CHAPTER 123: SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

The defeat at Anfield hung over the building like a grey cloud.

losing 3 to 1 was not a disaster on paper.

Most teams lost at Anfield. But for the Misfits it was a reality check.

Michael Sterling sat in his office. He had a stack of newspapers on his desk.

Arthur Milton sat on the sofa. He looked grumpy. He was eating a donut with extreme aggression.

"Read this one Boss," Arthur grunted pointing at a tabloid paper. "It says we are the worst promoted team since Derby County. It says we are tourists who won a competition to play football."

Michael picked up the paper.

BARNSLEY BATTERED: WHY THE TYKES WILL GO STRAIGHT BACK DOWN.

"They say our defense is naive," Michael read out loud. "They say playing Isaiah King and Arda Guler in the same team is suicide because nobody defends."

"They do not understand," Arthur said chewing his donut. "They look at stats. We look at souls."

"Exactly," Michael said standing up. "But the players read this stuff Arthur. They are young. They have Instagram. They have Twitter. They see the memes."

Michael walked to the window.

Down below the players were arriving for training. They walked slowly. Their heads were down. Even Diego Nunez looked less like a Bull and more like a sad cow.

"We need to fix the vibe," Michael said. "We need to remind them who they are."

The locker room was silent.

Kai Sora was sitting in his corner. He was not wearing his sunglasses. He was just staring at his boots.

"I lost the ball six times," Kai whispered to Kenji Sato. "Six times Kenji. In the Championship I lose the ball zero times."

"Van Dijk is very big," Kenji said politely. "And Mac Allister is very fast. We must run faster Kai san."

"I do not want to run faster," Kai sighed. "Running is hard."

Arda Guler was sitting next to them. The Real Madrid loanee looked frustrated.

"I tried the nutmeg," Arda said shaking his head. "In Spain the defender opens his legs. Here Van Dijk just stood there. He looked at me like I was a fly."

The door opened. Michael walked in.

He did not shout. He did not look angry. He carried a large cardboard box.

He placed the box in the center of the room.

"Open it," Michael said.

Isaiah King jumped down from his locker. He was curious. He opened the box.

Inside there were twenty shirts.

They were not Barnsley shirts.

There was a Manchester United shirt. A Chelsea shirt. An Arsenal shirt.

"What is this Boss?" Isaiah asked holding up a Manchester United jersey.

"Those are the teams we play next," Michael said. "Everyone is scared right? Everyone is sad because Liverpool beat us."

Michael walked over and took the United shirt. He threw it on the floor.

"Liverpool are the best team in the world at home," Michael said. "Losing there is normal. But being scared? That is not normal for us."

He looked at Diego Nunez.

"Diego. Did Darwin Nunez scare you?"

Diego stood up. "No Boss. He is fast but he is not scary. I slipped. The grass was wet."

"Exactly," Michael said. "You slipped. You made a mistake. We all made mistakes. But mistakes are how we learn."

He pointed at the box.

"We are not tourists. We are students. Liverpool was the first lesson. Now we go to class."

He clapped his hands.

"Get changed. We are going to watch the video of the game. And we are going to laugh at our mistakes. Because if we cannot laugh we cannot learn."

The video session was brutal but necessary.

Michael played the clips on the big screen.

Clip 1: Mateo getting spun by Salah.

"Look at his hips!" Jamie Weston shouted pointing at the screen. "Mateo looks like he is dancing salsa!"

The room erupted in laughter. Even Mateo laughed.

"Okay okay," Mateo grinned hiding his face. "He is very flexible. Next time I will hold his shirt."

Clip 2: Kai Sora trying to turn and losing the ball to Mac Allister.

"Oh no," Kai groaned covering his eyes. "I look like a statue. A very slow handsome statue."

"You need to check your mirrors Kai!" Isaiah yelled throwing a grape at him. "Beep beep! Bus coming!"

"I will buy a rearview mirror," Kai promised.

Clip 3: Arda Guler trying to nutmeg Van Dijk.

"The audacity," Higgins grunted. "You tried to nutmeg a skyscraper."

"It almost worked!" Arda protested smiling. "If his legs were one inch wider I am a legend."

"If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bike," Higgins laughed.

The tension in the room vanished. The fear was gone. They were just a team again. A family watching home movies of their failures and realizing it was not the end of the world.

"Okay," Michael said turning off the screen. "We laughed. Now we work."

The training pitch.

Michael had set up a new drill.

[SYSTEM DRILL: THE PRESSURE COOKER]

He marked out a small square. He put eight players inside it. Two defenders. Six attackers.

"The goal is simple," Michael explained. "Keep the ball. But the defenders are allowed to foul."

"Foul?" Isaiah asked looking worried.

"Yes," Michael said. "Push. Pull. Shoulder barge. Premier League defenders are strong. We need to get used to the contact."

He blew the whistle.

Higgins and Diego Nunez were the defenders.

It was carnage.

Isaiah King got the ball. Higgins just picked him up and moved him out of the way.

"FOUL!" Isaiah screamed.

"Play on!" Michael shouted.

Arda Guler got the ball. Diego Nunez ran at him like a train. Arda panicked and passed it out of play.

"Too slow!" Diego roared beating his chest. "I eat magicians!"

But slowly they adapted.

Kai Sora got the ball. Higgins charged at him.

Kai did not try to fight him. He used Higgins momentum against him. He spun quickly ducking under the big arm of the Butcher.

"Olé!" Kai shouted passing the ball to Kenji.

Isaiah learned too. When Diego came to smash him Isaiah did not stand still. He dropped his shoulder and used his low center of gravity to bounce off the giant.

"Good Isaiah!" Michael clapped. "Use your size! You are a mosquito! Be annoying!"

By the end of the session the players were bruised and muddy. But they were smiling.

"I feel stronger," Arda Guler said wiping mud off his face. "In Spain we play nice. Here we play war. I like war."

"You are learning quickly," Arthur said from the sideline. "Real Madrid will not recognize you when you go back."

After training Michael called Kai Sora into his office.

The Japanese midfielder walked in. He looked tired. He sat on the beanbag in the corner.

"You wanted to see me Boss?"

"Yes Kai," Michael said. "I looked at the data from the Liverpool game."

Michael opened his laptop. The blue System screen glowed.

[PLAYER ANALYSIS: KAI SORA]

[PASS COMPLETION: 75%]

[TIME ON BALL: 1.2 SECONDS]

[ISSUE: ADAPTATION TO SPEED]

"In the Championship you had three seconds to make a decision," Michael said. "In the Premier League you have one second."

Kai nodded. "They are very rude Boss. They do not let me think."

"You do not need to think," Michael said. "You are the Architect. You see the picture before anyone else."

Michael unlocked a new feature on the System.

[TRAINING MODULE: THE METRONOME]

[COST: 200 POINTS]

[EFFECT: INCREASES MENTAL REACTION SPEED]

"I have a special exercise for you," Michael said. "It involves the VR headset."

Kai groaned. "More video games?"

"This is not a game," Michael said. "It is a simulation. It will show you Premier League pressing patterns at double speed. If you can pass in the simulation the real game will feel slow."

Kai thought about it. "So if I do this the game becomes slow? And I can walk again?"

"Yes," Michael lied. "You can walk."

"Okay," Kai smiled. "I will do it."

The week flew by.

The media continued to write articles about how Barnsley were going to be relegated. They called them naive. They called them weak.

But inside the Fortress the walls were getting stronger.

On Thursday Michael received a notification.

[PLAYER DEVELOPMENT COMPLETE]

[NAME: ARDA GULER]

[CHEMISTRY: 80%]

[TRAIT UNLOCKED: THE CONNECTOR]

Arda was settling in. He was eating dinner with Isaiah and Finn. He was learning English slang from Jamie Weston which was a terrible idea but it helped the bonding.

On Friday Diego Nunez walked into Michael office.

"Boss," Diego said. "I have a request."

"What is it Diego? Do you need more steaks?"

"No," Diego said seriously. "We play Manchester United on Sunday. At home."

"Yes."

"They have a butcher too," Diego said. "Lisandro Martinez. They call him The Butcher."

Michael smiled. "Yes they do."

"There can be only one Butcher," Diego said cracking his knuckles. "Higgins is our Butcher. I want to partner with him. We must show Martinez that in Barnsley the meat is tougher."

"You will play Diego," Michael promised. "You and Higgins. The Twin Towers."

"Good," Diego grinned. "I will tell my mother to bring her loud voice."

Saturday. The day before the game.

The press conference.

The room was packed. Journalists from Sky Sports BBC and ESPN were there.

"Michael," a journalist asked. "You lost at Anfield. Now you face Manchester United. Are you worried that zero points after two games will destroy the team morale?"

Michael leaned into the microphone. He looked calm.

"Manchester United are a great club," Michael said. "They have history. They have trophies. They have expensive players."

He paused.

"But they are coming to the Fortress. And at the Fortress history does not matter. Money does not matter."

He looked at the journalist.

"We learned our lesson at Liverpool. We were polite. We were respectful."

Michael smiled a cold sharp smile.

"Tomorrow we will not be polite. We will be Barnsley."

That night Michael stood on the pitch at Oakwell.

The grass was cut perfectly. The stands were empty but he could feel the energy.

Arthur walked out to join him.

"The town is buzzing Boss," Arthur said. "They are nervous but they are excited."

"We need a win Arthur," Michael said. "We need to show them we belong."

"We will," Arthur said. "Kai spent three hours in the VR machine today. He came out looking dizzy but happy. He said he saw the matrix."

Michael laughed. "And Isaiah?"

"Isaiah painted his boots gold," Arthur sighed. "He says he is going to score a goal worthy of gold boots."

"I hope he does," Michael said.

He looked up at the sky. The stars were shining over Yorkshire.

The defeat at Liverpool was just a bruise. A painful one but necessary.

Now Ten Hag was coming. Rashford was coming. Bruno Fernandes was coming.

Michael checked his System one last time.

[NEXT MATCH: BARNSLEY vs MANCHESTER UNITED]

[WIN PROBABILITY: 15%]

[KEY FACTOR: THE FORTRESS ATMOSPHERE]

Fifteen percent.

It was better than five percent.

Michael turned off his phone.

"Let us go home Arthur," Michael said. "We have a giant to kill in the morning."