Michael would have found it much easier to ignore these feelings if Arthur had just taken the pay rise and joined Real Madrid like a sensible assistant. Yet he chose the Barnsley bench, just like himself.
If he was vain, he might think that Arthur stayed for his sake. However, Michael still lacked a lot of self-esteem thanks to his previously traumatic experiences in the lower leagues where loyalty was as rare as a clean sheet.
He was working hard to tackle these issues with the help of the System, but that would take a long ti to break apart such deep-seated insecurities.
"Arthur... Why did you reject the Bernabeu, if you don’t mind asking."
Michael didn’t know why, but this question ca out of his mouth. Perhaps it was his ego, or it could have been because he wanted to know what had changed from his previous life where he managed alone.
Arthur froze on the touchline, clutching his bag of jelly babies, feeling his cheeks redden considerably. This only further accentuated his nervous deanor, causing Michael to gulp nervously in response.
’Oh man what do I say? I can’t lie and say that I prefer the rain in Yorkshire...’
He fidgeted nervously, staring at his muddy dress shoes so as to hide his embarrassnt.
’B-But I can’t tell him the truth can I? That I stayed because I wanted to build the dynasty with him.’
A ntal conflict raged on in his mind, clashing with his professional principles and sense of self-preservation. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t feel ready to make himself so vulnerable just yet, especially in front of the Sky Sports caras.
He raised his head slowly, while still debating how to answer the question.
"Huh?"
Upon reaching Michael’s shoulder height, he saw the Fourth Official on the sideline waving his electronic board and trying to call out to them.
"Mr. Sterling, I think the official is calling for you." He said with confusion.
"Oh?" Michael turned around only to see the red-faced official waving at him, gesturing for him to get back in his technical area. Judging by his mannerisms, he wanted him to hurry the fuck up.
"Ah, sorry Arthur. Let’s chat again at half-ti okay." Michael said, quickly jogging over to the technical box where the official was fuming.
Arthur let out a sigh of relief, thanking the PGMOL for their tily intervention. However, he felt a little sad seeing Michael run off without actually knowing how much he respected him.
’I hope we can lift the trophy together soon.’ He wished inwardly.
"Hey Ref, what’s up." Michael asked, oblivious to the situation he was in.
"Mr. Sterling, you have 30 seconds to restart the play otherwise I’m booking you for ti wasting."
The official didn’t seem pleased as he didn’t even give the manager ti to speak before stating his piece.
Michael’s face got a shade darker, yet he held his tongue.
Grabbing Kaito Tanaka by the shoulder as the winger ca over for water, he quickly ushered him back to the pitch.
"Hurry up and get your head in the ga. You’re heading up to take on Walker next." He said impatiently.
He had decided to focus on Kaito because he knew the team needed a spark against this robot defense. It was also evident that Kaito was raring to go, having been vibrating with energy since the Elixir cured him.
Yet when it was finally his turn to shine, the boy was off fixing his socks near the dugout.
’Bloody wingers these days.’ He thought, not at all jealous of their hair.
Kaito did as he was told, quickly adjusting his shin pads and walking out onto the right flank. He didn’t need to warm up since he’d perford around 400 imaginary sprints in the garden since the morning started.
If anything, he probably needed to give his titanium hamstrings a little bit of a rest.
He arrived at the touchline and got into position, rolling his shoulders and stretching his back to get rid of so of the tension that had built up from the pre-ga hype.
On the City defensive line, Kyle Walker looked at the slim Japanese winger and tried not to scoff. Ever since he had been on the pitch this season, no one had co close to beating him in a foot race.
And he didn’t plan on letting it happen now either.
He stared down at the winger’s boots and let out a controlled breath before nodding. He perford his defensive stance and prepared to shut down the lane.
THUD
"Safe."
The ball went straight into the feet of Kaito without him moving.
’Damn it’
Kaito frowned and stepped away from the ball, stretching his quad. Seeing this, Walker let out a chuckle and scowled.
’I can’t believe that they sent this invalid up to play against out of desperation.’ He thought.
The next pass ca on a similar speed from Mateo, yet the trajectory was different.
THUD
"Back."
Once again Kaito did not turn, allowing the ball to go straight back to Vladimir Petrovic in defense. He also stepped away from the play once again, this ti holding his hands above his head and leaning to the side to stretch out his obliques.
The Barnsley bench was confused, not knowing what Kaito was up to. In their minds he was a speed demon and had the S-Grade recovery, so it was odd to see him in such a situation, even stretching between passes.
However, no one was more nervous than Michael Sterling who couldn’t even sit down right now. He paced back and forth in the technical area, not knowing what to do.
He had hyped up Kaito for an extended period of ti while trying to intimidate the City bench, yet if he were to get pocketed in 3 moves the dia would not let him live it down.
His attention moved to Pep Guardiola in the other technical area who just so happened to look his way at the sa ti.
’So this kid is your trump card huh? Pitiful...’
Or at least that was what he believed that the bald genius would be thinking right now. Pep held his usual intense stare upon his face as he gazed at his opposition, scratching his beard.
’Co on Kaito... Let’s see you burn him down the line so I can wipe that damn smirk off his face.’ The manager clenched his fists and trained his eyes on Kaito who had just stepped back into position.
’Okay, I finally managed to calibrate the Ga Changer skill. Now it’s ti to destroy this fullback.’
A wicked smile ford on Kaito’s face as he turned his attention to Walker upon the defensive line.
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