Chapter 454: The Coach’s Shocking Decision!
"In the second half, Makino-kun is out," Kageyama-sensei announced so casually as if he was talking about the weather outside. However...
BAM!
The effect was far beyond his expectations.
Everyone was dumbfounded, even his coaching team. The decision was like a bolt from the blue, coming out of nowhere to strike down the mere mortal on the living plane. This time, the main players couldn’t help but frown, with Hinata Kida, the current team captain, deciding to step up here.
"Excuse me, Sensei, I mean no disrespect, but can you at least tell us the reason here?"
Normally, questioning the head coach would be a suicidal decision, no matter whether it was the captain or not, and Hinata Kida himself was not the real captain of this team. However, at this time, he had the urge to speak up, at least for the team that fought alongside each other so well in the first half.
The rest of the players also agreed with the questioning. In their mind, Makino was one of, if not the best, players on the team during that period. Hell, some might say that his role was far more important than Higo’s, since the number of defensive barricades he helped to set up to prevent a shot from coming was countless.
Replacing him in the second half was basically taking out the heart of the team, letting everything crumble like wet paper. Hell, some might even say that the team’s chance to concede more goals would be greater, and the scariest part was that it wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
It was as if the head coach wanted to throw the game just like that, and honestly, this might be something that he would do. No one could know what that man had inside his head.
Makino himself couldn’t help but smile secretly when he saw the reaction around him. He didn’t even make a sound here, and yet, so many people were willing to stand up for him.
’Is this what it means to be a top player? Having the rest of the team have my back unconditionally? Damn, the feeling is awesome!’
Kageyama-sensei himself just let out a deep sigh before finally saying, "Normally, I wouldn’t need to explain my decision to you guys. However, today, I will make an exception, so listen carefully!"
All the boys in the locker room straightened their backs immediately, knowing that at least they would get the answer they wanted.
"Just like I said in the break against JEF, this is just a friendly game, not a do-or-die fight. This is the place where I can experiment with so many scenarios without losing anything." The man spoke slowly, as if afraid that his players would fail to understand. "Makino-kun has already shown his capability in the first half. His performance is beyond superb, and with him and Higo-kun commanding the back line, I think it doesn’t matter if the rest of the defenders are playing dead; everything will still be okay. That is how strong they are."
Higo felt his face reddening as some people turned their attention to him, while Makino just tried to play it cool.
"Still, that means I cannot evaluate the others properly. Their performance is getting overshadowed by those two so much that they don’t have to do anything on the pitch, just going for a basic operation like screening and marking. No, I cannot use that as my evaluation part. So, I need at least one of them to be out of the pitch in the second half."
This time, Higo smiled smugly, secretly giving his friend a mocking ’v’ sign while Makino just returned it with a sour middle finger gesture.
’Yeah, listen and get that to your fucking head, Teme! Those are his words, not mine!’ He laughed secretly, knowing full well that his friend should be fuming right now. This was basically the coach admitting that he would rather have Higo than Makino on the pitch, another win for the goalkeeper in their little competition.
"Of course, I know that this will hurt the team, but I will not let you guys suffer. This is still my team, you know." Kageyama-sensei sighed helplessly, feeling hurt that his players didn’t trust him that much. "That’s why, for the replacement, I will put Ito-kun on the back."
This time, all the eyes turned to the team’s real captain. Even though some were still unwilling, at least with Ito on the back, the quality of their defense would not be worse. If anything, they might even get a slight improvement there.
Hell, even Makino himself just clicked his tongue secretly without daring to voice his dissatisfaction. Just one good half was not enough to make his head big enough to think that he was better than Hiroki Ito, after all.
As for Hiroki Ito himself, he just sat silently like a samurai in his meditation. His whole aura was scary enough to put fear into everyone else in the room. In the end, he took out a small bandage from his pocket, putting it straight above his eyes before nodding solemnly at the coach, "Don’t worry, Sensei. I will complete the task."
Higo couldn’t help but feel the corner of his lips twitching when he saw this scene. Honestly, he was so afraid that if anything bad happened later, Ito would try to commit Seppuku on the spot. He always thought that Makino was strict with the team, but Ito sure brought that meaning to another level.
However, that was exactly what the coach wanted. Then, the man turned around and started pointing to more names.
"Yamane-kun and Naoya-kun, you two will come to the pitch as well. Naoya-kun, your task is to liberate Morita-kun in the midfield"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Our main goal in the next half is simple. We are going to stabilize the midfield slowly, push their attack back, and launch a quick counterattack to give them a final blow! At least, I want one more goal before the game ends. Is that doable?!"
"Yes, Sir!"
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