"But last season, you started in so many games but grew slowly."
"The team doesn’t expect you to suddenly have the ability to stop Enriquez and Mancini. The team just hopes you stay focused during the match and moderately improve your passing and ball control."
"Is this really that hard?"
"If you spent your nightclub time on the training field, I think you could even exceed the growth goals set by the team."
"This year, just this past summer, the team wanted to bring in Pirola from the Spanish!"
When hearing this name, Naji’s eyes clearly fluctuated.
Because Pirola... is a center-back of the same type and even the same age, but indeed much better than him!
This is a very direct competitive relationship.
If Pirola joins San Remo, it’s a given that Naji’s place in the lineup would be behind him.
This is sensitive information that even the media hasn’t caught.
"But I still choose to believe in you, and I hope the team can wait until next summer to make a decision," Lu Yang said. "On the one hand, I’m confident that with my and Morici’s and other teammates’ abilities, we can make up for our defensive shortcomings."
"On the other hand, I always hope to see the Naji I want to see. I know all the old fans of San Remo must think the same way."
"Lam is not here to compete with you. His direct competitors are Latu Yidi and Versachi."
"The growth environment you have is the absolute best in this team! I don’t want you to squander the team’s goodwill and your own talent anymore! You should be the pillar of our defense, not a weak link!"
Lu Yang said a lot in one breath.
No one had ever said such things to Naji before.
Everyone Naji encountered told him that he would definitely become an excellent center-back in the future.
But only Lu Yang told Naji, you should be an excellent center-back right now, otherwise, you have no future.
And Lu Yang was indeed right.
Even Lu Yang himself had experienced players like Becher’s coming to compete for his spot on the team.
Although Morici never had direct competitors, as the team’s core player, whenever the team’s performance was poor, he took the most blame, and his pressure on public platforms was ten thousand times greater than Naji’s.
If Morici made just a tenth of the mistakes Naji made, he would be criticized intensely online early on and then discarded by the team for a new core, with no other possibility.
Naji clutched his head, looking at the waves beside him, completely shutting down.
"I... I..." Naji finally shed tears, crying like a child, "I’m afraid I can’t do it!"
!!!
"I really can’t do it!"
"I’m afraid of failing!"
"I know I’ll never be able to change the outcome of a game in an instant like you!"
"And I’ll never be able to develop passing and control abilities as excellent as Morici’s."
"I’m afraid of being compared to you all."
"I’m afraid of seeing the disappointment in the eyes of those uncles and aunties on the streets of San Remo."
"I know they won’t scold me, but I’m even more afraid of such a situation happening."
"I thought... if I don’t try hard, it doesn’t count as losing. Because I can tell myself that it’s just because I didn’t try hard. If I tried, I could do it too!"
Wahhh!
The 1.91-meter-tall tower sobbed uncontrollably.
Looking back, Naji once showed a lot of determination and passion on the field; he even used his head, face, and body to block sure goals.
But after feeling the gap in progress, Naji got scared and withdrew, shifting his focus a bit off the field.
This is a situation many young people encounter during their struggles, especially those with relatively good conditions, who can use the team’s success to hypnotize themselves into justifiably stopping.
But deep down, they all know that they are just evading.
Although internal competition is wrong, whether not letting capitalists exploit you and working hard are never mutually exclusive. The two can even be unrelated.
"What should I do? Lu, what should I do?" Naji looked tearfully at Lu Yang.
This time, he truly knew he was wrong.
He really should start working hard.
"I’ll help you communicate with Sotu, but you have to be ready to face his thunderous anger, and... you must make significant changes in your training, absolutely!" Lu Yang said.
...
On the way back, Lu Yang casually mentioned Morici’s situation.
Naji was immediately apprehensive.
This matter was really awkward for Naji.
For people like Naji and Morici, things like Three hundred euros or One thousand euros are just like giving a small red envelope of twenty or fifty euros between friends.
In school days, it would be like helping you deliver a love letter and you buy me a big shark pen in return.
So Naji wasn’t in it for the money; he’s not that kind of person.
The nature of this matter is basically like "you trying to woo a girl and asking your buddy to form a strategic alliance with the girl’s best friend."
But during your explanation, to relieve your buddy’s pressure, you told him the girl is easy to win over, and there’s no need for psychological burden, and so on.
Who would have thought your buddy actually formed a stable strategic alliance with the other party and got distressed by the things you said before.
Who would have thought Morici was so romantic and traditional.
Naji thought Morici was the more open and carefree type, which is why he approached Morici.