching them already. 

“Come on!” He yelled again, standing up in his seat, “Run Louis! Go after…” 

I was looking at Niall with a smile on my face. I also saw how his face turned into a grimace and his hands went to cover his mouth. “Oooh,” 

I looked at the field, panicked. Niall nudged me, tapping his hands on my arm. I saw that Louis had fallen to the ground, his arms holding his leg up now, groaning in pain. It was probably his ankle. I didn’t know what to do at first, shocked that something had actually happened. I looked at Niall, who was already looking at me, nudging his head towards the field. “Go!”

I jumped from my seat, wanting to run straight to the victim. I saw the referee signing for me, which made me run onto the field even more desperately. After a couple of seconds of running, I realised I had forgotten my bag. Fuck. Seriously? Groaning to myself in embarrassment, I quickly grabbed my supplies and ran a little quicker to the boy who was lying on the field in pain. 

“Hey,” I said as I approached him, a little out of breath from running so quickly. 

He didn’t look at me, just kept touching his ankle. It made me frown, it was probably really bad. He was crying out in pain, and some teammates and opponents had gathered around him to see what happened. In the meantime I had wet the sponge in the bag that the coach had brought with him, stretching Louis’ leg. He didn’t really want to, resisting to want to move it. 

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.” 

As I was wetting his ankle to cool it down over his shoes, I tried to look if it was bruised or if it had swollen up. None so far that I could see, so that was a good sign. I stretched his leg a bit to keep it moving, but with his socks on, I couldn’t see if there were any wounds or cuts. I tried to sit him upright, but he wasn’t having it. “Calm down,” He hissed, still holding his ankle. He sat upright now, finally looking who was taking care of him. When he saw it was me, he raised his eyebrows. 

“What’re ye doing here?”

I looked at him in shock, already not wanting to help him anymore. So much for running hurriedly over to him. I tried to not react to his degrading question, although it was hard. I continued to check out his foot, trying to place it straight down on the field. He placed his other food next to the injured one, and leaned on his knees with his elbows. The trainer gave Louis a bottle with water, which he gladly took. He took a large gulp, sitting there for a while. Was I overreacting or something? He seemed to be in a lot of pain, why was he now so calm and chilling?

I started grabbing my things, giving Louis one last look to see if he was okay. He seemed to be fine, being helped up by another team mate and testing to stand on it. 

I couldn’t believe this, he was groaning about his ankle no less than one minute ago! What an idiot. Letting me come all the way over here for nothing. As I was walking away frowned my eyebrows in confusion. If it was going to be like this the whole time, I was gone. Not gonna happen. I was here for a reason and the team mates should take that seriously. 

I looked back one last time to Louis who was now laughing with Brad, which resulted in me bumping into someone. His back was hard. He had drawn his head back so he could fill his mouth with water, causing me to also run into the back of this someone’s arms. 

“Fuck, sorry.” I exclaimed, “I shouldn’t..”

When he turned his head around and I saw who it was, I immediately shut my mouth and stared at him. I was frozen into my place for a moment, not knowing what to say. He turned around completely, a dimple showing on his face. I blushed. He was even more attractive up close.

“Don’t worry about it, babe.” He didn’t look angry or anything at all, he actually smiled, which made me feel a little bit better. I wanted to keep on walking to let me soak in my distress towards the situation that just occured, when Louis spoke up again from behind us, “So who’s the pretty girl who wears tight ass clothes to her job?” 

I heard him laugh quietly at his own remark, and he said it loud enough to let his mates in on it too. Instead of just ignoring him and walking on, I decided to turn around and shout after him, 

“Someone who can actually pull it off.”

His team mates ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at my quick remark. I sighed. Harry was still looking at me. I saw his face turn into a frown, silently apologizing to me with his gaze. I shrugged at him. My comeback towards Louis made me feel good again. He’s the idiot.

When I turned around again, and actually began walking, I smiled quietly to myself, forgetting the situation. This was going to be an interesting job.

--

The whistle blew, announcing the end of the game. For a practice match, the game went surprisingly well. There weren't any more instances or fake ankle injuries, what I was glad about. Harry had scored the one and only goal, which made the team go home with a win. Even though the game was for practice, they were pretty happy about it.

"Okay boys! Bundle up," the coach announced as everyone was walking off the field. I was still standing by the dug-out, not really knowing if I had to say goodbye or when the next game was. I saw everyone rounding around the coach, listening in, just like I did.

"Great game, happy about this one. Leon, next time: please bring your shin pads, so you could actually play and I could see what condition you're in. I have made notes and I will be announcing who's playing this Saturday, before the real game." The team looked around at each other, gauging who played good tonight and who didn't. 

Apparently they used this match as a mock try-out, so the trainer and coach could see who were in shape and who weren't for the first big game on Saturday.

"Before you all go, I would like to introduce you to our new on scene doctor, who will be helping you if there's anything actually wrong." He glared at Louis when he said that last part, making him scowl.

I took a step forward, looking around the group. I saw that everyone was intensely looking at me, so I spoke up quickly, "Hi everyone, my name's Mattie and just like Patrick said, I'll be helping you guys out during the games."

"You'll help me out outside of the game, too?"

I ignored him, saw that Niall was once again encouraging me and disregarding his team mate who shouted that from the group, nodding his head for me to continue. I smiled a bit, and went on, "I'm studying to be a doctor, and I'm currently doing the bachelors for it, so yeah.."

Patrick, the coach, nodded at me and returned to the group, "For now, keep in shape boys and help each other out. I haven't decided anything yet so miracles can happen!"

The team shuffled away quietly, talking to each other. I tapped Patrick on his shoulder, "Sorry, coach, is there some place where I can put my bag so I don't have to bring it with me every time?" 

He nodded, gazing above me to where the boys were walking, "Of course Mattie, just a moment,” He took two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, making me try to cover my ears, “Captain!" he shouted, "Harry come here!" 

I turned around and saw that Harry was saying goodbye to his teammates, as he already heard his couch, before jogging over to us. He nodded at me, looking me up and down and placed his arms in his sides as a greeting and turned to Patrick, "What's up coach?" 

Patrick cleared his throat and looked at me, "Mattie here would like to put her bag in the dressing room so she won't have to take it with her," he started grabbing his keys from his pocket, "you can show her, yes?" 

Harry nodded, taking the keys from him. "No worries coach, I'll help her." 

The coach patted Harry in his shoulder, "Thank you, bring the keys to my office tomorrow. And work on your left foot!" 

Niall was waving goodbyes at me, so I quickly waved back, “Bye!” and turned towards Harry. 

With the team and Niall gone, it was just Harry and I. It was still dark, with only the lights from the field still on. Harry jiggled the keys in front of us, and winked at me, "I'll show ya," 

It wasn't that I was nervous or anything, but I hesitated for two seconds before strolling behind him. He was so cocky, with his kit still on and smirking all the time. I couldn't help but watch him while he was playing. He had a certain glow around him, an aura that just radiated confidence. He could probably pull everything off and he certainly could wrap everyone around his finger. 

"So you enjoyed the game, doc?" 

I cringed at the nickname, but decided to let it go this time, "I enjoyed watching it yeah," 

Nodding, he faced me, "You liked my goal?" 

He said it with a smirk and as if he knew I was watching him the whole time, which was true, but he didn't need to know that. 

"Actually, I really liked how Leon could outrun everyone on the field.." 

He stopped abruptly and turned around, in the middle of the path. Once he was fully in front of me, he leaned in, “I saw you watching me, you know.”

Because he stopped suddenly and leaned in immediately, I accidently took a step too much, almost bumping into him again. “Maybe I was watching Louis.”

He laughed, showing me his dimple as he looked to the side. “I know you weren’t, that douchebag really doesn’t know how to play it.”

I nodded my head, and rolled my eyes as if he was stating the obvious. “That’s right.” 

I began walking again, not really knowing where to, but at least in the same direction we were already going. Harry followed me soon after, jumping into step with me. I already saw the building coming closer, which made me think of something. “Why aren’t you all showering in the dressing room after a game?”

He bumped his shoulder with mine, which made me notice the height difference we had. He was a lot taller than me, my eyes looking straight at his collarbones when I turned to look at him. 

I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows in question. 

“You would like to see that, huh?” He stated, smiling shyly at me.

I groaned, “Harryy..”

“Already moaning my name, I see.” 

This time it was me that bumped my shoulder with him, making him laugh in response. “I was just joking, love.” 

When we fell into step once more, he looked ahead and started explaining my question to me, “No we’re not there because it was a practise game and obviously we want to go home fast so we can go to the party later, so we just decided to shower at home.”

I nodded my head, kneading my eyebrows in confusion. There was a party tonight? I haven’t heard anything about that. I quite liked going to parties. Normally my friend Niamh made sure we could get invites so we could go together, but not tonight apparently. It was a Wednesday after all, so maybe she just wanted to stay in tonight. “A party?” I asked Harry. 

He nodded, “Yeah it’s like a frat party only, I would have gotten you an invite but I didn’t really know you before this, soo..”

I laughed, grinning to myself. Harry was really nice. At least, nothing like I had pictured him to be in my head. I didn’t like to judge people before I knew them, but with Harry that was kind of inevitable. Also, I couldn’t exactly invite myself now since he said he didn’t know me but I already knew him. I was not going to make a fool of myself, obviously. So I just shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it.”

We had reached the building where the shower rooms were. We walked quite slow, and it was already quite late so it was kind of eerie here. No lights, the doors were all left open and there were no people to be seen. 

“So these are our shower rooms,” Harry started as we walked into the building after he unlocked it, “We normally take the first one, so you can just put your stuff in there.”

The dressing room was big and spacious. Everyone had a seat, there was a whiteboard in there and the showers were in a separate room. The closet that stood against the wall next to the showers, held all the equipment. “There,” Harry said, as he took my bag and placed my stuff in, “A special place for you.”

As he placed my stuff in the closet, I could finally see how he’d looked up close. He still had his short sleeved football shirt on, revealing his tattoos on his arms. For a guy that was still in college, he sure had a lot of them. Not that I minded. 

“Thank you Harry,” I smiled at him, at which he winked in return when he faced me again. Gosh, I could almost feel myself getting red. I was acting like a schoolgirl, I needed to step up my game. “I’ll remember this place,” I said, as I looked at the showers. I could almost imagine all the naked boys right here. 

I smirked, glancing at the shower himself, “I’m sure you will.”

After making sure everything was locked and closed, we started to walk back to the parking lot.  I was sure Harry was also with his car, considering campus was at least a twenty minute walk. Right as we reached our cars and I wanted to say goodbye, he faced me again and leaned on his already open door, “You know what, Mattie?”

I looked up from the inside of my car towards him, giving him a questioning look. “What?”

“You free Saturday?”

He said it so casually that I wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t asking me out on a date was he? I mean, I was attracted to the guy but I barely knew him! And it wasn’t like I wanted to go out with him, really. But I did want to see him. With hesitation evident in my voice, I answered him, “Yeah, why?”

He saw my facial expression and laughed a bit, “To take you up on my offer. We’re having a party again at our house, so if you’d like to come?”

I almost sighed in relief, “Yeah, I’d like that, thank you Harry.” 

He shot a quick wink at me as he started to climb in his car, “No worries!” As a last afterthought, right as I wanted to shut my door, I heard him shout, “And bring your friends!”

--

My friend Niamh was present at the game this time, too. We were here a little early, so we could catch up on our week and talk about everything that had happened to us. She was a friend from years ago, almost from when we were kids, so she knew everything about me. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be a doctor and had chosen to go pursue her dancing career. She was really good at it, too. She was asked to dance in videoclips and she often performed on stage with singers or bands. It was her job now, one she always wanted. It made me proud of her, because she actually went for it, and ignored her parent’s complaints about it. She had proved them and their comments about how she was never going to make it, wrong. 

We sat in the canteen, which was still fairly quiet. The game would start at two, and it was now one thirty. I had only been to a professional game once, and then I arrived at two on the dot and I didn’t even look if there were many people there. The only time I’d been here was when I met up with the trainer to see if this was the right place for me to take my extra credits. I could choose to work in an elderly home, or at the swimming pool, but I had decided that this would be more fun for me. I didn’t mind watching 22 boys running after a ball for two hours back to back, particularly. 

Niamh had ordered a coffee whereas I preferred cold drinks over hot drinks, so I just stuck with some soda. “So how has your week been, Matts?” She said as she took a sip of her drink. 

I smiled at her, excited to tell her she would be having something to do tonight, “Actually, I need to invite you to something.”

Her eyebrows perked up, and she placed the drink on the table, “To where?”

I grinned, “Harry Styles asked me if I wanted to come to this party at his house tonight, and said I could bring some friends.” 

“No way!” She exclaimed gasping, “Harry Styles from the team?” 

I nodded happily back at her, “That’s the one.”

She already started to grab her phone, so she could text our friends, I presumed. “When did he ask you this? I didn’t even know you talked to him!”

After I placed my drink down from taking a sip of it myself, I shrugged casually at her. “Well, I had to help at that game you know,” I said as she nodded at me, “And right after he had to show me where I could put my stuff and started talking about this party he had this Wednesday----”

“Oh yes!” She interrupted me with wide eyes, “So that’s the party Emily talked about! She said she had fucked the captain of the team, and that he was quite good. That’s Harry right?” 

I paused, opening my mouth in surprise. “What? Yeah he is the captain.” 

“That’s so sick! I have to text Emily about this party tonight then,” She said, grinning excitedly at me and putting her phone down to look at me again. “Anyway, go on, I’m listening.”

I coughed, choosing to ignore this disappointing bit of information, “Yeah so he told me about that party and that he couldn’t invite me then, which is a bit weird if I think about it now, but anyways, he invited me for tonight and said I could bring some friends.” I forced a smile on my face as I finished my story and looked at her. 

She copied my smile, “That’s great! Maybe I can finally meet Niall and get to know him better, if you know what I mean,” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows. 

I laughed, genuinely excited for her. “I hope you will!” 

After I had finished my drink, I announced to Niamh that I had to leave if I wanted to be at the dug-outs on time. She wished me well, and said that she would see me tonight. After I hugged her and said goodbye to her and the bartender who had served us, I walked out of the canteen towards the shower rooms. 

I needed to grab my bag if I wanted to be helping players today. Today they had to play against a popular college not far away from where we’re from, so it was kind of exciting to be able to see that. The coach had probably announced who would be playing and who wouldn’t for today, which made the pressure on the players to play well a tad bit higher. I knew that obviously Harry and Louis would be playing, along with our goalie Liam, but the rest of the team was still unsure. For me it would be kind of fun if Niall was still benched, just for entertainment, but he would rather be on the field, I’m sure. Hopefully his knee was doing better.

I had reached the shower rooms and discovered that the door was still open, allowing me to walk right in the building. I knew Harry said it was the first one when we dropped my bag off, so without hesitation I whipped open the door. Right as I did that, I heard commotion and deep yelling from from the inside, causing me to rapidly close the door again. Shit. How the fuck was I supposed to know they were still here, they were just warming up outside!

Bowing my head in embarrassment, I quickly walked out of the building. I would just grab my bag when they were out so I didn’t have to walk in with all of them staring at me. I waited outside, leaning against the wall and just staring ahead at the field they would be playing on. They were taking their sweet time. Probably just discussing the match quickly just before the game started, but to me it felt like ages.  

The other team was walking towards the field in a pack, and the referee started to walk towards this building, probably to let our team know the game was about to start. I actually felt nerves bubbling in my stomach, with everything being so serious in comparison to the last game. There were a lot of supporters walking towards the bleachers, too. 

I was just staring at the field again when the door opened and everyone on the team started to walk out. First it was the coach and trainer, who nodded in greeting. The coach was needed here too, apparently. I saw that Niall walked in the front with his jacket still on, so that meant he was benched again. When he walked by me, he ruffled my hair. “Hey Matts!” 

“Hey!” I shouted after him, “I’m here to help you, you know!”

He turned around and laughed loudly, pointing at his knee, “Not me!’

At that, I didn’t have anything back to say knowing he was benched again, so I just shook my head. 

“Is he messing with you?” 

I heard Harry’s voice before I saw him, making me look up towards him. He was walking at the back of the team’s row to get out of the building with a smile on his face, standing out from everyone else walking before him.  

When he reached me, he stopped and raised his eyebrows, awaiting my answer. “No it’s just Niall,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders indifferently. 

“Right,” He smirked, “Well, I figured ‘t was you that tried to come in during our important speech, so I decided to grab your bag for you.” 

My heart swelled just a little bit at his kind gesture, having not expected this at all from him. Shit, you should never listen to rumours, huh? He proved once again that he could actually be kind.

“Wow, Harry! Thank you so much. That’s so kind of you to do that!” I grabbed the bag from him and in a split second decided I wanted to hug him. I threw myself in his arms, catching him off guard for a second. My bag that I now carried in my hand whipped him in his back, causing him to groan in my shoulder. Hugging me back, he draped his arms slowly around me, positioning them right above my ass. 

When I loosened my arms around him, I nodded my head towards the field, “You should probably go,”

He nodded in confirmation, still standing in close proximity to me. “I do.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder blades, and wished him luck for the game, “Break a leg Harry, or don’t actually.”

He laughed at my comment, showing me his dimples. Before he walked away towards the field, he winked at me, “I’ll try not to.”

When I saw him run on the field and give his teammates one last cheer for good luck, I smirked to myself watching him. It was a good choice to wear my tight yoga pants again, at least. 

--

The game was very intense. Not like practise-match intense, but full on competition match intense. Louis luckily hadn’t faked any injuries yet, so that was a good sign. However, I had to run on the field in the first half for Liam, who had taken a good shot right in his eye. He fell to the ground, making me run on the field for him. When I got there, he was already sitting up and not at all groaning in pain like Louis had, making me smile a bit. At least Liam could handle something. I also discovered his injury wasn’t fake, because I could see a bruise forming immediately. I cooled it a little, but told him it would be better if he took some rest. He said that he’d be fine and would just tell me and the coach if he wanted to switch between the other goalkeeper and him. I was still a bit concerned, but he insisted. So I walked back with my supplies and some worries, hoping that it was really just a shot with the ball, and it wouldn’t turn out to be something worse. 

The score was 2-1 for our team, with just ten minutes to go when I came back from grabbing some more water. It was so tense, all the players were proper going for it. The bleachers were filled with supporters, all reacting to the match as if their life depended on it. When the opponents came near our goal, they would stand up and shout at our defenders. And when our team was striking and near the opponents goal, they would yell and scream for us to score. I was nervous too. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping that the score would stay the same. I was fiddling with the hem of my shirt to stop myself from standing up and screaming towards the players. 

We did have a good few people that came out to support us, yes. But our biggest supporter sat on the bench. He was biting his nails, screaming in frustration and cursing loudly whenever we missed a goal. 

“Fuck! Who in their goddamn mind would even pass like that!”, or “Holy shit! That was fucking close!” and my favourite: “Son of a… get that fucking ball in the goal you arseholes!”

Least to say, I was entertained for the match.  

Currently we had the ball on our side, passing each other the ball and walking forwards towards the goal. Once we had crossed the midfielders of the opponents, Zayn passed the ball towards Brad who then passed it on to Ben. Ben had a good shot, and could easily get the ball miles away. So when Louis sprinted towards the goal, Ben saw an opportunity to pass the ball onto him. He put the ball in front of him and shot the ball, right into Louis’ feet. I could see that Louis was looking for someone to help him out, because there were two defenders near the goal and he couldn’t pass them himself. Luckily Harry had seen it, and sprinted with him on the other side. He made sure he ran close to the goal but not to close, so he had the space to shoot the ball right in if he got it. He shouted for Louis to pass the ball onto him, and Louis immediately did. The ball was flying over the defenders, in a straight line towards Harry. Harry prepared for it, taking his foot back so he could place it right on it. He jumped, the ball almost near him, and kicked the ball--- 

Right before he could kick it, a defender sprung onto him making Harry fall right to the ground. “Nooooo!” Niall yelled loudly from beside me, “For fuck’s sake no!”

I heard everyone gasp from the audience, immediately voicing their worries from behind me. I panicked for a second, freezing in my spot. Shit! Harry just fell to the ground. He was laying there, in pain. I heard the coach shout my name, making me snap back to reality. Immediately I grabbed my bag, and ran towards him in a hurry. Shiiit. Why Harry? Others had gathered around him, so I couldn’t see how Harry was doing. Right as I arrived near him, I shouted for them to walk away. 

“Everyone! Leave!” 

My voice must have sounded really angry or intimidating, because everyone hurried away quickly. This way, I could finally see Harry. He was laying on the ground, on his back. He had his hands on his forehead, making me think there was something wrong with his head. Hopefully he didn’t have a concussion or something. The defender that had pushed him to the ground, was still looking at Harry. He was probably worried about what he’d done, but I didn’t care. 

“What are you doing? Leave!” 

He started saying that he was sorry, and that he could help, but I wasn’t having it. “I don’t care, leave before I force you.” 

He nodded, worry evident on his face. For a second I felt bad, but then I saw that Harry was still laying here, and then those thoughts escaped my mind right away. The defender walked away eventually, leaving me alone with Harry. I looked at him, seeing how he had one hand over his head, feeling for bruising. The moment I sat down next to him, he turned his head towards me. He opened his eyes, and smiled.

“Am I dreaming?” 

Relief washed over me immediately. At least he could still make jokes. I began sitting next to his head, wetting my sponge once again and placing it over his head. “You okay, Harry?” 

He nodded, his head in front of my knees on the ground. I looked at him from above, so that I could see how his body reacted when I would do certain things to see if he was okay. Right now I had my hands on his forehead with the sponge in between, “I’m fine actually, Mattie. I just wanted you to come save me.”

I rolled my eyes, not believing him. “No you didn’t.” 

He laughed, causing his chest to go up and down, “I did,” He smirked, his eyes shining as he looked at me. 

I shook my head in disbelief, staring at him smiling at me for a second. But then I remembered I could take revenge. He saw that I was wetting the sponge again, and began to sit up straight. “No you won’t!’

I began splashing him with water in revenge, making him soaking wet. I was laughing my ass off, seeing him so flustered and shocked at what I was doing. “Mattie! Shit, stop!”

I was aware that the rest of the team and the coach were still watching us, so I stopped splashing him, throwing the sponge in the water bag. I took a step towards his soaked body, pressing my lips together and looking him in the eye mischievously. “Next time you’ll play a joke on me like that, I’ll take you to the hospital so you’ll have to sit next to Niall for a month.”

He laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Noted, doc, noted.” 

As I walked away smiling and the referee began gathering everyone together again, I heard him shout one more thing after me, “I’ll pay you back tonight Mattie! Watch out!”

I just shot my middle finger in the air, hearing him bark out another laugh in response. 

--

The party was in full swing when Niamh, Emily, Joey and I arrived. It was in Harry’s and his roommates’ house, one that I had never been in before, let alone seen how packed it could be. Everyone that was just a little bit known around campus, was there. I recognized some people from my class, and others I knew because they were popular around campus. 

When we arrived, the door was unlocked and you could just walk right in. That wasn’t unusual with the parties I went to, if we ever went to house parties. There was a pile of jackets formed, so we just threw ours over it. Joey and Emily claimed they knew some people and went off to speak to them, leaving me and Niamh alone at the party. 

“Let’s have a drink,” Niamh said to me over the loud music, “We need to get drunk to process this!”

I nodded in agreement, already taking her arm towards the kitchen. It was already quite busy, but we had come a little late. We didn’t want to be the first ones to arrive, as we didn’t know a lot of people here. All the drinks were placed on a table, leaving us with a lot of choice of what we wanted to drink tonight. I hadn’t realised before this that these college boys actually spend a lot of time planning these things. They had a lot to think about. And to be fair, they had done a good job at it.

We had appropriately dressed ourselves, luckily. Since we didn’t really know what to expect, we just went for black: Niamh wearing a tight dress with spaghetti straps and me wearing a skirt with a t-shirt. It was something you could never go wrong with.

I poured myself some alcohol, waiting for Niamh to do the same. Once we both had our drinks, we leaned against the table and started looking at people. This was our favourite activity to do. You saw some crazy people at parties, so we had a lot to think about. 

“Oh wow, there’s already people on the edge of drunkenness.” Niamh laughed, raising her eyebrows at a boy who had run straight towards the loo. “Jesus wept.”

“Shit,” I exclaimed, looking at a girl who had just came in with a gift in her hand, “It’s someone’s birthday? Did we need to bring a gift?”

She just shrugged her shoulders at me. “No fucking clue.” And resumed to look around the room. We had been sipping on our drinks lightly, just enjoying the music that was blasting loudly and how everyone was dancing and talking with each other.

“Look at that girl, she's going for it!” Niamh pointed out at me, looking at a girl that was standing in the middle of the room, dancing her ass off. I followed her gaze, seeing how the girl was dancing to the music, not caring about anyone it seemed like. I wish I could be like her. “She’s really good!”

Right as I wanted to respond to Niamh, I saw that Louis had walked in the door she was close to. I rolled my eyes and turned around, looking at the sink. 

“What’re you doing?” Niamh asked me incredulously, looking at me over her shoulder. 

“I don’t know,” I answered her, “He just annoys me.”

She came to stand beside me, searching for my eyes. “How? Last time we talked about him you said he was hot!”

I shrugged my shoulders again, “He’s just annoying.”

“Right.” She answered, turning around again and taking a sip of her drink. “If you want to fuck him just tell me. I could be your wing woman.”

I bumped my hips with hers, and turned around to look at the crowd again, “Never.” 

She laughed, standing up straight and finishing up her drink. “Okay then, just tell me why another time. I just saw Harry come in and you need to talk with him.” 

Immediately I felt my stomach go wild. Shit. My eyes began to search around the room, looking for his head of curls amongst the crowd. I found him talking with a friend of his from his team, who’s name I couldn’t remember. Harry looked extremely attractive tonight. Instead of the usual kit I saw him in, he wore all black. His black vans stood out with the other clothing he wore, black skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Even with such a simple look, he made it seem like he wore a million dollars. As he was talking, his jawline moved with his mouth and it made me just weak in the knees. He was actually so hot, how hadn’t I fully appreciated this man before? 

It seemed like he was asking if his friend wanted a drink, because he leaned into him with his ear, nodded and started walking away towards the kitchen. Oh no, why had I been sitting in the kitchen, so obviously out in the open? He strode confidently towards the drinks, when in mid-walk he saw me sitting there. Niamh also recognised him and saw he was walking over here, so she made up an excuse to leave. “Just need the loo for a moment,” 

I couldn’t answer her, because Harry interrupted my thoughts. He was also smirking at me as he arrived right in front of me, only leaving a few inches in between us. I crossed my arms, looking up at him challengingly. 

“Hey doc,” he greeted, speaking in a raspy voice. He began to smile mischievously, making me wonder what he was going to say, “Or should I say, hero?”

I groaned out loud, hitting him in the chest with one hand, and shaking my head. It made him laugh, making his chest vibrate. I could almost feel the vibrations with how close we were. “Shut up,”

He was still chuckling a bit as if he were still thinking about it. Suddenly he stopped, and looked me right in the eyes. “Really though, that was really hot with how you fought everyone out of your way for me.”

I felt my face go warm and I tried to not to smile too much. “Thank you,” I said, straightening up a bit and raising my chin up at him, “But like hell that I fought everyone away.” 

He gasped, nudging me with his arms “Heyy, you did!” he said with a fake offense, frowning his eyebrows, “You were basically performing CPR on me with the way you acted!”

I laughed, making me lean into him a little bit and hide in his shoulder. When I brought myself back in front of him, I raised my eyebrows at him, “You would like me to give you a mouth to mouth performance, wouldn’t you?” 

My heart skipped a bit when he got all serious and looked me straight in the eye. “I would,” 

Our eye contact was intense, I could feel it in my stomach. He was so close to me, I could feel his breath on my face. I was almost certain that he could feel my heartbeat against his chest. We weren’t even touching completely, but it was beating so hard that I wouldn’t doubt it. I looked at his green eyes, to his plump and pink lips. They were a nice shape, and I felt the urge to just kiss them. I didn’t though, maybe he did this with every other girl he tried to get in his bed. 

I was proven right when he took my hand, “Come with me,” 

I tried to act confused, furrowing my eyebrows, “Where to?” 

He didn’t respond, just tugged on my hand and began leading the way. People weren’t even looking at us, they were dancing or drinking and talking. And even though I liked doing those things at parties, this thing that I thought Harry was planning to do with me, seemed much more fun. 

He made his way towards the door to go upstairs, avoiding bumping in with people or getting splashed by someone’s drink. Once we were on the way up he let go of my hand so we could walk better. There were only one or two people upstairs, making out with each other or searching for someone. Two doors were open out of the four, and Harry went into a closed one with me. 

He revealed his bedroom to me, which was completely dark apart from the moon that lit up the room a little bit. His room was mostly a dark blue, with a grey colour covering the one wall that wasn’t blue. His bed stood in the middle of the room with two bedside tables next to it. He had a desk and his sports bag that he had used still stood in his room, untouched. He didn’t have a desk, but a dresser was shoved against the wall. Once I did my onceover, I saw Harry standing in front of his bed, looking at me. 

He smiled, and began to walk over to me again, making me back into the door once he reached me completely. He stood closer than he did when we were in the kitchen, his pelvis against mine and his chest leaning against my body. “Hey,” He said again, even raspier this time. 

I looked up at him, examining his face, “Hey.”

He cleared his throat, and hesitated a bit, “Can I kiss you?”

I hesitated, “One thing.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Tell me you don’t fuck girls every week, otherwise I won’t be able to handle this.”

He took a step back, frowning, “Who told you that?”

Looking up at him, I felt myself growing more nervous, “Just hear that about you.”

He looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. “I promise you Mattie. I didn’t bring you here or invite you just to fuck you. I’d happily talk with you all night. You seem fun.”

I smiled, “And,” he continued, “my roommates are the ones who get laid every party. I do have sex yeah, but I promise you, I haven’t had sex since the first week of this semester.”

With the sincerity in his eyes, I believed him, “Okay, you can kiss me now.”

“Only if you want to.”

I looked into his eyes, “I really do.”

With one nod and another reassuring glance he was in the clear and we were done with being slow. He smacked his lips against mine, moving his arms from against the door to my body. Roaming his hand around my hips to my ass as he hungrily kissed me. I kissed him back, recuperating his movements. He squeezed my ass, making me gasp a little bit, giving him access to use his tongue in the kiss as well. I moved my arms from his shoulders to his neck, pushing him closer to me with my fingertips in his hair. Our tongues were wet and desperate, making the kiss hot and heavy. Once he had enough of just making out, he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me up, turning me around towards the bed. 

I fell backwards onto his soft mattress, with Harry on top of me. My legs were around him in an instant, crossing my feet on his back. I still had my sneakers on and all my clothes, but not for long. Harry’s hand went from my ass to the hem of my shirt. I lifted my back for him, pausing in the kiss, to let him take my top off in one swift movement, leaving me in my bra. I didn’t wear my sexiest bra, but he didn’t seem to mind. His mouth went from the sweet spots on my neck towards my cleavage, leaving wet kisses on my body. He was already working on getting my bra off, pushing the straps off my shoulders. I sat upright for him, making him readjust his position to get closer to me. He was struggling with the clasp, so I unclasped my bra for him and threw it on the ground. He didn’t waste any time cupping my breasts, feeling them and leaning in my neck to leave some more spots, but I wasn’t having it. I pushed him away on his chest, making him stand on the ground again. He looked at me in confusion for a moment, until I stood up and pushed him on the bed. I bent my knees so I could reach his t-shirt, and he got the idea. Moving his arms up to let me take his shirt off, he gladly let me do it. 

His chest was revealed to me, just like mine was to him. This wasn’t enough, though. I crouched on my knees completely so I was level with his belly button, and began to unbutton his jeans. His bulge was evident in the tight material, so when I moved the zipper down I cupped him over his jeans and pants, making him groan in response. 

“Fuck, Mattie.” 

I just smiled at him, moving to tug at his jeans. He got the hint and thrust his hips up, so I could take his jeans off. Once they were off, he was just left in his boxers. I moved a little closer to him, so I was level with his bulge, making me look up at him with wide eyes. “Impressive,” I smirked. 

He wasn’t having it, and took his boxers off immediately, revealing his dick to me that sprung to his stomach. He must be proper into it, because I had never had a man be this turned on from just kissing. He threw his boxers onto the pile we had already made, and leaned on his arms so he could look at me properly. I took him in my hands, gliding my thumb over his tip. I looked at him for his consent, and he nodded at me eagerly. That was all I needed before I licked him on the tip. He responded loudly, groaning and moaning through the room. I never knew he was so loud in the bedroom. 

I licked him from his balls to the tip, and let him slip in my mouth to take all of him. He moved his hand in my hair, not pushing me, but finally having something he could do with his hands. 

I started bobbing my head up and down, all the while looking at him how he responded to me. His eyes were closed and his pink lips were voluminous and opened just slightly. 

I enjoyed giving blowjobs, especially if it was someone as responsive as Harry. He was groaning and moaning for me, letting me know how much he enjoyed it. “A-ah,” He cried once I hit him in the back of my throat. “Fuck,”

Kissing his tip, feeling his balls and sliding my tongue over his dick was making me wet as well. He still had one hand in my hair, the other going from my arms that were drawn over his upper thighs. My naked boobs rested on his naked legs, and my still clothed butt was stuck in the air. 

He slid his hand over my arm and went to my back, leaning over my head that was still bobbing over his cock. Once he could reach the hem of my skirt, he started moving the zipper. At least, trying to. 

I stopped sucking him off and let my mouth pop when his dick was out of my mouth, making him moan in annoyance. I quickly took my skirt and panties off and went back on my knees in front of him, when he was the one that stopped me this time. He grabbed my arms and basically threw me on the bed, covering my body immediately. Fuck, he was good. 

He started kissing me again, while I searched for his dick and began giving him a handjob. He cupped my breasts and squeezed them. I started leading his dick towards my entrance, giving him a hint of what I wanted. He backed away to look at me with wide eyes, paused for a bit and went to his dresser to get a condom. I watched him as he slid it on, and grabbed his shoulders as he started to position himself in front of me. Before he did, he looked at me once more. I nodded in approval, and he slid himself in me slowly. I could feel him filling me up immediately, making me throw my head back in bliss. “Fuck, Harry..”

“You like my dick, don’t you?” He said as he began thrusting into me. 

I could only nod in response, gasping as he looked at me, “Tell me,” he said as he thrusted into me hard once, “Tell me how you feel.”

His trust were getting harder with each second I wasn’t responding, because I could only moan in pleasure, “Fuck Harry,” I moaned, “I feel so good..”

He reacted with his hips. Thrusting into me rapidly, making my breasts go up and down and the bed creak against the wall. “I know, baby, I know.” 

“Holy shit, I do.” 

He started to kiss my neck, hungrily going for it as my legs crossed at his back once again. I was certain that the guests that were still here could hear us, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to everyone to know that he was fucking me, and not some other girl. 

“You’re so good baby, I knew it,” 

I started to roam his back with my arms, feeling his muscles move each time he thrusted. His dick was so long and hard that he hit the right spots inside of me each time. I could feel my head getting a little lighter, and my stomach filled with warmth. “I’m gonna cum, Harry, please,”

“Begging for it, see?” He cockily stated once he moved to look at me again, he even had a smirk on his face when he was fucking me. “Knew you would do me good,”

“Mhh, Harry, almost there,” 

“Me too, baby, me too.” 

He thrusted a couple more times before I could really feel it, my pleasure taking over me completely. I came hard, my legs trembling around him and my head thrown back. My orgasm made me cry out loud, and he was still going at it. 

He was coming too, I knew it. His thrust became harder before they slowed down, squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure. He groaned loudly when he came, looking beautiful while he did. His cheeks had gone slightly pink, making his lips stand out even more, and his hair was all dishevelled and damp with sweat. Once I felt that he filled the condom inside of me, he opened up his eyes and slid out of me. 

We both smiled at each other and started catching our breaths from out intensive activities, “Fuck, Mattie.” He laughed, pulling out of me completely and leaned on his arms to stand up. Once he cleaned up the condom, throwing it in the bin, he started walking back to the bed. He plopped on it, almost on top of me. “That was good.” 

I nodded in response, “Almost as good as Louis’ goals.” I smirked, hoping to get a reaction out of him with bullshit. 

He laughed, letting his head fall on the pillow, “Shut up.”

There we lay, both naked over the covers with our chest moving as we breathed, still hearing the thumping music from downstairs where the party was still going in full swing. 

“I told you,” He started, looking at me playfully, “I would get you wet later.” 

I groaned, but couldn’t help to let a laugh escape. I grabbed my pillow from underneath my head, saw how he was smiling to himself, and smacked him in the head with it. 

Payback, my arse.

I felt it from the moment I had walked on the field with the others. 

Someone was staring at me. Or everyone was. I didn’t look behind me to see if it was true, but I could feel their eyes staring straight at my ass. They asked me to wear athletic clothing for this, so I just chose the first thing in my dresser that I saw, picking out some black yoga pants. The material clung to my butt and I regretted I had put them on the moment I had arrived here. My oversized sweater I chose to wear over it luckily covered my upper half, a decision I did appreciate I made now.

Walking onto the sports centre was nerve-wracking in itself. I liked sports, I liked watching it, but having the possibility of someone else watching you do something was disturbing. I couldn’t find the way I was supposed to go. I didn’t bring my hair tie so I was forced to keep my hair floating around my face and this place was huge. There were several buildings and a squala of fields for specific sports. Indoors, outdoors, you name it. The college was probably sponsored by some wealthy upper class fathers who wanted their sons to be on the radar for new opportunities.

Luckily, I was led right to the canteen which was easily locatable since it had a terrace. A terrace! Lord, I feel like I should’ve worn other clothing for this. 

I approached a team player who had blond hair, feeling the nerves floating around in my stomach, “Uhh… Hi.” 

The boy who was filling up his water bottle turned around, raising his eyebrows, “Hi there.” 

Shit, he was nice. I inhaled, “I was looking for uhh, the football team…” He gave me the same look, “I was asked to help.., or I need to help with their inju-”

“Ahh!” He exclaimed, disregarding his bottle and he turned to fully face me, “You’re the one!”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess I am?”

“My name’s Niall.” He held out his hand, “I’m the star player of the time you’ve been assigned to!” 

I shook his hand, smiling a little. “Hi,” We still held hands, “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?” 

Still holding my hand, he began shaking it up and down. “I’m glad we finally have someone.”

“You are?”

“Yeh, we desperately need new people to liven things up a little.” 

I pried my hands from his grip, which wasn’t that strong. But I was already sweating, I didn’t need more reasons to be nervous. “Alright, that sounds good.” 

The pregnant pause that followed made him inhale and pack his bottle in his bag, “You are probably wanted by the football field, which is right there.” 

He pointed out somewhere behind me, making me turn my head. I already saw some players dribbling with the ball, so that was easily recognisable. “Go to the coach, he’s the tallest and biggest one. Has a loud voice too, probably won’t miss him.” He grinned, making me smile up at him. 

“I’ll meet you there in a second, we’re starting in like two minutes.” 

I nodded, “Alright, thanks…”

“Niall.” He answered for me, giving me a wink. “But you can call me anytime.” 

I rolled my eyes at his remark, but by the look on his face and the laugh that followed his statement, I knew it was to lighten my mood and assure me. 

I walked towards the field with a small smile on my face and with a lot less nerves. The players were now assembling and putting their heads together so I walked towards the dug-out and waited for them. There weren’t a lot of spectators or bystanders standing around the field, since it was a friendly game. I inhaled again. This should be fine. I recognized some of the players. They were all from the same college after all. Why did I sign up for this? I’m such an idiot.

When the team was done with sharing strategy and doing their, what appeared to be a yell, the trainer walked towards me. I was nervous when he approached me, he towered over everyone. 

“Hi Mattie,” he said, “You ready?”

I stood there, with my own little bag of supplies in my hand. I nodded. Luckily he spoke to me when I got drafted for this, so I already knew him. What if it was someone else who ended up being the coach? Since our conversation was very brief, you’re a nurse, I’m in need of a carer for the team, the deal was easily made. I didn’t know exactly what to take with me for this, but it was a college football team anyways, so nothing was really high-class. I had put some aspirin, plasters, scissors, antiseptic wipes, bandages and tweezers in my supply bag. That should be enough for a college team right? Surely they wouldn’t crash and fall every single game. He saw me fiddling with the bag, and smiled at me, “Good luck.” 

I nodded at him in gratitude and looked around the field. Gosh, couldn’t I talk? I was punching myself in my head. The trainer, whose name I seemed to have forgotten the second after the interview, sat down on his seat. 

Right now, all the players on the field were starting to go to their positions, other members of staff, the referee, seconds officials and the trainers and staff of the opposing team, all seemed ready to go. It wasn't hot or cold, but the slight breeze that blew over the field chilled me just slightly, making the tip of my nose go red. My job was already halfway done, which is just waiting for something to happen and providing the supplies they needed. If something did happen, I was the chosen person to help the players and fix their injuries. I didn't expect that these games would be very intense anyways. The players often knew each other since the teams were always against other colleges. Today it was just a practise match to start off the season, so I should be fine. 

The minute everyone started and the whistle blew, I wondered where Niall even was. Wasn’t he one of the players? As everyone was running and shouting on the field, I felt like he fit right in. I let my eyes wander. I didn’t know that much about football. I rarely watched the Champions League, I could just about name all the rules. The players, however, were something that did interested me. Especially the ones I already knew.

As I was sitting there, everyone seemed to be in the right place and doing exactly what everyone expected of them. The coach shouted an obnoxious loud praise towards his team, making me jump in my seat. The referee whistled at what suggestiably were the right times. No-one seemed to be getting angry at him. They were getting into it already. It'll probably go fine tonight, and my nerves I had bubbling in my stomach would probably be for nothing. At least, I was hoping for that. I watched the players going for the ball intensely, running after it and passing each other the ball. 

Right as the spirits of the team heightened and they almost scored, Niall crept up from behind me. “You didn’t even give me your name.” 

I shrieked, startling even the trainer who was deep into the game, “Jesus, Niall. Don’t scare me like that.” 

He sat down next to me, “Sorry, babe.” 

“My name’s Mattie.” I said, looking at him briefly. He nodded his head, “Like that.” 

I smiled, turning my head towards the field. “Aren’t you playing?”

He pointed towards his knee, that was covered by his track pants, “This annoying thing won’t let me.” 

“Ahh, that’s too bad.” I grimaced. 

“It’s alright,” he shrugged, “get to sit next to you.” 

I rolled my eyes again. “You’re not getting any.” 

He burst out laughing, “What! How could you resist me?” 

I playfully smiled at him. I was glad he was here to ease my nerves, “Dunno,” I glanced at the field, “quite like the others.” 

“You already know them?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” I nodded, “same college.”

Liam was the goalie. He was broad, quick and could move fast so he was the one that suited that job the most. He was also rough, and shouted really loudly which was a benefit when he would have to coach the team from the goal. He scared opponents off easily, grabbing the ball before they could shoot to keep the score at zero. Liam shared a house with Zayn, Louis and Brad, who were also playing tonight. Zayn was a little bit more of an introvert, and I didn’t really speak to him much. He did show he was a good midfielder though. He was quick and could pass the ball to his teammates effortlessly. When he did score though, he wouldn’t hesitate to cheer loudly and scare everyone with his intensity. 

Brad was a little bit older than the rest, but he was great nonetheless. He was very broad in the shoulders and had legs every gym boy would be jealous of. He was the ex-boyfriend of my sister’s, who also attended this college a few years ago. But to me, he still felt more like an older brother than someone who had been in my sister’s life for years. 

Louis was very serious. He was known for only having one thing on his mind, and that was to score goals. He was quick, could dribble fast and made the stronger players against him look back at him in surprise. Others called him Suarez because he was just that good, and his name was close to Luiz’, which made it easier for his teammates to choose a name. He was actually the only one, alongside Harry, to maybe get upgraded to a higher team. From what I heard of some girls on campus, was that he was a bit snarky. He had some quick-witted comebacks, and he didn’t care if he would hurt your feelings.

The house right next to their one, was filled with other boys from the team. This one was occupied with Josh, Ben and Harry. They had been friends since they were around sixteen, and now had the best bond you could have as college brothers. The three boys were always seen with each other, going out together and even doing groceries together. It wouldn’t surprise me if they also fucked the same girls. 

I actually didn’t know them that well, they were just known around campus. That house was classed as the party house and had a reputation of being used to shag a new girl every week. Don’t get me wrong, they were also good at their sport, but the girls they pulled mostly went for their looks rather than for their skills. 

It wasn’t a surprise that two of the boys that I knew, Louis and Harry, played as strikers, in the centre forward position. Harry was the only one that I had never actually spoken to before but knew from the parties. He was in the team because he was good, but also because he could easily show off to the ladies that way. He was popular amongst the college, mainly because he offered up his house to all the party-goers that wanted to celebrate a win that he created. No-one complained about that, seeing as he was gifted with the most attractive face on the campus. He could dribble the ball, yes, and he had the skill of a young Neymar when it came to approaching the goal. But with those eyes and smile with dimples, and his full head of curls that were covered in a backwards snap-back most of the time, I couldn’t help but check him out instead of his moves on the field. He was the captain of the team, living up to his name. He was also a leader of the group outside of football, which made all the girls like him even more.

“Ahh,” Niall exhaled, “shame I don’t know you.” 

This time, I shoved him, making him laugh. He was already a pain in my arse. “Fuck off.”

The boys were playing for around fifteen minutes now, without something happening that would probably make me do some work. The coach was getting into it, standing up every so often and giving the players some tips. He had really created a team, I felt like. You could feel the bond and fondness between them. When a player fell down, another player helped him up and patted him to ask if he was okay. When it almost went wrong and the opposing team had a shot at the goal, everyone from the team would shout positives to each other. It felt like a real team. This team wasn’t only together while playing, though. I had seen them all at parties together and they also liked to play outside of the games they already had. 

I was really into it the first fifteen minutes, but now I was growing kind of bored. Sure, watching boys play was fun, but with no work or particular action, it was kind of boring. Especially since it was a friendly match. The one form of entertainment I got, however, was Niall, who was really into the game.

“Fuck’s sake, Leon! You’re a defender! You should play in the back!” He shouted profanities to his team mates, cheering them on. 

When Niall saw that Leon didn’t comply, he nudged another player next to him and said something in his ear with a scowl on his face. It made me grin lightly in my seat, him being so serious. I liked watching them already. 

“Come on!” He yelled again, standing up in his seat, “Run Louis! Go after…” 

I was looking at Niall with a smile on my face. I also saw how his face turned into a grimace and his hands went to cover his mouth. “Oooh,” 

I looked at the field, panicked. Niall nudged me, tapping his hands on my arm. I saw that Louis had fallen to the ground, his arms holding his leg up now, groaning in pain. It was probably his ankle. I didn’t know what to do at first, shocked that something had actually happened. I looked at Niall, who was already looking at me, nudging his head towards the field. “Go!”

I jumped from my seat, wanting to run straight to the victim. I saw the referee signing for me, which made me run onto the field even more desperately. After a couple of seconds of running, I realised I had forgotten my bag. Fuck. Seriously? Groaning to myself in embarrassment, I quickly grabbed my supplies and ran a little quicker to the boy who was lying on the field in pain. 

“Hey,” I said as I approached him, a little out of breath from running so quickly. 

He didn’t look at me, just kept touching his ankle. It made me frown, it was probably really bad. He was crying out in pain, and some teammates and opponents had gathered around him to see what happened. In the meantime I had wet the sponge in the bag that the coach had brought with him, stretching Louis’ leg. He didn’t really want to, resisting to want to move it. 

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.” 

As I was wetting his ankle to cool it down over his shoes, I tried to look if it was bruised or if it had swollen up. None so far that I could see, so that was a good sign. I stretched his leg a bit to keep it moving, but with his socks on, I couldn’t see if there were any wounds or cuts. I tried to sit him upright, but he wasn’t having it. “Calm down,” He hissed, still holding his ankle. He sat upright now, finally looking who was taking care of him. When he saw it was me, he raised his eyebrows. 

“What’re ye doing here?”

I looked at him in shock, already not wanting to help him anymore. So much for running hurriedly over to him. I tried to not react to his degrading question, although it was hard. I continued to check out his foot, trying to place it straight down on the field. He placed his other food next to the injured one, and leaned on his knees with his elbows. The trainer gave Louis a bottle with water, which he gladly took. He took a large gulp, sitting there for a while. Was I overreacting or something? He seemed to be in a lot of pain, why was he now so calm and chilling?

I started grabbing my things, giving Louis one last look to see if he was okay. He seemed to be fine, being helped up by another team mate and testing to stand on it. 

I couldn’t believe this, he was groaning about his ankle no less than one minute ago! What an idiot. Letting me come all the way over here for nothing. As I was walking away frowned my eyebrows in confusion. If it was going to be like this the whole time, I was gone. Not gonna happen. I was here for a reason and the team mates should take that seriously. 

I looked back one last time to Louis who was now laughing with Brad, which resulted in me bumping into someone. His back was hard. He had drawn his head back so he could fill his mouth with water, causing me to also run into the back of this someone’s arms. 

“Fuck, sorry.” I exclaimed, “I shouldn’t..”

When he turned his head around and I saw who it was, I immediately shut my mouth and stared at him. I was frozen into my place for a moment, not knowing what to say. He turned around completely, a dimple showing on his face. I blushed. He was even more attractive up close.

“Don’t worry about it, babe.” He didn’t look angry or anything at all, he actually smiled, which made me feel a little bit better. I wanted to keep on walking to let me soak in my distress towards the situation that just occured, when Louis spoke up again from behind us, “So who’s the pretty girl who wears tight ass clothes to her job?” 

I heard him laugh quietly at his own remark, and he said it loud enough to let his mates in on it too. Instead of just ignoring him and walking on, I decided to turn around and shout after him, 

“Someone who can actually pull it off.”

His team mates ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at my quick remark. I sighed. Harry was still looking at me. I saw his face turn into a frown, silently apologizing to me with his gaze. I shrugged at him. My comeback towards Louis made me feel good again. He’s the idiot.

When I turned around again, and actually began walking, I smiled quietly to myself, forgetting the situation. This was going to be an interesting job.

--

The whistle blew, announcing the end of the game. For a practice match, the game went surprisingly well. There weren't any more instances or fake ankle injuries, what I was glad about. Harry had scored the one and only goal, which made the team go home with a win. Even though the game was for practice, they were pretty happy about it.

"Okay boys! Bundle up," the coach announced as everyone was walking off the field. I was still standing by the dug-out, not really knowing if I had to say goodbye or when the next game was. I saw everyone rounding around the coach, listening in, just like I did.

"Great game, happy about this one. Leon, next time: please bring your shin pads, so you could actually play and I could see what condition you're in. I have made notes and I will be announcing who's playing this Saturday, before the real game." The team looked around at each other, gauging who played good tonight and who didn't. 

Apparently they used this match as a mock try-out, so the trainer and coach could see who were in shape and who weren't for the first big game on Saturday.

"Before you all go, I would like to introduce you to our new on scene doctor, who will be helping you if there's anything actually wrong." He glared at Louis when he said that last part, making him scowl.

I took a step forward, looking around the group. I saw that everyone was intensely looking at me, so I spoke up quickly, "Hi everyone, my name's Mattie and just like Patrick said, I'll be helping you guys out during the games."

"You'll help me out outside of the game, too?"

I ignored him, saw that Niall was once again encouraging me and disregarding his team mate who shouted that from the group, nodding his head for me to continue. I smiled a bit, and went on, "I'm studying to be a doctor, and I'm currently doing the bachelors for it, so yeah.."

Patrick, the coach, nodded at me and returned to the group, "For now, keep in shape boys and help each other out. I haven't decided anything yet so miracles can happen!"

The team shuffled away quietly, talking to each other. I tapped Patrick on his shoulder, "Sorry, coach, is there some place where I can put my bag so I don't have to bring it with me every time?" 

He nodded, gazing above me to where the boys were walking, "Of course Mattie, just a moment,” He took two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, making me try to cover my ears, “Captain!" he shouted, "Harry come here!" 

I turned around and saw that Harry was saying goodbye to his teammates, as he already heard his couch, before jogging over to us. He nodded at me, looking me up and down and placed his arms in his sides as a greeting and turned to Patrick, "What's up coach?" 

Patrick cleared his throat and looked at me, "Mattie here would like to put her bag in the dressing room so she won't have to take it with her," he started grabbing his keys from his pocket, "you can show her, yes?" 

Harry nodded, taking the keys from him. "No worries coach, I'll help her." 

The coach patted Harry in his shoulder, "Thank you, bring the keys to my office tomorrow. And work on your left foot!" 

Niall was waving goodbyes at me, so I quickly waved back, “Bye!” and turned towards Harry. 

With the team and Niall gone, it was just Harry and I. It was still dark, with only the lights from the field still on. Harry jiggled the keys in front of us, and winked at me, "I'll show ya," 

It wasn't that I was nervous or anything, but I hesitated for two seconds before strolling behind him. He was so cocky, with his kit still on and smirking all the time. I couldn't help but watch him while he was playing. He had a certain glow around him, an aura that just radiated confidence. He could probably pull everything off and he certainly could wrap everyone around his finger. 

"So you enjoyed the game, doc?" 

I cringed at the nickname, but decided to let it go this time, "I enjoyed watching it yeah," 

Nodding, he faced me, "You liked my goal?" 

He said it with a smirk and as if he knew I was watching him the whole time, which was true, but he didn't need to know that. 

"Actually, I really liked how Leon could outrun everyone on the field.." 

He stopped abruptly and turned around, in the middle of the path. Once he was fully in front of me, he leaned in, “I saw you watching me, you know.”

Because he stopped suddenly and leaned in immediately, I accidently took a step too much, almost bumping into him again. “Maybe I was watching Louis.”

He laughed, showing me his dimple as he looked to the side. “I know you weren’t, that douchebag really doesn’t know how to play it.”

I nodded my head, and rolled my eyes as if he was stating the obvious. “That’s right.” 

I began walking again, not really knowing where to, but at least in the same direction we were already going. Harry followed me soon after, jumping into step with me. I already saw the building coming closer, which made me think of something. “Why aren’t you all showering in the dressing room after a game?”

He bumped his shoulder with mine, which made me notice the height difference we had. He was a lot taller than me, my eyes looking straight at his collarbones when I turned to look at him. 

I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows in question. 

“You would like to see that, huh?” He stated, smiling shyly at me.

I groaned, “Harryy..”

“Already moaning my name, I see.” 

This time it was me that bumped my shoulder with him, making him laugh in response. “I was just joking, love.” 

When we fell into step once more, he looked ahead and started explaining my question to me, “No we’re not there because it was a practise game and obviously we want to go home fast so we can go to the party later, so we just decided to shower at home.”

I nodded my head, kneading my eyebrows in confusion. There was a party tonight? I haven’t heard anything about that. I quite liked going to parties. Normally my friend Niamh made sure we could get invites so we could go together, but not tonight apparently. It was a Wednesday after all, so maybe she just wanted to stay in tonight. “A party?” I asked Harry. 

He nodded, “Yeah it’s like a frat party only, I would have gotten you an invite but I didn’t really know you before this, soo..”

I laughed, grinning to myself. Harry was really nice. At least, nothing like I had pictured him to be in my head. I didn’t like to judge people before I knew them, but with Harry that was kind of inevitable. Also, I couldn’t exactly invite myself now since he said he didn’t know me but I already knew him. I was not going to make a fool of myself, obviously. So I just shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it.”

We had reached the building where the shower rooms were. We walked quite slow, and it was already quite late so it was kind of eerie here. No lights, the doors were all left open and there were no people to be seen. 

“So these are our shower rooms,” Harry started as we walked into the building after he unlocked it, “We normally take the first one, so you can just put your stuff in there.”

The dressing room was big and spacious. Everyone had a seat, there was a whiteboard in there and the showers were in a separate room. The closet that stood against the wall next to the showers, held all the equipment. “There,” Harry said, as he took my bag and placed my stuff in, “A special place for you.”

As he placed my stuff in the closet, I could finally see how he’d looked up close. He still had his short sleeved football shirt on, revealing his tattoos on his arms. For a guy that was still in college, he sure had a lot of them. Not that I minded. 

“Thank you Harry,” I smiled at him, at which he winked in return when he faced me again. Gosh, I could almost feel myself getting red. I was acting like a schoolgirl, I needed to step up my game. “I’ll remember this place,” I said, as I looked at the showers. I could almost imagine all the naked boys right here. 

I smirked, glancing at the shower himself, “I’m sure you will.”

After making sure everything was locked and closed, we started to walk back to the parking lot.  I was sure Harry was also with his car, considering campus was at least a twenty minute walk. Right as we reached our cars and I wanted to say goodbye, he faced me again and leaned on his already open door, “You know what, Mattie?”

I looked up from the inside of my car towards him, giving him a questioning look. “What?”

“You free Saturday?”

He said it so casually that I wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t asking me out on a date was he? I mean, I was attracted to the guy but I barely knew him! And it wasn’t like I wanted to go out with him, really. But I did want to see him. With hesitation evident in my voice, I answered him, “Yeah, why?”

He saw my facial expression and laughed a bit, “To take you up on my offer. We’re having a party again at our house, so if you’d like to come?”

I almost sighed in relief, “Yeah, I’d like that, thank you Harry.” 

He shot a quick wink at me as he started to climb in his car, “No worries!” As a last afterthought, right as I wanted to shut my door, I heard him shout, “And bring your friends!”

--

My friend Niamh was present at the game this time, too. We were here a little early, so we could catch up on our week and talk about everything that had happened to us. She was a friend from years ago, almost from when we were kids, so she knew everything about me. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be a doctor and had chosen to go pursue her dancing career. She was really good at it, too. She was asked to dance in videoclips and she often performed on stage with singers or bands. It was her job now, one she always wanted. It made me proud of her, because she actually went for it, and ignored her parent’s complaints about it. She had proved them and their comments about how she was never going to make it, wrong. 

We sat in the canteen, which was still fairly quiet. The game would start at two, and it was now one thirty. I had only been to a professional game once, and then I arrived at two on the dot and I didn’t even look if there were many people there. The only time I’d been here was when I met up with the trainer to see if this was the right place for me to take my extra credits. I could choose to work in an elderly home, or at the swimming pool, but I had decided that this would be more fun for me. I didn’t mind watching 22 boys running after a ball for two hours back to back, particularly. 

Niamh had ordered a coffee whereas I preferred cold drinks over hot drinks, so I just stuck with some soda. “So how has your week been, Matts?” She said as she took a sip of her drink. 

I smiled at her, excited to tell her she would be having something to do tonight, “Actually, I need to invite you to something.”

Her eyebrows perked up, and she placed the drink on the table, “To where?”

I grinned, “Harry Styles asked me if I wanted to come to this party at his house tonight, and said I could bring some friends.” 

“No way!” She exclaimed gasping, “Harry Styles from the team?” 

I nodded happily back at her, “That’s the one.”

She already started to grab her phone, so she could text our friends, I presumed. “When did he ask you this? I didn’t even know you talked to him!”

After I placed my drink down from taking a sip of it myself, I shrugged casually at her. “Well, I had to help at that game you know,” I said as she nodded at me, “And right after he had to show me where I could put my stuff and started talking about this party he had this Wednesday----”

“Oh yes!” She interrupted me with wide eyes, “So that’s the party Emily talked about! She said she had fucked the captain of the team, and that he was quite good. That’s Harry right?” 

I paused, opening my mouth in surprise. “What? Yeah he is the captain.” 

“That’s so sick! I have to text Emily about this party tonight then,” She said, grinning excitedly at me and putting her phone down to look at me again. “Anyway, go on, I’m listening.”

I coughed, choosing to ignore this disappointing bit of information, “Yeah so he told me about that party and that he couldn’t invite me then, which is a bit weird if I think about it now, but anyways, he invited me for tonight and said I could bring some friends.” I forced a smile on my face as I finished my story and looked at her. 

She copied my smile, “That’s great! Maybe I can finally meet Niall and get to know him better, if you know what I mean,” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows. 

I laughed, genuinely excited for her. “I hope you will!” 

After I had finished my drink, I announced to Niamh that I had to leave if I wanted to be at the dug-outs on time. She wished me well, and said that she would see me tonight. After I hugged her and said goodbye to her and the bartender who had served us, I walked out of the canteen towards the shower rooms. 

I needed to grab my bag if I wanted to be helping players today. Today they had to play against a popular college not far away from where we’re from, so it was kind of exciting to be able to see that. The coach had probably announced who would be playing and who wouldn’t for today, which made the pressure on the players to play well a tad bit higher. I knew that obviously Harry and Louis would be playing, along with our goalie Liam, but the rest of the team was still unsure. For me it would be kind of fun if Niall was still benched, just for entertainment, but he would rather be on the field, I’m sure. Hopefully his knee was doing better.

I had reached the shower rooms and discovered that the door was still open, allowing me to walk right in the building. I knew Harry said it was the first one when we dropped my bag off, so without hesitation I whipped open the door. Right as I did that, I heard commotion and deep yelling from from the inside, causing me to rapidly close the door again. Shit. How the fuck was I supposed to know they were still here, they were just warming up outside!

Bowing my head in embarrassment, I quickly walked out of the building. I would just grab my bag when they were out so I didn’t have to walk in with all of them staring at me. I waited outside, leaning against the wall and just staring ahead at the field they would be playing on. They were taking their sweet time. Probably just discussing the match quickly just before the game started, but to me it felt like ages.  

The other team was walking towards the field in a pack, and the referee started to walk towards this building, probably to let our team know the game was about to start. I actually felt nerves bubbling in my stomach, with everything being so serious in comparison to the last game. There were a lot of supporters walking towards the bleachers, too. 

I was just staring at the field again when the door opened and everyone on the team started to walk out. First it was the coach and trainer, who nodded in greeting. The coach was needed here too, apparently. I saw that Niall walked in the front with his jacket still on, so that meant he was benched again. When he walked by me, he ruffled my hair. “Hey Matts!” 

“Hey!” I shouted after him, “I’m here to help you, you know!”

He turned around and laughed loudly, pointing at his knee, “Not me!’

At that, I didn’t have anything back to say knowing he was benched again, so I just shook my head. 

“Is he messing with you?” 

I heard Harry’s voice before I saw him, making me look up towards him. He was walking at the back of the team’s row to get out of the building with a smile on his face, standing out from everyone else walking before him.  

When he reached me, he stopped and raised his eyebrows, awaiting my answer. “No it’s just Niall,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders indifferently. 

“Right,” He smirked, “Well, I figured ‘t was you that tried to come in during our important speech, so I decided to grab your bag for you.” 

My heart swelled just a little bit at his kind gesture, having not expected this at all from him. Shit, you should never listen to rumours, huh? He proved once again that he could actually be kind.

“Wow, Harry! Thank you so much. That’s so kind of you to do that!” I grabbed the bag from him and in a split second decided I wanted to hug him. I threw myself in his arms, catching him off guard for a second. My bag that I now carried in my hand whipped him in his back, causing him to groan in my shoulder. Hugging me back, he draped his arms slowly around me, positioning them right above my ass. 

When I loosened my arms around him, I nodded my head towards the field, “You should probably go,”

He nodded in confirmation, still standing in close proximity to me. “I do.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder blades, and wished him luck for the game, “Break a leg Harry, or don’t actually.”

He laughed at my comment, showing me his dimples. Before he walked away towards the field, he winked at me, “I’ll try not to.”

When I saw him run on the field and give his teammates one last cheer for good luck, I smirked to myself watching him. It was a good choice to wear my tight yoga pants again, at least. 

--

The game was very intense. Not like practise-match intense, but full on competition match intense. Louis luckily hadn’t faked any injuries yet, so that was a good sign. However, I had to run on the field in the first half for Liam, who had taken a good shot right in his eye. He fell to the ground, making me run on the field for him. When I got there, he was already sitting up and not at all groaning in pain like Louis had, making me smile a bit. At least Liam could handle something. I also discovered his injury wasn’t fake, because I could see a bruise forming immediately. I cooled it a little, but told him it would be better if he took some rest. He said that he’d be fine and would just tell me and the coach if he wanted to switch between the other goalkeeper and him. I was still a bit concerned, but he insisted. So I walked back with my supplies and some worries, hoping that it was really just a shot with the ball, and it wouldn’t turn out to be something worse. 

The score was 2-1 for our team, with just ten minutes to go when I came back from grabbing some more water. It was so tense, all the players were proper going for it. The bleachers were filled with supporters, all reacting to the match as if their life depended on it. When the opponents came near our goal, they would stand up and shout at our defenders. And when our team was striking and near the opponents goal, they would yell and scream for us to score. I was nervous too. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping that the score would stay the same. I was fiddling with the hem of my shirt to stop myself from standing up and screaming towards the players. 

We did have a good few people that came out to support us, yes. But our biggest supporter sat on the bench. He was biting his nails, screaming in frustration and cursing loudly whenever we missed a goal. 

“Fuck! Who in their goddamn mind would even pass like that!”, or “Holy shit! That was fucking close!” and my favourite: “Son of a… get that fucking ball in the goal you arseholes!”

Least to say, I was entertained for the match.  

Currently we had the ball on our side, passing each other the ball and walking forwards towards the goal. Once we had crossed the midfielders of the opponents, Zayn passed the ball towards Brad who then passed it on to Ben. Ben had a good shot, and could easily get the ball miles away. So when Louis sprinted towards the goal, Ben saw an opportunity to pass the ball onto him. He put the ball in front of him and shot the ball, right into Louis’ feet. I could see that Louis was looking for someone to help him out, because there were two defenders near the goal and he couldn’t pass them himself. Luckily Harry had seen it, and sprinted with him on the other side. He made sure he ran close to the goal but not to close, so he had the space to shoot the ball right in if he got it. He shouted for Louis to pass the ball onto him, and Louis immediately did. The ball was flying over the defenders, in a straight line towards Harry. Harry prepared for it, taking his foot back so he could place it right on it. He jumped, the ball almost near him, and kicked the ball--- 

Right before he could kick it, a defender sprung onto him making Harry fall right to the ground. “Nooooo!” Niall yelled loudly from beside me, “For fuck’s sake no!”

I heard everyone gasp from the audience, immediately voicing their worries from behind me. I panicked for a second, freezing in my spot. Shit! Harry just fell to the ground. He was laying there, in pain. I heard the coach shout my name, making me snap back to reality. Immediately I grabbed my bag, and ran towards him in a hurry. Shiiit. Why Harry? Others had gathered around him, so I couldn’t see how Harry was doing. Right as I arrived near him, I shouted for them to walk away. 

“Everyone! Leave!” 

My voice must have sounded really angry or intimidating, because everyone hurried away quickly. This way, I could finally see Harry. He was laying on the ground, on his back. He had his hands on his forehead, making me think there was something wrong with his head. Hopefully he didn’t have a concussion or something. The defender that had pushed him to the ground, was still looking at Harry. He was probably worried about what he’d done, but I didn’t care. 

“What are you doing? Leave!” 

He started saying that he was sorry, and that he could help, but I wasn’t having it. “I don’t care, leave before I force you.” 

He nodded, worry evident on his face. For a second I felt bad, but then I saw that Harry was still laying here, and then those thoughts escaped my mind right away. The defender walked away eventually, leaving me alone with Harry. I looked at him, seeing how he had one hand over his head, feeling for bruising. The moment I sat down next to him, he turned his head towards me. He opened his eyes, and smiled.

“Am I dreaming?” 

Relief washed over me immediately. At least he could still make jokes. I began sitting next to his head, wetting my sponge once again and placing it over his head. “You okay, Harry?” 

He nodded, his head in front of my knees on the ground. I looked at him from above, so that I could see how his body reacted when I would do certain things to see if he was okay. Right now I had my hands on his forehead with the sponge in between, “I’m fine actually, Mattie. I just wanted you to come save me.”

I rolled my eyes, not believing him. “No you didn’t.” 

He laughed, causing his chest to go up and down, “I did,” He smirked, his eyes shining as he looked at me. 

I shook my head in disbelief, staring at him smiling at me for a second. But then I remembered I could take revenge. He saw that I was wetting the sponge again, and began to sit up straight. “No you won’t!’

I began splashing him with water in revenge, making him soaking wet. I was laughing my ass off, seeing him so flustered and shocked at what I was doing. “Mattie! Shit, stop!”

I was aware that the rest of the team and the coach were still watching us, so I stopped splashing him, throwing the sponge in the water bag. I took a step towards his soaked body, pressing my lips together and looking him in the eye mischievously. “Next time you’ll play a joke on me like that, I’ll take you to the hospital so you’ll have to sit next to Niall for a month.”

He laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Noted, doc, noted.” 

As I walked away smiling and the referee began gathering everyone together again, I heard him shout one more thing after me, “I’ll pay you back tonight Mattie! Watch out!”

I just shot my middle finger in the air, hearing him bark out another laugh in response. 

--

The party was in full swing when Niamh, Emily, Joey and I arrived. It was in Harry’s and his roommates’ house, one that I had never been in before, let alone seen how packed it could be. Everyone that was just a little bit known around campus, was there. I recognized some people from my class, and others I knew because they were popular around campus. 

When we arrived, the door was unlocked and you could just walk right in. That wasn’t unusual with the parties I went to, if we ever went to house parties. There was a pile of jackets formed, so we just threw ours over it. Joey and Emily claimed they knew some people and went off to speak to them, leaving me and Niamh alone at the party. 

“Let’s have a drink,” Niamh said to me over the loud music, “We need to get drunk to process this!”

I nodded in agreement, already taking her arm towards the kitchen. It was already quite busy, but we had come a little late. We didn’t want to be the first ones to arrive, as we didn’t know a lot of people here. All the drinks were placed on a table, leaving us with a lot of choice of what we wanted to drink tonight. I hadn’t realised before this that these college boys actually spend a lot of time planning these things. They had a lot to think about. And to be fair, they had done a good job at it.

We had appropriately dressed ourselves, luckily. Since we didn’t really know what to expect, we just went for black: Niamh wearing a tight dress with spaghetti straps and me wearing a skirt with a t-shirt. It was something you could never go wrong with.

I poured myself some alcohol, waiting for Niamh to do the same. Once we both had our drinks, we leaned against the table and started looking at people. This was our favourite activity to do. You saw some crazy people at parties, so we had a lot to think about. 

“Oh wow, there’s already people on the edge of drunkenness.” Niamh laughed, raising her eyebrows at a boy who had run straight towards the loo. “Jesus wept.”

“Shit,” I exclaimed, looking at a girl who had just came in with a gift in her hand, “It’s someone’s birthday? Did we need to bring a gift?”

She just shrugged her shoulders at me. “No fucking clue.” And resumed to look around the room. We had been sipping on our drinks lightly, just enjoying the music that was blasting loudly and how everyone was dancing and talking with each other.

“Look at that girl, she's going for it!” Niamh pointed out at me, looking at a girl that was standing in the middle of the room, dancing her ass off. I followed her gaze, seeing how the girl was dancing to the music, not caring about anyone it seemed like. I wish I could be like her. “She’s really good!”

Right as I wanted to respond to Niamh, I saw that Louis had walked in the door she was close to. I rolled my eyes and turned around, looking at the sink. 

“What’re you doing?” Niamh asked me incredulously, looking at me over her shoulder. 

“I don’t know,” I answered her, “He just annoys me.”

She came to stand beside me, searching for my eyes. “How? Last time we talked about him you said he was hot!”

I shrugged my shoulders again, “He’s just annoying.”

“Right.” She answered, turning around again and taking a sip of her drink. “If you want to fuck him just tell me. I could be your wing woman.”

I bumped my hips with hers, and turned around to look at the crowd again, “Never.” 

She laughed, standing up straight and finishing up her drink. “Okay then, just tell me why another time. I just saw Harry come in and you need to talk with him.” 

Immediately I felt my stomach go wild. Shit. My eyes began to search around the room, looking for his head of curls amongst the crowd. I found him talking with a friend of his from his team, who’s name I couldn’t remember. Harry looked extremely attractive tonight. Instead of the usual kit I saw him in, he wore all black. His black vans stood out with the other clothing he wore, black skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Even with such a simple look, he made it seem like he wore a million dollars. As he was talking, his jawline moved with his mouth and it made me just weak in the knees. He was actually so hot, how hadn’t I fully appreciated this man before? 

It seemed like he was asking if his friend wanted a drink, because he leaned into him with his ear, nodded and started walking away towards the kitchen. Oh no, why had I been sitting in the kitchen, so obviously out in the open? He strode confidently towards the drinks, when in mid-walk he saw me sitting there. Niamh also recognised him and saw he was walking over here, so she made up an excuse to leave. “Just need the loo for a moment,” 

I couldn’t answer her, because Harry interrupted my thoughts. He was also smirking at me as he arrived right in front of me, only leaving a few inches in between us. I crossed my arms, looking up at him challengingly. 

“Hey doc,” he greeted, speaking in a raspy voice. He began to smile mischievously, making me wonder what he was going to say, “Or should I say, hero?”

I groaned out loud, hitting him in the chest with one hand, and shaking my head. It made him laugh, making his chest vibrate. I could almost feel the vibrations with how close we were. “Shut up,”

He was still chuckling a bit as if he were still thinking about it. Suddenly he stopped, and looked me right in the eyes. “Really though, that was really hot with how you fought everyone out of your way for me.”

I felt my face go warm and I tried to not to smile too much. “Thank you,” I said, straightening up a bit and raising my chin up at him, “But like hell that I fought everyone away.” 

He gasped, nudging me with his arms “Heyy, you did!” he said with a fake offense, frowning his eyebrows, “You were basically performing CPR on me with the way you acted!”

I laughed, making me lean into him a little bit and hide in his shoulder. When I brought myself back in front of him, I raised my eyebrows at him, “You would like me to give you a mouth to mouth performance, wouldn’t you?” 

My heart skipped a bit when he got all serious and looked me straight in the eye. “I would,” 

Our eye contact was intense, I could feel it in my stomach. He was so close to me, I could feel his breath on my face. I was almost certain that he could feel my heartbeat against his chest. We weren’t even touching completely, but it was beating so hard that I wouldn’t doubt it. I looked at his green eyes, to his plump and pink lips. They were a nice shape, and I felt the urge to just kiss them. I didn’t though, maybe he did this with every other girl he tried to get in his bed. 

I was proven right when he took my hand, “Come with me,” 

I tried to act confused, furrowing my eyebrows, “Where to?” 

He didn’t respond, just tugged on my hand and began leading the way. People weren’t even looking at us, they were dancing or drinking and talking. And even though I liked doing those things at parties, this thing that I thought Harry was planning to do with me, seemed much more fun. 

He made his way towards the door to go upstairs, avoiding bumping in with people or getting splashed by someone’s drink. Once we were on the way up he let go of my hand so we could walk better. There were only one or two people upstairs, making out with each other or searching for someone. Two doors were open out of the four, and Harry went into a closed one with me. 

He revealed his bedroom to me, which was completely dark apart from the moon that lit up the room a little bit. His room was mostly a dark blue, with a grey colour covering the one wall that wasn’t blue. His bed stood in the middle of the room with two bedside tables next to it. He had a desk and his sports bag that he had used still stood in his room, untouched. He didn’t have a desk, but a dresser was shoved against the wall. Once I did my onceover, I saw Harry standing in front of his bed, looking at me. 

He smiled, and began to walk over to me again, making me back into the door once he reached me completely. He stood closer than he did when we were in the kitchen, his pelvis against mine and his chest leaning against my body. “Hey,” He said again, even raspier this time. 

I looked up at him, examining his face, “Hey.”

He cleared his throat, and hesitated a bit, “Can I kiss you?”

I hesitated, “One thing.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Tell me you don’t fuck girls every week, otherwise I won’t be able to handle this.”

He took a step back, frowning, “Who told you that?”

Looking up at him, I felt myself growing more nervous, “Just hear that about you.”

He looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. “I promise you Mattie. I didn’t bring you here or invite you just to fuck you. I’d happily talk with you all night. You seem fun.”

I smiled, “And,” he continued, “my roommates are the ones who get laid every party. I do have sex yeah, but I promise you, I haven’t had sex since the first week of this semester.”

With the sincerity in his eyes, I believed him, “Okay, you can kiss me now.”

“Only if you want to.”

I looked into his eyes, “I really do.”

With one nod and another reassuring glance he was in the clear and we were done with being slow. He smacked his lips against mine, moving his arms from against the door to my body. Roaming his hand around my hips to my ass as he hungrily kissed me. I kissed him back, recuperating his movements. He squeezed my ass, making me gasp a little bit, giving him access to use his tongue in the kiss as well. I moved my arms from his shoulders to his neck, pushing him closer to me with my fingertips in his hair. Our tongues were wet and desperate, making the kiss hot and heavy. Once he had enough of just making out, he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me up, turning me around towards the bed. 

I fell backwards onto his soft mattress, with Harry on top of me. My legs were around him in an instant, crossing my feet on his back. I still had my sneakers on and all my clothes, but not for long. Harry’s hand went from my ass to the hem of my shirt. I lifted my back for him, pausing in the kiss, to let him take my top off in one swift movement, leaving me in my bra. I didn’t wear my sexiest bra, but he didn’t seem to mind. His mouth went from the sweet spots on my neck towards my cleavage, leaving wet kisses on my body. He was already working on getting my bra off, pushing the straps off my shoulders. I sat upright for him, making him readjust his position to get closer to me. He was struggling with the clasp, so I unclasped my bra for him and threw it on the ground. He didn’t waste any time cupping my breasts, feeling them and leaning in my neck to leave some more spots, but I wasn’t having it. I pushed him away on his chest, making him stand on the ground again. He looked at me in confusion for a moment, until I stood up and pushed him on the bed. I bent my knees so I could reach his t-shirt, and he got the idea. Moving his arms up to let me take his shirt off, he gladly let me do it. 

His chest was revealed to me, just like mine was to him. This wasn’t enough, though. I crouched on my knees completely so I was level with his belly button, and began to unbutton his jeans. His bulge was evident in the tight material, so when I moved the zipper down I cupped him over his jeans and pants, making him groan in response. 

“Fuck, Mattie.” 

I just smiled at him, moving to tug at his jeans. He got the hint and thrust his hips up, so I could take his jeans off. Once they were off, he was just left in his boxers. I moved a little closer to him, so I was level with his bulge, making me look up at him with wide eyes. “Impressive,” I smirked. 

He wasn’t having it, and took his boxers off immediately, revealing his dick to me that sprung to his stomach. He must be proper into it, because I had never had a man be this turned on from just kissing. He threw his boxers onto the pile we had already made, and leaned on his arms so he could look at me properly. I took him in my hands, gliding my thumb over his tip. I looked at him for his consent, and he nodded at me eagerly. That was all I needed before I licked him on the tip. He responded loudly, groaning and moaning through the room. I never knew he was so loud in the bedroom. 

I licked him from his balls to the tip, and let him slip in my mouth to take all of him. He moved his hand in my hair, not pushing me, but finally having something he could do with his hands. 

I started bobbing my head up and down, all the while looking at him how he responded to me. His eyes were closed and his pink lips were voluminous and opened just slightly. 

I enjoyed giving blowjobs, especially if it was someone as responsive as Harry. He was groaning and moaning for me, letting me know how much he enjoyed it. “A-ah,” He cried once I hit him in the back of my throat. “Fuck,”

Kissing his tip, feeling his balls and sliding my tongue over his dick was making me wet as well. He still had one hand in my hair, the other going from my arms that were drawn over his upper thighs. My naked boobs rested on his naked legs, and my still clothed butt was stuck in the air. 

He slid his hand over my arm and went to my back, leaning over my head that was still bobbing over his cock. Once he could reach the hem of my skirt, he started moving the zipper. At least, trying to. 

I stopped sucking him off and let my mouth pop when his dick was out of my mouth, making him moan in annoyance. I quickly took my skirt and panties off and went back on my knees in front of him, when he was the one that stopped me this time. He grabbed my arms and basically threw me on the bed, covering my body immediately. Fuck, he was good. 

He started kissing me again, while I searched for his dick and began giving him a handjob. He cupped my breasts and squeezed them. I started leading his dick towards my entrance, giving him a hint of what I wanted. He backed away to look at me with wide eyes, paused for a bit and went to his dresser to get a condom. I watched him as he slid it on, and grabbed his shoulders as he started to position himself in front of me. Before he did, he looked at me once more. I nodded in approval, and he slid himself in me slowly. I could feel him filling me up immediately, making me throw my head back in bliss. “Fuck, Harry..”

“You like my dick, don’t you?” He said as he began thrusting into me. 

I could only nod in response, gasping as he looked at me, “Tell me,” he said as he thrusted into me hard once, “Tell me how you feel.”

His trust were getting harder with each second I wasn’t responding, because I could only moan in pleasure, “Fuck Harry,” I moaned, “I feel so good..”

He reacted with his hips. Thrusting into me rapidly, making my breasts go up and down and the bed creak against the wall. “I know, baby, I know.” 

“Holy shit, I do.” 

He started to kiss my neck, hungrily going for it as my legs crossed at his back once again. I was certain that the guests that were still here could hear us, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to everyone to know that he was fucking me, and not some other girl. 

“You’re so good baby, I knew it,” 

I started to roam his back with my arms, feeling his muscles move each time he thrusted. His dick was so long and hard that he hit the right spots inside of me each time. I could feel my head getting a little lighter, and my stomach filled with warmth. “I’m gonna cum, Harry, please,”

“Begging for it, see?” He cockily stated once he moved to look at me again, he even had a smirk on his face when he was fucking me. “Knew you would do me good,”

“Mhh, Harry, almost there,” 

“Me too, baby, me too.” 

He thrusted a couple more times before I could really feel it, my pleasure taking over me completely. I came hard, my legs trembling around him and my head thrown back. My orgasm made me cry out loud, and he was still going at it. 

He was coming too, I knew it. His thrust became harder before they slowed down, squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure. He groaned loudly when he came, looking beautiful while he did. His cheeks had gone slightly pink, making his lips stand out even more, and his hair was all dishevelled and damp with sweat. Once I felt that he filled the condom inside of me, he opened up his eyes and slid out of me. 

We both smiled at each other and started catching our breaths from out intensive activities, “Fuck, Mattie.” He laughed, pulling out of me completely and leaned on his arms to stand up. Once he cleaned up the condom, throwing it in the bin, he started walking back to the bed. He plopped on it, almost on top of me. “That was good.” 

I nodded in response, “Almost as good as Louis’ goals.” I smirked, hoping to get a reaction out of him with bullshit. 

He laughed, letting his head fall on the pillow, “Shut up.”

There we lay, both naked over the covers with our chest moving as we breathed, still hearing the thumping music from downstairs where the party was still going in full swing. 

“I told you,” He started, looking at me playfully, “I would get you wet later.” 

I groaned, but couldn’t help to let a laugh escape. I grabbed my pillow from underneath my head, saw how he was smiling to himself, and smacked him in the head with it. 

Payback, my arse.

------------------

Thank you for reading!! If you want more, let me know. This was my first real one shot and I’m working on other stuff as well. xxxxxxx

[mickschumacher47]

Finally! A mick stan that understands his situation with F1 and Ferrari. I always see his fans complaining about how he needs to go to ferrari and bla bla bla and I’m like??? Are you serious??? Do you actually want him to fail???? Cause that is sure going to happen if you stick him in a ferrari prematurely. Let him marinate and grow in Haas. Let him learn and deal with the situation in Haas. It will make him a better racer. The only thing I did not know is that mick costs ferrari that much money. I did not know that part. But I agree on all of your points. People always say that we should let mick be his own person and that he’s earned himself a f1 seat on merit by winning f3 and f2. That we should stop saying it’s only because he is a schumacher. Okay i agree. But the same people also demand that he should be in a ferrari seat by 2023 or sooner. That he should have this and that. And I’m like ??? Is that not contradictory to what you people just said about mick being in f1 for his results not for his name? What results does he have that merits him a ferrari seat? None for now. So basically these people want him on that ferrari seat not because of his result (which he is yet to deliver) but solely because of his name. Their logic is so inconsistent. If mick is going to race for ferrari by 2023, he must first show results to deserve that seat. Trust me, it is better to race and develop as a driver in a midfield team than in a ferrari. People will eat him alive if he underperforms in his father’s historic red car. That would be brutal and that could destroy him. I cannot even begin to tell you how huge the expectation is. Let him prove himself in a midfield team. People should want him to develop, to be better, to be ready before giving him that gigantic responsibility and expectation. I think Ferrari is very aware of this and the last thing they want is to rush and fuck up michael’s boy. I really hope he has a better car next year and he can extract the 100% out of it and deliver results. I hope he will get the chance to actually race and battle it out with other drivers for points. Next year is going to be big. I hope the non-mazepin people of Haas and gunther stand their ground and keep things fair. That’s the thing that should worry people right now: how manageable is mazepin’s control over the team. Dont worry about that ferrari seat for now. That should not even be in the list of things to worry about if you are mick or a mick stan. Reserve that stress for later. The real challenge is learning to deal with the Mazepin situation in a productive way, in a way where mick comes on top and delivers results. He is doing a good job with it for now but as time goes by, the more frustrated the mazepin family will be and the more they will demand. I hope mick is able to fight his corner and cope well with the environment. I hope his team stands their ground and remain as impartial as possible. It will make him stronger mentally. He does not need to babied. He is a grown man. Let him deal with the situation. Let him develop and come up with solutions to his problems. He is not 10 yrs old. It’s condescending to treat him like a toddler.

Hey anon !

Well I think as a Mick stan I just want what is best for him, and right now been in a Ferrari isn’t.

I think the fact people are mad because he doesn’t have that Ferrari’s seat is because of 2 factors :

The first one is the “new arrivals” on the fandom (to make it clear, absolutely nothing against them, it’s really cool to have more people and more fans) but the fact is : when you are new here, you don’t have the same “codes” as the old ones. It isn’t a bad thing, but I think we saw way to much F1 legends children fall on becoming wold champion, and I believe we just know putting them in their dad’s team when they aren’t ready isn’t the best thing to do.

And the second one is that Mick is adorable, he doesn’t harm anyone, he doesn’t say anything over the line, I mean, it’s complicated not wanting him becoming a world champion, and sometimes that wish is bigger than the reasonable thoughts of Mick needing more time.

So yeah I am a Mick Stan but I am very realistic as well, and I can the reality of things

[meaningofmotorsport]

Russian Grand Prix Review

What is 2021 coming too, when even a track like Sochi can give us a great race, full of overtakes, strategy and heartbreak. The only thing to top this, would be a monsoon at Abu Dhabi!

Hamilton ended up maximising his weekend by taking the win, his 100th in the sport, after not starting the race very well. However, a combination of good strategy and strong pace from Lewis, allowed him to claw his way to the front, and be right behind Norris. If it hadn’t been for the wet period, he probably wouldn’t have won, but Mercedes and Hamilton showed their experience in those conditions, as they outsmarted McLaren to take the win. It was a rewarding way to get a century of wins, as he continues to show his prowess in Motorsport. Given what happened with Max, it wasn’t an ideal weekend for the team, and Lewis may still need to take an engine penalty, so there are many more twists and turns to come!

It was a rather topsy turvy race for Verstappen, who flew through the field early on, to be only a few seconds behind Lewis at the half race point. Yet, just like Hamilton had in the first stint, Max then got stuck behind Ricciardo, and whilst protecting his softer tyres, fell back slightly behind Alonso. He was saved by the rain, as both his skills in the wet, and pitting at the right time, meant he climbed right up to second. They have to be ecstatic with that result, as they have barely lost anything despite taking an engine penalty. From now on, Red Bull need to be flawless, and pressurize Mercedes, if they want to win the title.

Much like Max, Carlos too had an up and down day, as he led the early stages of the race, until the Ferrari once again suffered with graining, like we saw at France, and was forced to pit early, which severely compromised his race. He was holding on to 3rd somehow on very old hard’s, and pitted with Verstappen for inters, to get another podium for Ferrari. On a power hungry track like this, it was a great day for Ferrari, especially as the new engine in Leclerc’s car performed very well.

Ricciardo was on roadblock duty all race as I mentioned before, although his pace was pretty good on the whole. It was the stint behind Russell that cost him compared to his teammate, and then with Sainz too towards the end. It is good to see that he is about where he should be in that car, and his experience meant he knew when to pit in the wet period, which gained him a few places. Bottas is a lucky man, as before the rain he was down in 14th, doing nothing at all. He initially made good progress, but it seems that once Max passed him, he just gave up, and even fell back from midfield drivers. Even motivation from the Mercedes team didn’t work, until he was the first to pit for inters, which shot him up to 5th.

Alonso used all his skill and cunning to claw back some points against Aston Martin, including practicing the runoff area at Turn 2, which worked well on Lap 1. His pace was comparable to those around him, and so 6th is a great result for the team. Looking at where his teammate was all day, it shows how good he still is, despite his age, and the time he had out of the sport.

What can you say about Norris and McLaren this weekend! They were perfect all race, and made the right call in going long on the first stint, to give them fresh tyres when Hamilton charged at the end. Without the rain, I do think he could have held him off, as Lewis had stalled out behind him for a few laps. At the start of the rain period, Lando was actually pulling away from Lewis, which is rather incredible to see. So, who made the mistake on the call not to pit? Obviously, we don’t hear all the radio communications, but from what I heard, both the team and Norris could have handled it better. The team should have been clearer on what the forecast was, and what their view was on the situation, as the driver can’t see everything. Then, Lando was a bit too stubborn in staying out, which is understandable, given it was his first chance at victory. Overall, I would put it more on the team’s handling of the situation, as you need to support the driver more in those scenarios. Hopefully, Lando can come back from this stronger, as he was brilliant for most of the race, and has a great future ahead of him.

Unnoticed by anyone, Raikkonen managed to bag some more points for Alfa Romeo, as he was another to dive in for the inters. It is a nice way for him to return to racing, as he nears towards retirement. Unlike Bottas, Perez was doing all he could to help Red Bull, as he climbed up, to be right behind Lewis in the 1st stint, which meant he couldn’t fully focus on passing Daniel. Also, if Red Bull had nailed the pit stop, he could have put on a late charge, to try and pass Hamilton, and possibly even get the win. As it was though, he fell into the pack with Max, and pitted a lap too late for inters, dropping him almost out of the points.

It is funny how sport works, in that a few months ago, points for Williams were nothing more than a dream, and now we are used to it, and aren’t surprised that Russell finished 10th. As expected, he didn’t have the pace for a podium, and held up the pack to begin with, but was able to fall in line, on the edge of the points before the rain came. A good decision of when to pit, netted him another point for the team, in an unbelievable year for them.

It could have been an equal or better points day for Aston Martin, compared to Alpine, as Stroll was right up front for most of the race. However, a mixture of being on the wrong tyres, and incidents both between the two Aston’s and Gasly, meant it wasn’t to be in the end. Gasly himself was unlucky to be caught up in it with Stroll, although he wasn’t on course for a lot of points anyway. Leclerc, apart from Norris, was the biggest loser from the rain, as he stayed out with Lando, and lost out on a top 5 result. His pace was stellar all day, as he could stay with Verstappen, suggesting that the new engine is rather good for that car. Could Ferrari still put pressure on McLaren for 3rd in the constructors?

Despite not winning the race, you have to say that Red Bull, with Max at least, were the biggest winners from the race. Whereas teams like Ferrari and McLaren, have some lessons to learn, on why they weren’t able to win the race, in the extraordinary circumstances we saw!

-M

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[nco05]

UCL 20/21 day 5: Tranquilo.

That is 15 out of 15 points ladies, gentlemen and non-binary beauties!

TL/DR: They all played well, I bascially wrote an essay on why everyone had their part in the victory.

Considering this match was the closest to perfection so far and I have no negative things to say, I’ll talk about every player that played. I’m doing this in order of their numbers. If I don’t use a player’s nickname, it’s simply cuz I don’t know it or I don’t have one.

Sergiño: He’s among the shortest on the pitch but he can bulldoze someone twice his size, outrun people and start an attack. He’s been steamrolling but yesterday he was just flying sky high.

Busi: Attack-mode was on yesterday. He did pretty well.

Carles: He was 1 of 2 important substitutions. He worked the midfield very well and made sure the attacks could continue. Glad he got a decent amount of playminutes.

Grizi: I think last Sunday gave him a confidence boost? Cuz what the actual hell the goal of yesterday was again really fricking cool! He was where he needed to be at all times till the substitution. I saw the Griezmann I feared from his Atlético days shine through and I hope we get to see that more.

Miralem: He had several shots that went wide. He was very hungry to score and a bit sad when he fell short. He kept trying till his substitution.

Martin: And onto the 2nd goalscorer we go! 3 goals in 2 UCL matches, he’s shown how valuable he is. The goal didn’t stop him from trying to score some more too, which is very good to see.

Ous: Not only did we get Ous the penalty kicker and scorer. We also got Capitan Ous! His very first captaining ever! He did pretty well. He had the most shots, he was fast as hell (like usual), kept the game at a high intensity and not to mention incredibly selfless (a little too selfless with the pass to Riqui) with his shots.

Riqui: He came on with the intend to show who he is and that he deserves more. I feel like everyone on the squad had an agreement in helping Riqui shine as much as possible to the point he had 3 big chances to score. Not that he needed much help to shine since he does it on his own. At one point he was very very close to scoring but the gk took it before he could shoot. I think he also got faster in pace?

Neto: He didn’t have much to do but the shots on target the opponents had were still dangerous. He caught them though which proves yet again that it doesn’t matter who’s in net, it’ll be hard to score on a Barçelona gk (not impossible, but hard).

Clément: There’s much more pressure on him now that he’s the only Centre Back of the first team left uninjured. He did however have his head in the game and played very well. The defense only had a few hiccups but recovered from them. His substitution was I think solely for the fact we were just that much stronger than the opponent (maybe out of fear to lose him like Geri too?) and Frenkie can also operate in his position.

Jordi: I think he gave an assist or pre-assist? You know Barça’s having a field day when Jordi does more attacking than defending. It’s really telling. He had plenty of space each time so it was that much easier for him to get the ball where it needed to go. He did get a bit annoyed at how late the offside of the opponent was whistled and how often it happened but he stayed calm and kept his head in the game.

Frenks: I can’t comment on his midfielding as he only played in the midifeld for 10 minutes or less and played the rest in the defense as Centre Back. Frenkie’s defending was very good once again and broke off a lot of attacks. He co-operated with Sergiño, Óscar, Neto, Clément, Jordi & Junior very well. (He’s becoming a Swiss Army Knife of positions lol).

Firpo: The minutes he played, he played very well. Just a bit unfortunate it was fairly limited. The defense didn’t crumble after Clément and Jordi’s got subbed.

Óscar: I barely notice he’s not usually a first team player which speaks volume of how good his defending is. Never wavered once in the game.

Konrad: My dad was very excited to see him play. I gotta be honest I don’t remember much as I’m sick and I was on the verge of falling asleep due to fatigue. But since my dad didn’t complain, I assume he played well.

All in all I’d say this was a 10/10 match. The way they won seemed so calm (hence why I titled it tranquilo). There was no rush to score, there was no pressure to win as Barça secured RO16 against Dinamo Kyiv and yet... 3 goals in 28 minutes.

Next up is La Liga against Cádiz who are the place above us and have 1 point on us (with 2 matches played more but that don’t matter). Last UCL match is against Juve again. After yesterday I’m hopeful for an 18 out of 18 campaign. This is also potentially the first time Frenkie plays football against Matthijs.

[mirokloses]

this is a niko support text, don’t read if you don’t like him.

ok. i wasn’t going to say anything because well… i spent last season all quiet just ranting to my friends, but i think nicole and carol just had enough of my $h*t, so i’m going to post here and be ignored like it should happen after all i’m just putting things out of my chest…

ok

ok

it’s just the beginning of the season and there are people already saying “kovac out”, and i guess you don’t like niko etc etc, but seriously??? BAYERN HAD SOME BAD GAMES AND YOU STARTED ALL OF THIS CRAP AGAIN?

let’s remind you guys that even before the pre-season niko said that he needed at least 6 new players – a striker, a number 6, a winger and two more players for depht. what he got was lucas (who is a good player but is prone to injuries), pavard (that i still don’t get why, just because he won the world cup doesn’t mean a thing, mustafi and schürrle also won with germany, so?), arp and cuisance (both aren’t ready to play, so sorry) and perisic & coutinho aren’t 100% in “bayern mode”, especially because these two wasn’t in the pre-season.

just here you see that at least two positions that niko wanted new players he just didn’t got, because müller (who isn’t playing well for some seasons already i love you thomas but that’s the truth) and gnabry could play as a striker, and javi could play as a 6.

i believe there’s some major problems with bayern, one of them are the players that aren’t tHAT GOOD ANYMORE. the club spent 7 seasons depending on basically just 5 players, never got a rotation or new faces to mix the team and make a transition between one dinasty to another, so they’re paying hard for this by now. when you look at bayern last games you can’t see at all a good transition between the defense to the midfield, because the player who should do this isn’t doing properly (this goes for thiago and javi), and that’s why when kimmich played in midfield the team was more stable. the answer to this is playing goretzka and tolisso together in a 4-2-3-1, or javi-goretzka-tolisso in a 4-3-3, this may change because of opponents. reasons?

bayern almost doesn’t shoot outside the box, and when they tried they scored some (kimmich, tolisso);

goretzka plays beautifully the role of a box-to-box midfielder and i believe this is something that could be better explored;

after some time on bench, colisso is playing regularly and if he keeps the pace this could be really good for the team

and i’m just talking about midfield, up front it gets worse since the only reliable players are lewandowski and gnabry. coutinho has class and if he gets in his old form he can really help the team, but i can see this happening soon. perisic still pretty much unknown, he could play a bigger role? yes. will he? have no idea. müller is just playing for his name. like seriously, the best trait of thomas last season when he was marking because of his tactical role, no more than that, offensively he was basically useless. coman i don’t even know how to start, he’s too selfish and most of his attempt to cross are $hitty. also he loses lot of BIG CHANCES.

on defense apart from niklas, manuel, kimmich and alaba, the other position is up to anyone, because well… said it earlier. and the “thing” that happened with mats, he just wanted to be sure on the starting eleven, as he didn’t got this at bayern he went for dortmund who was thirsty for a good defender. i can’t say much more, if you just look at them right now you’ll understand.

as for now you can see how many problems bayern has with this players. maybe is a good squad for bundesliga, but i don’t believe they can win the champions league like this, i miss the passion and power of will… and this isn’t something that came with niko, but an old problem.

OH, for not make room for someone to say that i’m trying to clean niko’s mess, which i’m not because i always criticize him when i think he’s wrong, i really believe he could make some subs faster and try to be a little more bolder tactically. some even dare to say niko doesn’t know tactics or strategies, but he did an amazing and beautiful job in eintracht being really bold and witty, yET HE CAN’T SHOW THIS ON BAYERN SINCE THE BOSSES DOESN’T APPROVE AND THE PLAYERS SAID HE WAS TOO FOCUSED ON DEFENSE (look at this mess right now lol)

this actually reminded me of something lol because since i spent so much time on twitter i can see a lot of hate niko receives (and i’m only thinking about the replies from iMiaSanMia acc) talking about the lack of rotation, but well… last time niko tried to make a healthy rotation on the team everyone was saying he shouldn’t.

pLUS A LOT OF THIS HATE HE RECEIVE ARE FROM NEW-BAYERN FANS WHO ACTUALLY ONLY CARE ABOUT TITLES AND SUCCESS, WHEN FOOTBALL IS WAY BIGGER THAN THAT. there’s even a video from DW where bayern fans really talk about this and they recognize this is a problem (if you ask me i can send to you). as a chelsea fan for a long time i can understand what’s going on since i saw this happen to my team, and the very first time something bad or disappointing happened, these so called “fans” (plastic fans for yall) walked away and are now supporting another team. this happened twice actually, after the champions league and after the booming first season with conte. now there are way less chelsea supporters on social media (and i saw so many of tott*nham, c*ty and liv*pool appearing out of nowhere kk plastic fans everywhere). this is happening with bayern and probably in the next trip they’ll be supporting another team.

if you disagree with me and can’t actually see what’s really going on with bayern, just look at united and how bad they’re right now. a big club? yes. but they haven’t prepared for the future and are so far trying to find themselves, trying to get their dna back. chelsea also had some problems, but we got some key players from one generation to another (azpi and now lamps and cech) so things are going smoother and we still have our dna of not giving up.

bayern has changed the manager in the past seasons because they’re only thinking about now instead of trying to pave the future and get back even stronger, and this will probably cost them a lot. guardiola left not just because it was an easy league, but also because the board wasn’t singning any big names, they only got thiago for him and that was it. also, don’t forget the fact that pep has to change the way he wanted bayern to play because of internal issues (being honest pep football was ugly and boring). ancelotti, my dear… you deserved so much more – he had to deal with this crap all over and i still get to see some fans saying now that ancelotti was good (even tho they were trowing hate at him at time). now it’s niko turn to get all the hate not only for his mistakes, but also for the board and players mistakes. i even got to see someone saying niko doesn’t have any sort of mentality nor passion/desire, and this makes me so angry because they’re just saying things without even get to search a little bit about niko and his carreer, specially as a player and the things he did. he inspires me to be better everyday, i really can’t stand these kind of comments. you can say whatever you want about his late subs, but doesn’t dare to say a thing about his character, especially when you don’t know a thing at all.

i’ll end this huge text here because i’m tired, but feeling a little lighter. nobody’s going to read all of this, but i really needed to put it out. i’m just watching and following bayern because of niko as i did since he was croatia’s coach, but the treatment he’s receiving at the moment really pisses me off in so many levels that i couldn’t just keep quiet. honestly, i really dislike this fc hollywood.

i believe in niko and the fact that he’ll turn things around. but i also hope from the bottom of my heart that he leaves bayern and go to a club where he’s appreciated. i don’t believe he’ll get back to eintracht, but maybe b04? (i can only dream of)

ps: remember that dortmund fired klopp after a bad season and two years later he was in live*pool winning the champions league and probably this year the premier league… firing coaches is easy, but you can’t see what’s going to happen next.

[classyfoxdestiny]

Premier League predictions 2021-22: BBC Sport pundits pick their top four

Premier League predictions 2021-22: BBC Sport pundits pick their top four

Defending champions Manchester City have won the Premier League in three of the past four seasons – but can anyone stop them this time?

Manchester United were City’s nearest rivals last time out but finished 12 points back and have still not sustained a serious title bid since they were last champions in 2013.

Will United challenge for top spot until the end in 2021-22? How will Liverpool respond after their title defence imploded at the start of the year? Can Chelsea be contenders again domestically after conquering Europe? And will Leicester, Arsenal, Tottenham or anyone else break into the Champions League places?

We asked 20 BBC TV and radio pundits to pick their top four, with explanations for their selections.

Alan Shearer Chelsea Man City Man Utd Liverpool Fara Williams Chelsea Man City Man Utd Liverpool Sue Smith Chelsea Man City Man Utd Liverpool Chris Sutton Chelsea Man City Liverpool Man Utd Rachel Brown-Finnis Chelsea Man City Liverpool Man Utd Matthew Upson Chelsea Man City Liverpool Man Utd Rob Green Chelsea Liverpool Man City Man Utd Martin Keown Man City Chelsea Liverpool Man Utd Micah Richards Man City Chelsea Liverpool Man Utd Stephen Warnock Man City Chelsea Liverpool Man Utd Danny Murphy Man City Liverpool Chelsea Man Utd Mark Lawrenson Man City Liverpool Chelsea Man Utd Ashley Williams Man City Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Clinton Morrison Man City Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Michael Brown Man City Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Pat Nevin Man City Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Leon Osman Man City Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Nedum Onuoha Man City Man Utd Liverpool Chelsea Lindsay Johnson Man City Man Utd Chelsea Liverpool Jermaine Beckford Man City Chelsea Man Utd Leicester

Five teams feature in the forecasted top fours, but only City, United and Chelsea feature in all 20.

In terms of who will win it, City are favourites, with 13 votes. Chelsea get seven, while the highest anyone thinks United or Liverpool will finish is second. The overall predicted ranking gives a similar outcome.

1. Man City 2. Chelsea 3. Man Utd 4. Liverpool 5. Leicester 72 pts 62 pts 33 pts 32 pts 1 pt

(using system of 4 pts for a 1st place, 3 pts for 2nd, 2 pts for 3rd and 1 pt for 4th)

Which transfer would affect three pundits’ title predictions?

The predictions were made on Thursday, 12 August, with just under three weeks to go before the transfer window closes on Tuesday, 31 August.

Alan Shearer: Some major signings have already happened, but there are more to come that will affect the title race. I’m expecting it to be much tighter at the top than last time, with four teams in with a chance of being champions, not just City and Chelsea.

Alan Shearer joins Ian Wright and Gary Lineker on Match of the Day this Saturday at 22:20 BST on BBC One and the BBC Sport website for highlights of seven Premier League games.

Chris Sutton: If Harry Kane goes to Manchester City, then he is the perfect fit for them and I would fancy them. If he doesn’t, I think Chelsea will nick it, because they are getting Romelu Lukaku. I don’t think City will win the title without signing a centre-forward. I know they won it last season largely playing without one, which was remarkable. I don’t see it happening again.

Matthew Upson: As things stand, I’d back Chelsea. It looks as if Lukaku is definitely going there, while things are very different with City and Kane – who knows if that will happen? It’s a big ask for them to win the league again without a new striker but, if they do get Kane, that turns that problem position into a massive positive – and I’d change my prediction.

Sue Smith: Chelsea will have massive confidence from winning the Champions League but if City can get Kane, then I’d put them on top instead.

Guardiola was a ‘massive factor’ in Grealish joining Man City

Pat Nevin: City have already added Jack Grealish, who is exactly the right player for them and there is the possibility of Kane, who is perfect too because he is so creative and adaptable. Arguably he’s the player that Pep tried to turn Sergio Aguero into, and I can’t think of many strikers so well suited to City’s style.

If they get him, they are big favourites. If they don’t, they are just marginal favourites.

Man City – ‘A team of Galacticos’

This is the sixth season running where Manchester City have featured in everyone’s forecasted top four. It’s also the fourth successive year where no-one thinks they will finish below second.

Micah Richards: It’s tougher than ever to call it this season but I am still going to say City, even if they don’t get Kane. John Stones has signed a new deal and, with him and Ruben Dias, the defence is sorted. When you look at their options in midfield and going forward, it’s just not fair on the other teams and, with the form that Raheem Sterling was in at the Euros, they still have to be favourites.

Micah Richards and Dion Dublin are the guests on Football Focus on BBC One and the BBC Sport website at 12:00 BST on Saturday.

Danny Murphy: My gut feeling is that City are going to be really difficult to knock off their perch. They and Liverpool will just about have the edge on everyone but not by much – the top four will be really tight.

Nedum Onuoha: I look at how good City were defensively last season and think they will be strong enough to win the title again. But I think this year will be the first time in a while where there will be more than two teams in with a shout at the very end. City have made an excellent signing in Grealish but their rivals have strengthened well too.

Jermaine Beckford: They are so powerful. Stones and Dias have formed a brilliant relationship and City don’t really have a weakness any more.

Michael Brown: My only doubt is if they don’t get Kane, or another striker.

Ashley Williams: City are the best team and squad in the league. They have added Grealish and if they get Kane then the title is done. Even without Kane, or another top-class striker, as a team they have got goals everywhere and their style of play doesn’t need a recognised centre-forward. I’m expecting a more productive season from Sterling too.

Martin Keown: What I am really excited about is seeing how Grealish will play under Guardiola, after seeing the effect Pep has had on Sterling and Phil Foden already. Now we have another talented English player in his hands, and Grealish has a team of Galacticos around him.

Chelsea – ‘The depth in their squad is scary’

Last season, no-one thought Chelsea would win the title and only two out of 25 pundits thought they would make the top two. This time, seven out of 20 pundits think they will be champions and 80% think they will make the top two.

Pat Nevin: I’ve been at all their pre-season games and have looked at the depth they have got in their squad and it is actually scary – and that’s before Lukaku has arrived. If you add him on top of Kai Havertz, who could be, certainly over the next few years, one of the great players in the world, and look all the way through their squad, then they have got so much quality.

Fara Williams: We saw the impact Thomas Tuchel made in the second half of last season and how hard Chelsea are to beat. Lukaku’s goals will turn a lot of draws into wins.

Rob Green: Their squad is stronger than everyone else’s, even City. Then you add Lukaku, who will bring the best out of everyone else.

Martin Keown: Lukaku is a player you have to keep hungry so I think this is the perfect move for him, going back to a club where he has something to prove.

Ashley Williams: Chelsea made big improvements last season and I think they will be better again. I played with Lukaku at Everton so I know him quite well – his goal record for us was incredible but having seen him play for Inter Milan and Belgium, he’s even better now. It’s as if he has recognised his own ability and strengths more than he did before, and he knows when and where to use them. I still speak to him a lot and he has worked hard on his game – it’s mentally where he has got stronger, because he has always been a beast physically.

Ashley Williams joins Dion Dublin and Jason Mohammad on Final Score on Saturday, from 14:30 BST on the red button and the BBC Sport website and from 16:00 on BBC One.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel celebrates winning the Champions League with his family

Stephen Warnock: Tactically, they are so well organised under Tuchel, and it looks a happy camp too. He has created the perfect environment of having the authority that means no-one steps out of line, but the players like him too.

Michael Brown: They have got the belief now too, which is massive. They have gone from wondering ‘where will we finish?’ to thinking ‘we’ve got every chance’. They will be right in the mix.

Rachel Brown-Finnis: Tuchel consolidated at first and made them difficult to break down, now he is adding more firepower as well. If Lukaku clicks with their creative players, they will just be awesome but I just feel they will have the edge because of how hard they have been to beat.

Chris Sutton: Tuchel has not just sorted them out defensively, he has added a really nice balance to their team. Timo Werner will benefit from his first year in England, and Havertz also came into form at the end of the season. If there was a criticism of Chelsea last time, it was that they possibly weren’t ruthless enough but with Lukaku they will have a guy in who is an absolute glutton for goals.

Jadon Sancho joins an already fearsome United attacking line-up for the new season. Also in their squad are (left to right) Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani

Man Utd – Will Sancho give them the ‘X-factor’?

Last season, 24 out of 25 pundits thought they would make the top four although 17 of the votes they received placed them in fourth. This time, 100% think they will finish in the top four and 11 out of 20 think they will finish third or higher, although only two people have backed them to finish second.

Chris Sutton: United missed a great opportunity to win the Europa League last season, which would have taken the pressure off Ole Gunnar Solskjaer by ending his wait for a trophy. They still had a good season but there is something missing – they have to show greater consistency and be able to take the game to the opposition. The other three top teams have a better balance about them but maybe Jadon Sancho will give them that X-factor.

Nedum Onuoha: If Sancho’s game can translate to the Premier League, then that is a huge coup for United. I can’t wait to see how he gets on.

Micah Richards: United have shown that they can beat anyone but they seem to have too many off-days over the course of the season and for me they are a couple of players short of being a title-winning side – including a centre-forward. Edinson Cavani is 34 and at the stage of his career where he needs looking after. He can’t play every week and they don’t have another striker like him.

Pat Nevin: It feels like Manchester United have been trying to sort out that centre-back position forever and, finally, by getting Raphael Varane in alongside Harry Maguire it looks right. I suspect it will turn out that way too, but let’s hold fire slightly to see – Varane was always lightning quick when he was younger but I have watched him a few times recently and wondered if he had lost half a yard of pace. I will only find out by watching him in the Premier League.

Matthew Upson: There is a lot of guesswork involved here until the season starts but Varane looks a really good signing, and one they needed to make. He and Harry Maguire are a world-class pairing at the back and that is going to make a huge difference for them.

Ashley Williams: You can’t ask for more from a centre-half partnership. My only question is whether Varane hits the ground running or does he need time to settle in. I’ve never played in La Liga so I am not saying there are easy games there but in the Premier League you are tested even by the poorer teams, and in different ways. Varane is vastly experienced but I’m not sure he will have come up against many teams like Burnley who have really physical strikers such as Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes. It doesn’t sound glamorous but they make your life difficult for 90 minutes. He has won everything there is to win, though, so I am sure he will cope with that.

Stephen Warnock: I see it as a four-horse race this year but the only difference between United and the other three is with their manager – I don’t think Solskjaer is the man to win the title. He’s done well tactically in some games but there have been times when something is not quite right and if you had given United’s squad to Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola or Tuchel last season, I think they all would have won the league. I am not sure he is the right man to take United to the next level.

Martin Keown: I have United down as finishing fourth but this title race is as open as it will ever be. They have made two brilliant signings, and they mean business. I am only picking this order because I have been asked to – and if they were to win it, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Liverpool’s only signing so far this summer saw France centre-back Ibrahima Konate join for £36m from RB Leipzig

Liverpool – A strong team but how deep is their squad?

Last season, 52% of the BBC pundits thought Liverpool would defend their title, while 21 out of 25 thought they would finish in the top two. This season, no-one thinks they will be champions, and only three out of 20 think they will make the top two.

Mark Lawrenson: A big factor for Liverpool is hunger after what happened last season. Yes, they had a lot of injuries but by their high standards it was a poor campaign – so they have a point to prove, especially in front of their fans at Anfield where they had such a poor run at the start of the year.

Danny Murphy: It is hugely important that Liverpool get Jordan Henderson’s contract situation sorted out. They have already lost Georginio Wijnaldum, who has been under-rated for the past few years. I do expect Henderson to stay, because he has been so pivotal to their success, but they need to put those concerns to bed quickly. Losing both now would be unthinkable.

Danny Murphy joins Ashley Williams and Mark Chapman for MOTD2 this Sunday at 22:30 BST on BBC One and the BBC Sport website for highlights of Newcastle v West Ham and Tottenham v Manchester City.

Georginio Wijnaldum left Liverpool in June and signed for Paris St-Germain on a free transfer. “He is seriously under-rated,” says Danny Murphy. “He is brilliant defensively but great on the ball too and he doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is technically.”

Stephen Warnock: They are still a very strong team and I just think the style of football will be back to what it was a couple of years ago, with the team playing that high press again. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah look fresh after a break over the summer but it is a concern what happens when they both go to the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

Martin Keown: I know people are saying they haven’t really bought but there was nothing really wrong with Liverpool before their injury problems last season. I am backing Klopp to get back the perfection that was there in the two seasons before that, and they can challenge again, no doubt about it.

Pat Nevin: Liverpool still don’t look like they have a big enough squad to win the league, but then I’ve said that about them before. They have got Virgil van Dijk back now, which makes a massive difference, but I kind of think they need another serious striker.

Micah Richards: Diogo Jota did really well last season, and his injury came at a bad time for them. It might take a while for them to work out their best combination in attack, or what system to go with.

Chris Sutton: Ibrahima Konate looks like a decent defensive signing but the issue with Van Dijk is how fit is he? How has he been affected by being out for so long and the injury? We will find out.

Matthew Upson: It is hard to remember Liverpool at full throttle because they had such a disastrous time from the start of the year. Even though they have got Van Dijk fit, I had the same cruciate ligament injury and I’d say you are looking at several months from when he plays his first competitive game to him being back at his best. Joe Gomez is in the same boat really, and that’s the reason I have them down as third.

Rachel Brown-Finnis: I hope Van Dijk gets back to his best because he is such a wonderful player. They need him to perform individually but he also lifts the whole team. I don’t think it will happen for Liverpool without him, because of that knock-on effect. When they are in full swing, they are fantastic to watch.

Leicester – fighting it out with Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham for the top six?

Last season, Arsenal were the only other team to feature in the picks – two out of 25 pundits thought they would finish fourth or higher. This time, Leicester get a mention – but only one pundit thinks they will finish in the Champions League places.

Jermaine Beckford: I am going with Leicester to finish fourth. They are a breath of fresh air in terms of how much they invest in their squad compared to the teams who finished above them last season. They still spend some money of course, but they spend it so well. Their recruitment is absolutely brilliant, and I am a huge fan of the way Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers sets up his teams and gets everyone working hard together.

Ashley Williams: It’s going to be tough for anyone else to crack the top four, and I don’t think Arsenal or Spurs can do it. If anyone can wriggle in there, it is Leicester. They are a really good team and can beat any of the leading teams on their day but as they have already found out after finishing fifth twice, it is tough for them to sustain those standards for the whole season.

Martin Keown: Leicester will push again and they will definitely have a say in who will win the title. Arsenal and Spurs can too, but it still feels more like they are both in transition at the moment. There will be some pressure on Arsenal early on, because they have got some very difficult early fixtures against Chelsea and City in the first couple of weeks. I just want to see some more convincing performances from them, because I think we can see the club has tumbled down the league, and there are other clubs with more resources than them now. They need to be more competitive in games to get up the table, and they also need Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to have a smile back on his face.

Danny Murphy: If anyone might surprise a few people it’s Arsenal – they are not in Europe, and they have got some fantastic forward players. People forget that last season was the first in Aubameyang’s career where he didn’t score a bagful of goals, and nothing suggests to me that is going to continue. They have a tough start but their young players are going to keep getting better.

Pat Nevin: Just purely if you look at the finances and size and experience of squads, it is going to be very hard for anyone outside the top four to get up there again. After the top four, it is Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester, and maybe West Ham who will all basically be trying to be the best of the rest.

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[barcastat]

Interviewer: “Emery said that he wants his player to be smarter than him. How can you deal with a group of players who don't see the game the way you do?”

Xavi: “I will try to teach them my idea of ​​football. Make sure to stimulate talent. Obviously, I will not ignore the physical aspect, which is necessary, but I mean that I do not want my defender to just spend his time defending. No, no. I want him to play, to go forward. Ask Mascherano if he has not learned to play football in Barcelona. He had to adapt. He was smart. Like Abidal and Umtiti. Umtiti is the best centre-back, isn’t he? Why? Because he's doesn't spend his time just defending. He plays, he thinks, he goes forward, he anticipates. In Lyon, he recovered the ball, then was happy to only give it to the midfielder, who was doing his job. At Barça, you have to participate more, it facilitates the work of the midfielder. When he goes forward, it gives him better option to pass the ball. It also gives him space and time to think.”

Interviewer: “What about Dembélé?”

Xavi: “He will need some time. Barça is like a final exam for a footballer. It is like Dembélé is passing a Master degree right now because not everyone can play for this club. Why? Because you have to know things three times more than elsewhere. Barça play on barely thirty meters of play. Dembélé has a lot of talent, he is very fast, but here, he is not going to have the boulevards he had at Dortmund or Rennes. He had more space, so more time there.”

Interviewer: “What will he do then?”

Xavi: “He will have to learn to think faster, in a few thousandths of a second. This is where we will see if he has the mentality. He must say to himself: ‘I am a Barça player.’ You have to be mentally strong, to have convictions. There are average players who spent fifteen years at Barça, because they had a character. And there are some excellent players who did not do anything because they couldn't handle pressure. At training, when you saw them, you would say to yourself: ‘They will break everything. It's going to be legends.’ But no. As soon as they entered the pitch, their legs started shaking, they did not want the ball anymore. And you would wonder: ‘Holy f*ck, what's happening to them?'”

Interviewer: “Is it the famous 'scenic fear' that Jorge Valdano talks about?”

Xavi: “That's it. Mental strength is what stabilizes the performance. That's what makes you stronger. When there is fire, Marcelo, Modrić or Sergio Ramos do not hide. On the contrary, it's at this moment that they appear. What did Lucas Vazquéz do against PSG? He entered the pitch with the desire win. A missile. The guy even went to Kimpembe. And there you say to yourself: 'What is he doing? He's crazy or what?’ No, he's just mentally strong.”

[thisdaynews]

Andre Gomes: Everton midfielder suffers horrific leg injury

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/andre-gomes-everton-midfielder-suffers-horrific-leg-injury/

Andre Gomes: Everton midfielder suffers horrific leg injury

Everton’s players rushed over to Andre Gomes and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was distressed after seeing the aftermath

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes will have surgery on Monday after suffering a horrific ankle injury in Sunday’s Premier League match against Tottenham.

The Portuguese was taken straight to hospital where he has been diagnosed with a fracture dislocation to his right ankle.

A distressed Son Heung-min of Spurs was sent off in the 79th minute for the tackle on the Portuguese player.

There was a six-minute stoppage as medics tended to Gomes.

The incident looked innocuous, but the mood changed among the players and crowd after they saw the full impact.

The match eventually finished 1-1 after Cenk Tosun’s header in the 97th minute cancelled out Dele Alli’s earlier effort.

Everton investigating racism allegation at Spurs game

Reaction from Sunday’s Premier League matches

‘More than a football game’

Silva backed Gomes, 26, to return stronger and also praised his players for their response.

“This is a bad moment for us and our team – this was more than a football game,” he said. “We will give all support to Andre and his family. As a group we have to stay together and show the spirit we showed following the incident.

“Our players now, they are sad, a tough moment for us in our dressing room and for Andre, but the spirit we showed after that moment on the pitch I think is a good answer for you.

“He is seriously injured but I am 100% sure Andre will become stronger as a football player and as a man, because he is a fantastic lad, a fantastic professional.”

The injury overshadowed the game in which Toffees substitute Tosun equalised in injury time.

“Everybody is sad inside. Some players, they nearly cried,” said Tosun, who had been on the pitch just 10 minutes.

“He was in shock, his eyes were open so big. He was like crying, shouting and screaming.

“I just tried to hold him and speak to him. I tried to tell him to stay calm. We couldn’t understand him.”

Tosun added on Instagramlater: ” “You win, you draw, you lose but all that doesn’t matter when something like this happens.

“I wish I didn’t score, I wish we lost 0-5 and this didn’t happen. I know you will come back stronger bro and we will be there for you.”

Everton midfielder Fabian Delph appeared to still be affected in a post-match TV interview when asked about his team-mate.

“He’s one our brothers, someone we care about deeply,” said the former Manchester City player. “It’s hard to put into words. The sooner we can get in touch the better. That was difficult to see.”

‘Son can’t lift his head up’

Media playback is not supported on this device

Everton 1-1 Tottenham: Son can’t pick his head up – Dele Alli

The TV replay suggested that Gomes suffered the injury after Son’s tackle and before he collided with full-back Serge Aurier.

Goalscorer Alli said he found Son crying in the changing room after the final whistle.

“I didn’t want to look too much at what happened,” said the England midfielder. “I want to send Andre my best wishes.

“Son is devastated and in tears – it’s not his fault. Son is one of nicest people you’ve ever met. He can’t even lift his head up, he’s crying so much.

“The injury does play on your mind during the match but you have to stay professional.”

Former Toffees midfielder Pat Nevin, who was a summariser for BBC Radio 5 Live at Goodison Park, described the events in the immediate aftermath of the injury.

“This is horrible, horrible,” said the Scot. “The players look devastated and there is utter confusion here. Players with their heads in their hands.

“Son deliberately tackles Gomes, but he does not cause that [the injury]. He is catapulted from that challenge on to Aurier. To blame Son and to say he did that deliberately is 100% wrong. Son is not like that, he is not that kind of guy.

“He does not deserve the treatment he is going to get on social media. He is devastated – he was the cause, but it was not his fault. It’s just one of those things that happens in football.”

‘The players from Everton were fantastic’

Son Heung-min is set for a ban for his red card

Referee Martin Atkinson initially showed Son a yellow card before he changed it to red.

The Premier League explained: “The red card for Son was for endangering the safety of a player, which happened as a consequence of his initial challenge.”

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino insists the forward had no intention of injuring Gomes and believes VAR should have rescinded the sending-off.

“It was clear it was never the intention of Son to create the problem that happened afterwards. It is unbelievable to see a red card,” he said.

“In that situation we need to help because the decision of the referee was yellow card but the VAR changed the decision. It is the latest example of it being not clear.

“VAR needs to check if it was a bad tackle from Son and judge the action not what happened after.

“We all feel sorry for Andre. I want to send my best wishes to him and to his family in this tough moment. We want to send, on behalf of the squad, our best wishes.”

Pochettino also revealed that Everton’s club captain Seamus Coleman, who was out for a year after suffering a double-fracture of his lower leg in March 2017, spoke to Son afterwards.

“The players from Everton were fantastic. The captain came to the dressing room to console Son,” said the Argentine.

“I want to say thank you to the players and Coleman, who came in on behalf of the squad of Everton.”

Football world send best wishes to Gomes

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford:Horrible to see anyone suffer an injury like that. Wishing you nothing but positivity.

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy:Wishing Andre Gomes a speedy recovery.

Watford midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah:The football world is with you my friend. Stay strong.

Former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin:Wishing Andre Gomes and Everton lots of luck, all the very best and a speedy recovery young man.

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Madrid derby’s big storylines: Atletico’s big spending gives them an edge over ‘new’ Real

The first Madrid derby of the 2019-20 La Liga season has a lot riding on it because both sides of the Spanish capital want nothing more than to usurp Barcelona. But only one can.

If you drive west around Madrid, the city’s very own wacky racetrack, the M30, still takes you underneath the main stand at the stadium that was Atletico Madrid’s home for fifty years. The rest of it, though, has almost gone. Walls have been torn down, cables ripped out, a digger standing on the rubble of the old place where the pitch used to be. The bar that celebrated the double has gone, shutters down, and so has Resino’s place.

Soon they will start on the main stand, too, where the sign is already rusting and windows have gone, and then there will be nothing. It is a sorry sight but it is progress, or so they say, and most are pretty happy with their new stadium, over twenty kilometres away on the other side of the city.

Everything feels different now, including Atlético themselves, which means that the derby does too. Especially this year. This, after all, the game that they liked to portray as the people against the power. It wasn’t entirely true, of course, but it was an attractive story, one that gave them a moral dimension — this game means more — and there was something in it. On the Madrid Monopoly board, the road that the Bernabéu stands on, the Paseo de la Castellana, is dark blue: their Park Lane. Atlético’s stadium doesn’t have a street on the board; it stood at the end of Melancholic’s Way, which was appropriate then and, walking round the ruins of the old stadium, even more appropriate now.

– Hunter: How Valverde can get Barca back on track – Schoenfeld: Sancho will be a star… only on his terms – Laurens: Why top clubs are scouting 16-year-old Camavinga

Today, though, it is Atlético’s stadium, a new arena with 64,000 seats that has just hosted the biggest game in club football, a place that Liverpool fans consider partly their own having beaten Spurs in the European Cup final there. It’s not where Atletico fans wanted it to be, right out by the airport, but it is impressive. And this summer Atlético Madrid’s manager Diego Simeone told La Nación: “we’re no longer the people’s team; we have an extraordinary stadium and next year we will have a training ground at the level the club deserves.”

On one level that is something to celebrate, of course, but there was also a sense of loss, a reluctance to let go of what they were, to be too much like the rest, and especially like their rivals: the response to that comment showed how far Atlético fans embraced that identity, built over years. Simeone stepped back a little, but only a little. “We have a wonderful stadium and we signed Joao Felix for €126 million, so economically we’re not the people’s team,” he said, “but socially, morally and emotionally we are, because we still draw on our roots and that doesn’t change, however much the club grows economically.”

On Saturday, the derby comes and while Atlético long ended the days when Real Madrid’s fans could hold up a mock advert asking for “a worthy rival for a decent derby,” this time more than any other time is when they most embrace that difference. One of the many things that Atlético expressed for years, and still do, was not being Real Madrid. Beating Madrid is another matter. For 25 games, Atlético couldn’t defeat them and then one day in the Copa del Rey final at the Bernabéu, it changed (except in Europe) and boy, do they have decent derbies these days.

This is first vs. third, after all: two teams who are genuine candidates to win the league. Atlético have finished above Real for two years in a row. And they have spent too this time. A lot.

Here are the sub-plots and currents running under the season’s first Madrid derby.

The “people’s team” finally splash the cash

This summer, Atlético spent more than they ever had before: €244m. That’s just €54m less than Real Madrid did. As Simeone suggested, a team that spends €126m on Joao Felix can’t really play the pauper card. They splashed almost €100m on defenders alone and they even bought from Real €€30m although as it turns out, he’s not played much so far. And yet, those figures need to be put into context.

Atlético’s spending was driven by the departure of players that left, some of whom they were powerless to stop: Rodri, Lucas Hernandez and Antoine Griezmann all departed after their new clubs unilaterally paid the buy-out clause, three players alone raising €270m, most of which was reinvested. Most of, but not all. Atlético actually made a €44m profit. Well, €44,000,300 now.

The Spanish Federation has just fined Barcelona for their approach to Griezmann. It cost them €300. As Marca handily pointed out, you could get fined more than twice that for urinating in the street.

The derby’s new British connection

Kieran Trippier’s move to Spain was one of the more intriguing transfers of the summer and so far, he’s delivered for his new club, Atletico.

No, not Gareth Bale (although him too). Kieran Trippier has become an unexpected hero at Atlético, pressed very high and very wide, with so much of their play passing through him. The full-backs are vital for the team to function, allowing the midfield to turn inside, leaving them with the wing to themselves.

Left-back Renan Lodi is an attacking threat with his speed and willingness to run beyond people; on the other side, Trippier is more about the passing and delivery, usually from a little further back. He’s more likely to sneak in behind players than run beyond them. He takes no risks, rarely loses the ball and plays the right pass almost every time: prepared to come back inside with a simple ball if the cross is not on.

No one in the Atlético team has put as many balls into the box as Trippier — he’s way, way ahead of the rest — and they look for him early and often, playing long diagonal passes to seek him out. If he goes, he relies heavily on Koke to cover and combine: there’s a neat partnership developing there. Koke’s work, responsibility and positioning is fundamental. Watch how often Trippier is further forward than the captain.

(All that said, Santiago Arias played well enough in Mallorca to pose the question of whether Trippier, resting on Wednesday to be fit for this, is quite the guaranteed starter he appeared to be.)

The new, improved Atlético?

Griezmann, Rodri and Lucas all left, but they weren’t the only ones. Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez and Juanfran all brought their Atlético careers to an end. Half of their starting XI went; Atlético had to start again. It’s true that Saúl, Koke and Jan Oblak are still there, while they managed to keep Alvaro Morata too, but this wasn’t just changing players; it was changing play.

First things first here: despite the enthusiasm, this probably is a slightly weaker team than it was. But it is strong, and certainly stronger than many feared as players started to depart, and it’s exciting too. It’s also different. As Koke put it in an interview with AS: “there’s been a huge change. We want to play a bit more, play a bit better, change a bit. Maybe you can see it in the way that we have a bit more possession.” That’s part of the question: how soon will it all fit into place, how committed will they be to this idea, which appears to break a little with who they were, how well will it work?

So far, they’re optimistic, but cautiously so. There’s definitely a shift: before Mallorca, they had conceded two goals a game for three straight games, which is not like them.

Speaking of Koke… how about Casemiro?

Casemiro. That is all. Madrid need him to impose himself on the game, possibly more than they need anyone else right now.

Who will be Atletico’s 11th man?

Ten of Saturday’s starting XI seems reasonably clear although the make-up and order of the middle shifts sometimes: Saul, Koke, Thomas Partey in midfield, maybe even Hector Herrera. The question is the 11th man. Angel Correa, Vitolo, Lemar? Or maybe even an extra central midfielder?

And where does Joao Felix line up? He starts for sure but he’s played right, left and middle, sometimes in the same game.

As for Madrid, their line-up seems pretty clear, with Nacho likely filling in for Ferland Mendy and Marcelo (who’s back in training) at left-back: Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Nacho, James Rodriguez, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Bale, Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard.

Luka Modric is back, too: it’s not impossible, though unlikely, that he immediately returns to the team.

Madrid look different while staying the same

On the day that Madrid played their first home game of the season, there was only one player who hadn’t been at the club back in 2014 — and that was the goalkeeper. So much for the French revolution. So much for “there will be changes.”

Zidane hadn’t got all the players he wanted — Paul Pogba, basically — and didn’t want all the players they could get him. It was tempting at that point to say, though, that the best thing that could happen to him was that he didn’t get what he wanted: James and Bale, two footballers that weren’t in his plans, suddenly appeared as his signings. Neither were happy, neither felt entirely wanted, but both look set to play key parts, and were determined to make a point. James is running like he’s never done before.

While there’s little cover in midfield, there have been some changes too: Hazard is fit now, while both Vinicius and Rodrygo scored in midweek. The latter took his goal superbly. He’d only been on the pitch 94 seconds of his debut. Vinicius is unlikely to start on Saturday — it will be Bale, Benzema and Hazard up front — but he may play a part. Rodrygo wasn’t named in the squad.

It’s too early to be completely convinced, and there’s no great tactical shift or dazzling displays, but slowly things seem to be falling into place. Including them: for the first time in two years and four months, Real stand alone at the top. And even if this had happened a week ago, after the disaster in Paris, that’s no reason for Atlético to be optimistic.

Koke knows this. “People give them up for dead and that’s a big lie,” he said.

The Jose Mourinho effect?

Zidane complained about a “lack of intensity” after Madrid were destroyed by PSG in the Champions League. It’s too often a catch-all explanation for everything, a cliche that doesn’t really explain anything while avoiding deeper questions and proper analysis, but there’s a kernel of truth in it.

The Real boss was under pressure and the talk was of Mourinho. And suddenly, there it was in Seville: the intensity Zidane demanded. Time to do the “tongue in cheek” emoji here, but was that threat all it took? Magic. Lads, Mourinho might come: time to pull our fingers out!

There is a broader question, though, raised by Jorge Valdano: Madrid fought in Seville, taking their defensive responsibilities very seriously, aware of the pressure they were under and the threat from an opponent who had beaten them four years running. Can they always do that? Should they, in fact?

“They can’t do what they did today consistently,” said Valdano. “Bale, Hazard and James have to go forward, not back.”

Courtois, Morata face their old friends

Courtois was an icon for Atletico but eventually engineered his way back to Madrid to play for Real. He won’t get a warm welcome this weekend.

Outside the Metropolitano, there is a plaque for every player who has played at least 100 games for Atlético. That means that there is a plaque for Courtois. Last time he came, it was scratched, covered in rubbish, mud and the lid from a tin of biscuits with a picture of a stag on it: a sign of infidelity. There were also loads of cuddly toy rats; fans even threw some at him during the game.

He’s not the only one in the two squads but he may be the only one on the pitch in the end: Atlético didn’t get James Rodríguez, even though at that point in the summer they, and he, wanted to. Marcos Llorente, signed from Madrid for €30m, has not played a major role and probably won’t start. Morata is suspended after he came on in Mallorca and was sent off again eight minutes later, having picked up two yellow cards in barely 60 seconds following a confrontation with Xisco Campos and Salva Sevilla.

They’re still arguing now over what was said. Sevilla says he called Morata a “daddy’s boy.” Morata won’t say what he heard, but that it was far worse. Atlético have appealed, but don’t expect it to succeed.

Six months later, Diego Costa scored for Atlético in Mallorca. “Forwards need goals; they live by them,” Diego Simeone said. “This is very good for him, and very good for the team.”

He’s scored six times in four games against Madrid since returning to Atlético, which sounds amazing, but handle those figures with care: they were scored in the European Super Cup last summer and in this summer’s 7-3 win in preseason. In La Liga, it’s been 1-1 and 0-0 and he hasn’t scored.

Oh, and he has a friend waiting for him: “I want to play against Costa,” said Hazard, his former teammate at Chelsea.

Watch out for Benzema

Almost 10 years later, he has become a goalscorer. He always was, of course, just not quite like this. After a decade facilitating things for Cristiano Ronaldo, a brilliant player if not a no.9 as such, he has now taken responsibility for himself. He’s top scorer in Spain and one of the league’s outstanding players so far. He started to get a lot of goals consistently last season, particularly after Zidane’s return.

The truth was that few of them were truly important, the season was over and the doubts remained, but now they matter. His five include the winner in Seville. Mind you, he’s never been about goals and maybe still shouldn’t be: his best moment remains that bit of skill in the derby at the Calderón in the Champions League. On the spot where he produced that bit of magic, there’s just dust and broken concrete now. He’ll miss it, too.

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[sportsleague365]

This season a number of stars across Europe’s top leagues haven’t featured as much as one might expect. In England, Italy, Germany, Spain and France, elite-level players have played fewer than 1,000 minutes, which translates to around 11 games played in their entirety. So with that being said, here’s a list of footballing heavy-hitters finding space more often on the bench (or in the stands) this season, than on the pitch. 1. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) League minutes played: 981 The German playmaker is Arsenal’s highest-ever paid player, earning £350,000 a week. However, such an exorbitant salary hasn’t translated to the pecking order or Emery’s plans. Instead this season, the Spaniard has opted for a more solid, defensively capable midfield, and that means Ozil’s often been benched, subbed off at half-time or not even in the matchday squad. Will this continue?Yes and no. It’s hard to see a time where Ozil is central to all Arsenal do under Emery due to his style. The price Arsenal are paying literally for that makes the situation untenable. 2. James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich) League minutes played: 484 In fairness to Rodriguez and a few others on this list, he has been out injured for over 50 days, and so it would be expected that he’d be nearer 1,000 minutes of game time in the league under his belt. However, he’s played just 484, with Bayern looking unlikely to keep the Colombian when his loan runs out in the summer. On the topic of James, Niko Kovac alluded to extensive competition in the Bayern midfield and told reporters: “I see that he’s motivated and totally focussed. “We are a big club with great footballers. James is a great footballer who can stake a claim to play. But those who aren’t called James also want to play.” Will this continue?His future doesn’t seem to be at Bayern, but he ought to feature more than he has. 3. Isco (Real Madrid) League minutes played:607 For whatever reason Santiago Solari doesn’t seem to favour Isco as much as Julen Lopetegui and Zinedine Zidane did, and as a result he’s seen his playing time take a dive. Isco’s yet to play 90 minutes in the league under Solari. After not playing him against Real Betis, Solari said,“In no way is there anything personal”, citing tough team selections due to intense competition. Will this continue? It’s becoming an ongoing problem at Real that Solari doesn’t trust Isco – the commitment the manager is showing to the midfielder’s exclusion suggests it will continue. 4. Fred (Man United) League Minutes played: 566 Fred has been totally unable to break into the first-team at United with any regularity since his arrival this summer for £47m. A key Mourinho signing last summer, the Brazilian has so far looked distinctly average in a red shirt. Explaining his lack of playing time, Mourinho saidin December: “Step by step… You also have other players in other clubs that needed their time, and you have some of them that played even less than Fred. “When the team is defensively stronger and doesn’t need people in midfield that are more worried about giving some balance to the team than being involved in creation and attacking dynamics, I think the horizons for Fred change completely.” Will this continue? No, the pressure’s off at United and with games coming thick and fast, Fred is likely to get more opportunities in a fast-improving team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. 5. Alvaro Morata (Chelsea) League minutes played: 943 The Spaniard seems unable to prove his suitability as Chelsea’s No.9 and with five goals in 16 appearances, that figure seems to be about his strike rate. Gonzalo Higuain is close to joining the Blues on loan, which could see Morata return to La Liga. Will this continue?At Chelsea, yes. But with the Spaniard looking likely to leave for Atletico Madrid, he may find more game time soon. 6. Olivier Giroud (Chelsea) League minutes played:632 Giroud’s certainly been second-fiddle to Morata, scoring just once in the league so far this term. However, with the arrival of Higuain, it’s conceivable Giroud will see more game time than Morata in the middle and long-term as he offers a different approach in style. Will this continue? Giroud will almost certainly continue to be a bit-part player at Chelsea; the situation he finds himself in west London is basically the one he was in at Arsenal, with forwards ahead of him in the pecking order. READ MORE: How Chelsea-bound Gonzalo Higuain compares to other big€™ centre-forwards 7. Emre Can (Juventus) League minutes played: 635 The German centre-midfielder has often been overlooked, at least in terms of starting berths in the league, for Juve mainstays Miralem Pjanic and Blaise Matuidi. Can has played more than Sami Khedira (420 mins). Will this continue? It’s not clear. Juventus will have Ramsey on the way soon and Matuidi will remain ahead of the German for the foreseeable future. 8. Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich) League minutes played: 428 The Brazilian has clocked few league minutes this term as Ronaldo’s arrival offset the ecosystem of the attackers at Juve. Will this continue? The Brazilian may well leave should it persist, with Manchester United rumoured to be an interested party. 9. Riyad Mahrez (Man City) League minutes played: 943 The Algerian has hit the ground running at Man City really, a missed penalty notwithstanding. It’s little surprise he has failed to make 1,000 league minutes with the form of Sterling and resurgence of Leroy Sane, not to mention the irrepressible energy of Bernardo Silva. Mahrez was left out the squad altogether for Sunday’s win over Huddersfield. Will this continue? A similar appearance rate in the league is to be expected with such competition in the wide areas. 10. Arturo Vidal (Barcelona) League minutes played: 717 The Chilean has not looked the same player that brought so much industry and verve to Juventus and Bayern Munich, and this is reflected in his lack of playing time in the league. Will this continue? Possibly, it’s not obvious whether Vidal can rediscover his earlier form, and at 31, it won’t get easier for him. Meanwhile, Barcelona appear much more fluent with Arthur in midfield, while Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Philippe Coutinho will likely be preferred going forward too. 11. Radja Nainggolan (Inter Milan) League minutes played: 761 A similar story of injuries and less than impressive performances when he has played the full 90 explains why Luciano Spalletti’s man has featured so rarely thus far. Will this continue? It’s unclear, Spalletti wanted the Belgian so much that highly rated Davide Santon and Nicolo Zaniolo were exchanged for him – the manager’s commitment to Nainggolan should ultimately win out as long as he can rediscover his form and avoid further off-field problems. 12. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) League minutes played: 888 The unfolding contract situation at Arsenal has been odd. The suggestion is Ivan Gazidiz offered Ramsey a £150,000-a-week deal, only to head to Milan. Meanwhile, the lack of funds due to deals given to players like Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan means Ramsey’s deal was later recalled and all talks broke down. This was all happening while Emery sought to enact his own vision on the current Arsenal team – the result was Ramsey was sidelined. Will this continue? No, at least not in the long-term. The Welshman has reportedly since signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus. 13. Tiemoue Bakayoko (Milan) League minutes played: 886 The 24-year-old Frenchman has made 886 minutes in Serie A this term. After a loss to Napoli in August, Gattuso admitted the midfielder has “defects”,saying: “Bakayoko has to learn how to get the ball,” the 40-year-old told his post-match press conference. “We must work correctly. It will not be easy. “One week is not enough to remove the defects of a player. I would have preferred to be managing older, more experienced club players.” However, more recently Bakayoko has fought his way into the side, leading the manager to admit toMilan TVhe was surprised by the Frenchman’s tactical improvement in December: “Bakayoko? Bakayoko’s biggest surprise is his improvement on a tactical level. We knew the physical abilities he has. I like for how he listens, for how he moves. “You are seeing a Bakayoko who closes more lines of passage, impacts more and pinches forward. It’s what he missed earlier, today he does not touch it more than twice, it’s an important sign.” Will this continue? By the manager’s account Bakayoko has proved his value to Milan. However it’s unclear what will happen next term, if the player will stay beyond his loan or return to Chelsea. The post 13 high-profile players with fewer than 1,000 league minutes this season appeared first on Squawka News. #MesutOzil #DouglasCosta #EmreCan

[tipsoctopus]

Exclusive: Carlton Cole on coaching, Zola's faith and his connection with West Ham fans

To many West Ham fans, Carlton Cole has lived the dream. Over the course of nine years and two spells in East London, the striker made 293 appearances for the Hammers, scoring 68 goals – one of which came at Wembley as he played an important role in helping West Ham return to the Premier League via the play-offs.

All of that success in claret and blue is sandwiched between four seasons at Chelsea, three loan spells, stints in Scotland, America and Indonesia, and seven caps for England. Cole now is an Academy Coach at West Ham as he gets stuck into the next stage of his football career.

But, just like every other professional footballer, the journey wasn’t easy and there were times when he had to really work hard for his opportunity to showcase his abilities.

It’s no secret that making it in football is the dream of millions of kids around the world and it’s even less of a secret that it’s one of the most difficult industries to be successful in.

To make it, you need dedication, sacrifice, hard work and perseverance, and even then it still might not enough to earn a pro-contract. However, there is a new app that is designed to help footballers of all ages to gain an edge both on and off the pitch.

On The Ball is the world’s best football training platform and offers users of all ages and abilities access to tailored training programs created by Premier League players, to help teach real skills and training techniques. With over 1,000 training videos demonstrated by some of the biggest names in the game, users literally have everything they need in one place in order to improve their fitness, skills and technique whenever they need it.

Carlton Cole is one of those big names and he sat down with us at Football FanCast to talk us through what inspired him to get involved in the platform and to discuss his career as a professional footballer…

What made you want to get involved in On The Ball?

“I went out to Greece with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Michael Kathapoulis, who told me all about it from top to bottom and sold it to me.

“I think it’s a great project, let alone a great app. It brings people together and forms a bit of a community. I’d never heard of an app like it before, where ex-pros from different walks of life can have their own fitness and coaching programs.

“It offers players and coaches of all abilities to experience what it takes to be a pro and the app has different levels, from amateur to semi-pro to elite. Users can choose the level they want to test themselves at then work hard to improve from there.

“And us players can also tell our stories, via interviews available in the app, which are told in a way that a receivable for people who aspire to make it in the game.”

Do you think an app like this would have benefitted you when growing up?

“If I had something like On The Ball growing up I would’ve had an insight into what it takes to be a model pro and see what the training is like, even learning how and what to eat.

“I didn’t have anything like that growing up until I got into Chelsea’s academy, although even then it was still a bit old school. Players smoking and drinking, not eating properly, it was still a bit in the dark ages and I thought that all that was ok. But then when Claudio Ranieri came in and then Jose Mourinho, they gave us a whole different perspective of how to be a pro.

“Before I arrived at Chelsea I’d never touched a gym and never considered what I needed to eat in order to make me a better professional.

“So if this app had been around when I was young I would be Cristiano Ronaldo by now!”

What did you do to get an edge over your teammates when growing up?

“I grew up on an estate in Brentford called Green Dragon estate and in the summertime, or after school, we would always go down to this place called the Pit and that’s where we played our five-a-sides, a bit like futsal. That’s where I started getting fit, getting a little burst of pace, building strength in small-sided games.

“But also knew that I needed stamina, so I used run to school. My school was three of four miles away from where I lived and I would walk to one lampost and then sprint to the next lampost. I would continue that all the way to school and then did it on the way back home after.

“I ended up getting a bit of a following and my friends got involved, too. That’s how I gained my fitness and by the time I arrived at Chelsea I was fitter than everyone else.

“And I used to be a central midfielder back then, so I had to be fit and have the legs on me!”

Now you’re an Academy coach at West Ham, do you find some of the coaching techniques you benefitted from as a youngster are now rubbing off on your coaching style?

“I’ve had to re-educate myself a little bit. The way I was coached is different to what I’m coaching now. The times and mood change in football, so you have to adapt.

“Obviously the basic stuff like shooting across the goal incase the ‘keeper parries it out for a teammate to tap in, that still gets coached.

“But now, these kids know about all of that from a very young age because they’re being taught it already, probably by YouTube!

“I’m still learning – my partner Gerard Prenderville is such a top coach and I’m learning lot from him. Mark Phillips and Jack Collison are there as well. When I started I didn’t really know what I was doing, I didn’t know how to get my message across to the kids, but they’ve all taken me under their wings and really helped me.

“Seeing what you’ve learned in the past and then trying to implement that into your coaching style is two very different monsters, you can’t really comprehend how different it is. You’ve got to learn about people skills, learn how to help a youth who is struggling or even as a team, talking to a whole bunch of boys who are pinning all of their hopes on your every word.

“When you’ve got responsibility for someone else’s kids, it’s totally a different ballgame. And these kids are waiting to make it, they want it, and they’re not stupid. If you’re not talking sense, they won’t take you seriously, no matter how respected you are in the game. If you can’t help them make it, they don’t want to know about you.”

How do you teach the mental side of the game to youngsters?

“As a footballer you’ve always got to know how to take setbacks. For some footballers, their careers are plain sailing. They get into the first team and then never leave, they’re never dropped. But there’s a path to get to that stage where you’re going to get knock backs and you’re going to get disheartened.

“I’m there to help give advice with these scenarios. I’ve been through it all – I got to the top and then came back down. So I know both sides of it. So I try and help the kids prepare mentally for that, but also to be there to help if they’re having any problems at home.

“I’m a mentor and a coach. The best managers and coaches today are ones who can relate to all sorts of scenarios and environments and on thing I’ve had to learn most over the last year is how to approach these kids and help them in the best possible way I can.”

When you arrived at West Ham you were told some strikers would be sold but it never happened – how did you deal with and what did you do to get an edge over the others?

“I was thinking, hold on, I’ve been tricked here, why are these players still here!? I thought I was going to be one of three or four but now I’m one of six!

“I had been at Chelsea and already knew what it takes to be a top striker because I was around the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Hernan Crespo and Didier Drogba.

“Having had all these big strikers around me for all those years, I knew in my head that I’d won that battle and I couldn’t let it affect me, I just had to be the best I could be.

“I knew I was good enough to be in the Premier League but I knew I had to be better than the others. Dean Ashton, Marlon Harewood, Carlos Tevez and Bobby Zamora were all top players but I knew I had been around bigger players in my career before. That gave me the confidence to be better than them – maybe not Tevez because he was another level!

“So in training, I just trained harder and stronger. I knew I had to come out on top against these players in training and in the finishing sessions. In those situations, it forces the greatness to come out of you. That was my mindset.”

Alan Curbishley replaced Alan Pardew midway through your first season at West Ham – was that a worrying time for those who thought their position in the team was safe?

“When you’re the main man you’re always worried! You’re always looking over your shoulder. Once you get comfortable in football you’re going to go downwards.

“When the manager changed, I was kind of relieved because I wasn’t really getting in the team as much as I wanted to under Pardew and obviously he had his favourites.

“When Curbishley came in he didn’t take to me as I thought he would, but only because I was supposed to go back to Charlton for a second loan season from Chelsea and I chose not to do the second year. He held that against me, I know he did.

“He tried to get rid of me and Paul Konchesky straight away when he came in, because Konch had a bust-up with him before he left Charlton.

“Shortly after he came in there were a load of injuries, after we stayed up at Old Trafford. He wanted to get rid of me that summer but I did well in pre-season and managed to get a chance. Teddy Sheringham left, Dean Ashton got injured on international duty, so suddenly there were spaces open for me and I knew then I had to graft.

“All I wanted to do was leave an impact so they would always miss me if I wasn’t playing. I needed a run of games, all young players need a run of games to get momentum. I needed to make sure I was invaluable to the team and to my teammates and that’s how I got in the team, then the goals came after.

“Curbishley then saw that he’d got me playing the way he wanted and he couldn’t drop me after that.”

Sam Allardyce then came after West Ham were relegated – do you think you played your best football under him having scored 15 goals that season?

“No, I think I played my best football under Zola. Sam played me in a different way than Zola, he used me more of the big man up top, an aerial threat.

“But Zola used me more as a footballer because as a team we were playing good football on the floor. My goal away at Wigan Athletic is proof of that, I think.

“Under Allardyce in the Championship, I could’ve gone to Stoke and stayed in the Premier League but I didn’t think it was the right thing for me to do. I knew I had to stay at West Ham to try and get them up but Allardyce did want to get rid of me!

“But I said I wasn’t going anywhere, even though he didn’t really trust me. But then we had a midweek game at Watford and I started because he had to rotate the team, and I scored. That was the start of me being first choice again because I started scoring goals. He couldn’t drop me either but I had to battle to stay there.

“The only time I didn’t have to battle to stay in the team was under Zola because he had faith in me, whereas under Allardyce I had to change my game in order to stay in the team.”

What was it that really connected you with West Ham the most?

“That Championship season. The fans knew I had taken a 50% pay cut just to play that season and I knew that if I’d stayed and gave my all they’d respect me for that.

“I always gave my all, I always tried my very best. I wasn’t the captain but I tried to be a captain in my own way, I tried to leave everything on the field and even played through injury. That’s when I think the fans realised I was with them through thick and thin.

“I realised as well, as long as you give your all the pitch for the club, because that’s what any fan would do, then they’ll take you in as one of theirs. It’s all they ask.

“No matter what any footballer says, they always want a home. I’d left West London with Chelsea, that was my main home, but when I came to West Ham I had it good. I put in the years there as well, so I didn’t want the fans to think I was only there for the money – I’ve got too much pride to do that.

“The West Ham fans soon realised I was one of them, I had a good rapport with them. I always tried to speak to them, sign autographs, I did a lot in the community with the locals. I’m one of the fans now and I don’t think that’s ever going to change because I’m like part of the furniture!”

What were the differences between training at club level and the training with the England team?

“I thought international football was easier. I played for the U21s and U19s so I knew what to expect when it came to the international set-up, whereas some players go straight into the first team and it can be a bit of a culture shock.

“But when you had the likes of David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, you just knew the quality in training was going to be high. It was fascinating to see how good they were.

“When you’re a striker, the onus is on you and I just knew I could get in that team. But I think I was in the squad for four years, I trained really hard, but getting game time was a completely different animal and it was harder to come by. I was in most of the squads but wasn’t playing that much, which I found difficult.

“That was a different challenge for me mentally because there were times when I got called up and I didn’t want to go anymore because I knew I wasn’t going to play and I was just there to train.

“But it was a privilege to be there and I’ve made some great friends through doing that. I’m doing stuff with the FA now, too, and they want me to help with some of the coaching with the younger generation, so in the end all that helped me be the man I am today.”

Does it make you a better player when training with the best players at international level?

“I don’t think it makes you a better player. It makes you aware of the standard of where you need to stay at, because that’s the elite level, being the best in England.

“What makes you a better player is training day in, day out with your football club. That’s what makes you a better player. Because that’s when you have to drive yourself every day, no matter what. Every day when you go away with England, it’s more of a holiday camp away from the grueling training and pressure of everyday life at club level.

“With England, you’ve got a different focus. Now you’re an elite player, now you’re around good players and you’ve got more confidence because you wouldn’t get picked if you weren’t good enough.

“Obviously, people would look at differently from the outside, but it’s not like that. It’s more relaxed when you go away with England, but the only hard thing there is that you have the expectations of the entire country on your head.

“It’s an overwhelming pressure but the everyday stuff at club level is much more grueling.”

You’re really enjoying your coaching at the moment – any plans to move into management?

“When I started coaching at West Ham, when I wasn’t confident, I wasn’t sure it was for me. But now I’m getting better at it. I wouldn’t say I’m a natural but I’ve got a knack for it.

“When you talk to other pros and see what their views are, you realise you’re in the same boat because they’re not sure either.

“Obviously some go straight into it, like Frank Lampard, but you’ve got to have that smell for it and know that you want to do it all the way, otherwise there’s no point doing it.

“John Terry’s definitely going to be a manager, he’s manager material, and I’m looking at him and realising I’ve got a long way to go.

“I don’t know whether eventually I’d want the number one job but I wouldn’t mind being an assistant or one of the first-team coaches, doing it without all the pressures of being a head coach.

“At the moment I’m really enjoying helping develop the next generation of footballers, but I wouldn’t rule it out in the future.”

Lastly, what do you think needs to happen with football during the current pandemic?

“I’m taking my West Ham and Chelsea tinted specs off and looking at it from a humanitarian point of view. Right now, football is not important.

“It’s not right to go back to it when it’s not safe. We don’t know what’s going on, we don’t know if there’s going to be a second wave. The players are human beings, they’ve got families. We haven’t got the right testing kits right now to be sure these players are going to be safe, so how can we go into this blindly and potentially spark something really deadly?

“We have to be sensible at the moment and football is secondary. Life is the main thing right now. We need to get to a stage when it’s safe to do things.

“Footballers wearing masks doesn’t make sense because they’re still going to sweat all over each other. So how can you expect a player to go out there and not be vulnerable to this disease?

“Unless you’re testing every day, and I doubt they’re going to spend that kind of money in football when the NHS needs it more. The NHS is the most important thing at the moment, not football. Everyone wants everything to get back to normal but we won’t get back to normal if we rush it.

“The best thing to do is null and void it but in a situation like this, how can you have a normal scenario? Something has to give, it’s not going to be perfect, someone is going to be upset.

“I’m not saying null and void it because I don’t want Liverpool to win the league or Leeds to get promoted, I just don’t care about any of that anymore. Not while more important things are going on.

“Who would want t0 win the league like this anyway? Surely you would want to win it properly, with 100% of matches played? I wouldn’t want to win the league like this, definitely not!”

To be a better player or coach, improve your fitness and develop your ball skills with On The Ball, download the App on Apple and Google Play now!

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[eastbridge-sb]

EFL Championship Match Previews – 2nd December Monday

Wigan v Reading

This weekend encounter between Wigan and Reading is one that anyone with a connection to those respective clubs could look back on at the end of the season as a significant moment. That is because both sides are certainly battling relegation as things stand and know the importance of a win in this one.

Wigan are on a run of six without victory, which has included four losses, so confidence shouldn’t be so great within the ranks. However, the away draw at Millwall in midweek was seen as a step in the right direction from manager Paul Cook, considering how much they’ve struggled to pick up points away from home.

One positive for the Latics here is that they are back on home soil, which is definitely where they reserve their stronger results for. Having said that, they are on a run of consecutive losses at the DW Stadium, which is unlike them as they did win three in a row prior to that without conceding.

Reading head into this with two defeats in succession themselves, both 1-0 and both over in-form opponents in Brentford and Leeds. They were on a fine four-match unbeaten streak prior to that, including three wins, but losing tight games to good teams is no disgrace, even if confidence would have taken a hit.

A concern for Reading is that they themselves have struggled away, and they too seem to reserve their stronger football for home contests. Reading have just the one away win all season, which came around two months ago at Huddersfield. In their defence, they’ve endured some tough trips in relation to the league table, although losing at strugglers Middlesbrough doesn’t look good on reflection.

Given neither side are in the best of shape at present in relation to recent results, both will be wager to resume winning ways as soon as possible. I envisage quite a tactical contest in this one as they look to right the wrongs. Although Wigan has seen their last five feature over 2.5 goals and the same is said of three of Reading’s previous five, I think this’ll be much tighter.

I’m actually going to plump for Under 2.5 Goals on this occasion. The reality is that Wigan’s home games are averaging only just over two goals, with the Latics only scoring more than one on two occasions at the DW. Also, six of Reading’s eight away assignments finished below 2.5 goals, averaging exactly 2.00, so neither team are used to goals at home or away respectively.

Asian Total Goals Betting Recommendation: Under 2.50 goals at 1.780

Stoke v Blackburn

Stoke suffered their first setback of the Michael O’Neill era when falling narrowly away at Cardiff in the week. They had enjoyed back-to-back victories to open his era, and whilst two wins in three is pretty good, they remain in the relegation places. They welcome Blackburn this weekend looking for a second succession home league triumph, which would go a long way to righting the wrongs of their trip to Wales on Tuesday.

Home form is undoubtedly going to be key for Stoke for the remainder of the season. For any side in trouble, as they are, it is vital that they make their own stadium something of a fortress moving forward. They’ve slowly started to do that and anything less than three points over Blackburn would be deemed a poor outcome.

Blackburn are a funny old side, but also a typical Championship outfit in many ways. They suit this league perfectly considering how unbelievably unpredictable they are. Without a doubt they have the capabilities of beating any team in this league, yet they can easily throw a wobbly, too.

What is pretty clear however is that Blackburn are strong at home, and they do struggle on the road. They’ve won three of their last four, but all of those wins came at Ewood Park. Whilst they have away wins at Hull and Reading to their name, every other away trip they’ve had has seen them lose, including their last four in succession.

One thing Stoke do at home is really have a go. They’re actually quite high up the table in relation to the amount of average shots they have on goal in home games, which is at 14.1. Considering Leeds top that tally with 15.9 it provides some kind of reflection. Away from home, only Derby and Huddersfield average less shots in comparison to Blackburn’s 9.1.

Those numbers are difficult to ignore, along with the fact Blackburn just cannot buy an away win at present. I do think we can fairly confidently plump for Stoke -0.50 on the Asian Handicap on this occasion. Personally I think this represents a good deal of value knowing that Stoke have improved under O’Neill, and have certainly become harder to beat. Blackburn have conceded ten in their last four away and I cannot trust them away from Ewood Park. Stoke need to win games like this.

Asian Handicap Betting Recommendation: Stoke -0.50 at 2.100

Preston v West Brom

Our final play of the weekend comes on Monday night and we have an intriguing battle in prospect at Deepdale as Preston take on West Brom. It was a rare bad night at the office for Preston on Wednesday when falling down 4-0 away at Hull, making it back-to-back defeats. They do still retain a play-off position prior to their rivals kicking a ball this weekend.

In their defence, Preston were missing a couple of key players in the Hull match and had to field over holding midfielder Ryan Ledson in an unfamiliar right back role, which is not ideal when your direct opponent is tricky winger Kamil Grosicki. Nevertheless, West Brom is arguably the perfect game to try and bounce back, in the sense that only your best will be enough.

West Brom are starting to look every inch like a side that will be competing in the Premier League next season. They’ll climbed back to the top of the standings following a run of four consecutive wins. They’ve shown different sides to themselves in that run, including dominant displays over Bristol City and Stoke, whilst edging close matches versus Sheffield Wednesday and Hull. Slaven Bilic is getting a fine tune out of this group of players and momentum is definitely on their side.

Despite holding an unbeaten home record, it is probably their home form which West Brom are most concerned about as they’ve drew four times here. That is being ultra-picky however, although they’ve looked a real side on the road this season. They’ve lost just once away, and it is no disgrace losing at Elland Road to Leeds. They’ve earned six wins, including at Nottingham Forest and Hull.

Preston will be hurting after that bad loss in the week, but they aren’t the sort of side you expect to go back into their shell, especially now they’re back on home soil. I feel they’ll look to have a go in this one and not make this a comfortable night for West Brom. As such, I take the view that this’ll be quite an open match with chances at either end.

The numbers reflect that this is likely to happen as well. Only two of Preston’s nine home Championship matches this season failed to finish over 2.5 goals, which again proved that they really do have a go. On the flip side, just two of West Brom’s away matches has featured a minimum of three goals, so something has to give on Monday.

Normally in cases such as this, I will lean towards goal. There is too much attacking talent on show in my mind to do that, and this top of the table encounter shouldn’t fail to deliver in relation to goals. Both will create chances, and hopefully they’ll take a few of them to allow our Over 2.5 Goals selection to sail in.

Asian Total Goals Betting Recommendation: Over 2.50 at 1.860

Preview by: @JamesOR1.

Things are getting more and more exciting as the Championship continues. Place your Wigan v Reading, Stoke v Blackburn, and Preston v West Brom bets with VOdds for the best oddds or enjoy a hassle-free betting with our Skype betting.

The post EFL Championship Match Previews – 2nd December Monday appeared first on Eastbridge.

source https://eastbridge-sb.com/efl-championship-match-previews-021219/

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Where do Tottenham go now? It’s the end of Project Poch (part 1) and fresh blood is needed

Simmering beneath the dejection and defense in the aftermath or defeat in the Champions League final was a feeling that this Tottenham side may have reached the very end of a natural cycle.

It has been an epic journey together. They will never forget those acts of escapology in the group phase, that equalizer in Barcelona the nerve-shredding tension of VAR-assisted victory at Manchester City or the emotional high in Amsterdam .

They came up short in Madrid but, as Harry Kane made for the bus with ear plugs and eyes fixed on the floor, and Moussa Sissoko pulled up his hood and avoided eye contact , key questions were already forming …

Tottenham's Champions League final defeat seemed like the very end of a natural cycle

Pochettino after a new challenge?

Certainly, this is the end of Project Poch 1. Even the man himself says it's time for a 'new chapter', time to 'think like a big club', with a glittering new stage to go with their status as Champions League finalists.

More cryptic comments about Mauricio Pochettino's own future as Tottenham manager, however, only served to fuel doubts about whether there will be Project Poch 2. Is he hankering after a different challenge, as he hinted before the Champions League semi-final? Daniel Levy?

Post-match in Madrid, Pochettino said it was a time to be 'proud' and 'positive' but 'not a moment to talk' about his own situation. All questions to the players about their manager were shut down by club press officers.

There are doubts about whether or not Mauricio Pochettino plans on staying much longer

If there is not an issue – and sources close to Spurs do not expect him to quit with four years left on his contract – then one has been artificially created for whatever reason.

Last season ended with similar noises from the manager about the need to 'be brave' and 'take risks' in the quest for 'the biggest trophies'.

In fact, nothing changed: they signed no one, kept everyone and produced a successful season. The overriding feeling inside the camp is that they cannot afford to repeat this policy. There is money to spend and the squad needs energizing, but it is a balancing act.

On the move

Christian Eriksen was so long the creative heartbeat of this team but his form has faded, only a year remains on his contract and his mind is set on leaving. He has no intention of discussing a new deal, wants to play in Spain and Real Madrid will move for him. Levy has made it known negotiations will start at north of £ 100million.

Toby Alderweireld, also a year from the end of his contract, has a clause which entitles him to leave for just £ 25m. Manchester United have long-standing interest and such a move would be lucrative. But to swap White Hart Lane for Old Trafford is down to trade for the Europa League. There is a suspicion Alderweireld plans to leave on a free at the end of his contract.

Of the other, Fernando Llorente and Michel Form are out of contract, and Jan Vertonghen has signed for one more year, but there is a feel of a natural break-up and a need to reinvest.

Victor Wanyama, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Vincent Janssen (again), and will consider offers for first-choice full backs Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier.

Christian Eriksen looks on during what was most likely his final game for Tottenham

New faces

After 18 months without signings, the Tottenham squad needs the tonic of new faces and the top priority is two new midfielders, with the club depleted by Mousa Dembele's exit in January, Wanyama's unreliability and Eric Dier's problems with

Tanguy Ndombele is the club's top target and they are committed to working hard for this transfer, but the France international will not come cheap. Lyon for more than £ 80m, double Tottenham's record transfer.

Other clubs are also interested and that rarely plays out well for Spurs, who are thought to have a transfer kitty or around £ 50m plus whatever they can raise from sales.

They are already moving on Argentina midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who has an £ 88m buyout clause, and Real Betis are preparing to cash in on the player they signed for £ 20m from PSG in January . Summer bids for full backs Ryan Sessegnon, or Fulham, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, or Crystal Palace, are also planned. A lack of home-grown players left Spurs short in their UEFA squad this season.

Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele is the club's top target in the summer transfer window

They will need invention if they lose Eriksen, and are keen on Nicolo Zaniolo, or Roma, and Donny van de Beek, or Ajax. The model remains to target young prospects with years ahead and potential resale value.

Wilfried Zaha, looking for a move out of Palace, is likely to cost too much, and hopes of signing Jack Grealish this summer have vanished with Aston Villa's promotion. There is no interest in Andre Gomes, who was on loan at Everton from Barcelona last season, despite persistent links.

Existing talent

Tottenham have plenty of talent in the building and hope players return to form after a summer's rest. No team were more diminished by World Cup exertions and it took its toll on the thinnest squad of the Premier League's big six clubs.

England stars Kane, Trippier, Dele Alli and Dier have all suffered injuries since playing in Russia. Hugo Lloris has been uncharacteristically erratic. They and others need to rest bodies and minds, but they will be back. "We have a great team," Vertonghen said after the final. "Hopefully everyone can stay together and we can achieve great things.

" We can take confidence from this season. We did very well, it was very exciting, it was great to experience this but we did not come here as tourists. We wanted to win and we failed. Today we live with disappointment and we'll see what happens in the summer. "

The likes of midfielder Dele Alli will benefit hugely from having a full summer to rest

Building from defeat

Liverpool did it. Liverpool came back from disappointment in Kiev 12 months ago to produce a fabulous season in the biggest competitions and reclaim the European title. It was done with heavy recruitment, as Pochettino is never slow to point out.

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker (£ 65m) was commanding in the final. Virgil van Dijk (£ 75m) is arguably the world's best center half since rising to the Anfield challenge. Fabinho (£ 43m) and Naby Keita (£ 53m) bolster Liverpool's midfield.

If the recruitment policy is sound, such huge fees can still deliver good value and Pochettino feels Spurs should compete in this market if they are to move on. Deep down, though, the feeling is they are not about to cut loose.

Harry Kane walks past the Champions League trophy following Saturday's defeat

" It's difficult to compare both projects, said captain Lloris when asked about following Liverpool's example. "There is one club who sets out to win every competition in which they play, and that's not the case with Tottenham.

" We work and try to stick with the philosophy of the board, manager and the club . We look to improve every season and we have shown improvements year after year, so we cannot throw everything in the bin after a Champions League final defeat.

'It's a big step for the club and the only thing we can look to do is come back stronger next season. "

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