by Tom Palmer
Jake felt like going over and asking if Ryan was OK. But he knew he’d better not. He didn’t think Ryan would like sympathy.
Jake looked for his dad, but couldn’t see him. He’d probably gone off to the toilet.
The referee restarted the game. Three– nil. And it wasn’t long before it was four.
Down the Left
Towards the end of the game, the ball came to Jake’s feet. Not from Ryan, but from James, the other central defender, who’d started to play a more dominant role, leaving Ryan further back in defence.
Jake took the ball past a defender with his first touch – and ran into the space ahead of him. He put on a burst of power, just beating the defender.
Then he was away, dribbling at speed. At last: a chance to prove himself.
As a second defender came across to cover him, Jake looked up and saw Chi on his right. He tapped the ball to Chi, who played it to the other side of the defender. Jake was on to it. A perfect one‐two. He looked up. Yunis was on the near post, with Ben on the far post.
Jake played it low and hard to Yunis.
Yunis intercepted the ball, turned and slotted it home.
Goal!
The first of the season.
But no one cheered.
Yunis did jog over to shake Jake’s hand. But that was it.
There wasn’t much to celebrate.
Blackburn Rovers 4 United 1.
‘You looked like you’d never met, let alone trained together before,’ Steve said. He wasn’t shouting. He was calm, looking each boy in the eye. He hadn’t mentioned Ryan’s mum. And Jake didn’t expect him to. Parents were talked to in Steve’s office.
‘We were OK apart from Tomasz,’ Ryan shouted, eyeing the team’s keeper. Ryan looked pink‐faced, still angry or embarrassed. Jake couldn’t tell which.
‘Don’t blame it all on Tomasz,’ Steve said. ‘He was exposed by the defence. And by the midfield. It could have been a lot worse without him.’
Tomasz looked down at the floor. He looked sad, his tall, wiry body hunched over. Jake tried to catch his eye, to give him some support. But Tomasz didn’t look up.
‘We need to vary it,’ Steve said. ‘Everything went down the right to Ben. Hardly anything went down the left.’
Jake didn’t look at Ryan, but he was glad to hear this from Steve.
‘It’s a team game, Ryan,’ Steve said. ‘I want to see Jake getting more of the ball. Jake and Yunis have a good understanding. Let’s bring them into it more next week.’
‘OK, Steve,’ Ryan said, staring at the door.
‘So let’s use this as a learning experience,’ Steve said, finishing off. ‘We’ve found some things out about ourselves this week. Next week we’ll do better. OK?’
Ryan, Ben, Tomasz and Jake were the last to leave the dressing rooms.
Jake expected some stick from Ryan, after the criticism Ryan had had from Steve. But all the stick was going Tomasz’s way.
‘What was it with you today, Tomasz?’ Ryan said.
‘It was hard,’ Tomasz said slowly. ‘I was… exposed.’
‘You’re only saying “exposed” because Steve said it,’ Ryan said. ‘I bet you don’t even know what “exposed” means.’
‘I do.’
‘Go on then?’
‘It means alone,’ Tomasz said, standing up.
Jake half‐stood, then sat down when Ryan stared at him.
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Ben said. ‘It means there were no defenders in front of you. And there were. Four!’
Tomasz shrugged and walked out of the room.
Jake wanted to go after him. He wished he’d stuck up for his new friend.
‘My mum says his dad shouldn’t even be over here,’ Ryan said in an angry voice. ‘All the Poles. Taking our jobs.’
‘That’s right,’ Ben said.
Jake kept his eyes on his kitbag.
‘Don’t you reckon?’ Ryan said. ‘Jake?’
‘What?’
‘That Tomasz shouldn’t even be in the team. He’s rubbish. And he’s Polish.’
Jake shrugged, then nodded reluctantly.
He immediately felt bad.
Sunday 25 September
Blackburn Rovers 4 United 1 Goals: Yunis
Bookings: Connor, James
Under-twelves manager’s marks out of ten for each player:
Tomasz 5
Connor 5
James 6
Ryan 6
Ronan 6
Chi 6
Sam 5
Will 6
Jake 6
Yunis 7
Ben 6
Aaron
‘That was a good move at the end. With Yunis,’ Jake’s dad said.
They were driving home from Rovers.
Jake said nothing back to his dad. He didn’t feel like talking. He hadn’t even told him about Ryan’s mum, knowing his dad had been away at the time.
‘So how do you feel after your first game?’
‘We got stuffed, Dad.’
‘But you did OK, when that defender actually passed it to you.’
‘But he didn’t, did he?’
Dad paused. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Dunno.’
Dad paused again. Then said, ‘You seem to get on well with that striker. What’s he like?’
‘He’s great. He was at the trial. Do you remember?’
‘Yes. Fast lad,’ Dad said. ‘So is he a mate?’
‘Sort of, I suppose,’ Jake said. ‘His dad never comes to watch him.’
Dad nodded. ‘What about the others?’
‘I don’t know them that well yet.’
‘Tomasz. The lad we met at City. Is he OK?’
Jake felt a shudder of shame go through him. ‘I didn’t really speak to him today. He left straight after the match.’
‘I saw him,’ Dad said.
‘Was he OK?’ Jake said. Too quickly.
‘Tomasz? Maybe not. He looked a bit cross coming out of the dressing rooms. I was talking to his dad. I assumed it was because he’d let four in.’
‘There’s this lad…’ Jake started to say.
‘Yeah?’
Jake paused. He wanted to tell Dad about Ryan. But how?
‘One of the lads was picking on Tomasz,’ Jake said. ‘Saying stuff.’
‘What sort of stuff?’
‘You know.’
‘I don’t,’ Dad said. ‘I wasn’t there.’
‘Nothing,’ Jake said.
‘Come on, Jake…’
‘That he didn’t belong here. Because he’s Polish.’
Dad frowned, but said nothing.
‘It’s nothing,’ Jake said, worried his dad would raise it with Steve. ‘The team didn’t do well. It’s the first time we’ve all played together. It’s just that.’
‘What’s that defender called?’
‘Which one?’ Jake was shocked his dad had hit on Ryan straight away.
‘You know which one I mean.’
Jake said nothing for a moment. Then he confessed. ‘Ryan.’
‘Is it him?’ Dad waited for Jake to speak.
‘Yes,’ Jake said.
‘And is he giving you trouble too?’
Jake kept quiet for a minute. Then another minute. Then he had to speak.
‘Last year, Ryan’s best mate was on the left wing. Aaron. But he was released at the end of the season. Chi told me. And that’s why Ryan doesn’t like me. He reckons if he makes me look rubbish he can get his mate back in the team. But you mustn’t say anything,’ he added. ‘About me or Tomasz.’
Dad spent a few seconds watching the road. ‘You don’t want me to talk to Steve?’ he said.
Jake sat forward quickly. ‘No, I don’t.’
‘OK,’ Dad said. ‘But if it happens again, will you tell me? I won’t do anything if you do. I just want to know.’
Neither Jake nor Dad spoke for the rest of the journey back. Jake’s dream had been to return jubilantly home
. To tell Mum the news of a great win – and his part in it.
Instead he just felt depressed.
But not as depressed as he would have been travelling home alone, Jake thought. Like Yunis.
Jake gazed out of the window. Then he turned to his dad.
‘Thanks for bringing me, Dad,’ he said. ‘For coming to training every week.’
‘That’s OK.’
‘Dad?’
‘Yes.’
‘You know Tomasz’s dad?’
‘Yes. What about him?’
‘What does he do? As a job?’
‘He’s a doctor at the hospital. A really good one: he’s always in the newspaper. Why?’
‘Nothing,’ Jake said. ‘Just asking.’
United v Middlesbrough
The second game was a bit better than the first.
United were playing much deeper than the week before. Steve had worked with them, teaching the midfielders to protect the defenders, so they weren’t left so exposed. And it was working.
But Jake still felt like he was out of it for long periods of time. And when he did go for the ball, he always seemed to be offside. He would move forward to attack – and the linesman’s flag would go up. Every time. It was so frustrating. He couldn’t remember ever getting caught offside before, but the other team were more interested in stopping United with offsides than by actually playing football themselves.
But at least Jake didn’t have his dad on his case. Ryan’s mum was back: shouting at Ryan this time, not the referee.
‘Ryan… get your finger out… cover your man… what’s the matter with you?’
Ryan was getting more and more angry on the pitch, rushing into tackles, hoofing the ball up field instead of short‐passing it along the ground like Steve had taught them.
Then Jake heard Steve calling to him. ‘Play behind the last man, Jake.’
So Jake tried to stay onside.
But seconds later, Ryan would say it too. ‘Play behind the last man.’
And Jake was trying. But now, every time the ball came near him, the last Middlesbrough defender would get it, because he was further up the pitch.
This is stupid, Jake thought. Whatever he chose to do seemed to be the wrong thing. He felt like he was tied up in knots. He was almost relieved when the final whistle went.
But relief was the last thing he felt a few minutes later.
‘That was poor, lads,’ Steve said. His voice was a little harder than it had been after the first game.
United had lost two–one.
‘Let’s go through the game player by player. Let’s try and sort this out.’
Steve talked about each player, starting with Tomasz in goal, through the defence. He spent a lot of time talking about Ryan. How he needed to pass to Jake more. Use the left wing as well as the right.
Eventually he came to Jake.
‘And Jake. We need to work on the offside, don’t we?’
‘I’m sorry, Steve,’ Jake said. ‘I just couldn’t get on the right side of him.’
‘Well, it’s something we have to work on. You’ve got such pace, but you need to time your runs. You did it during your trial – timed it brilliantly. Let’s have a chat tomorrow. Is your dad coming in?’
Jake nodded.
‘Right, we’ll talk about it more then.’
Jake felt like he’d fallen off the side of the world. What did Steve want his dad for? Surely this was about training? Nothing to do with his dad.
But a question came into his mind. He couldn’t help it: was Steve going to release him?
The players gathered their bags after Steve had finished talking. Ryan and Ben came over to Jake, catching him on his own. Jake could tell they were going to be nasty to him. Just by their faces.
‘Are you Polish too, or something?’ Ryan said.
Ben sniggered.
Jake said nothing.
He was aware Tomasz was right behind him, listening. He didn’t want Ryan to say something about Polish people that would make him have to agree with him again. He still wished he’d stuck up for Tomasz when Ryan had been horrible before.
‘You played like you don’t understand English,’ Ryan said. ‘Offside. How many times do you need to hear it said to understand it?’
Jake still said nothing. He just stared back at Ryan, then Ben. He wanted them to know he didn’t think they were funny, that he didn’t agree with them. At all.
Ten minutes later Jake left the dressing rooms. Ryan was outside; on his mobile, grinning.
‘Aaron,’ he said into the phone.
Jake couldn’t help but listen.
‘I’ve got some good news for you,’ Ryan went on. ‘Just a minute… someone’s listening.’ Ryan stared at Jake and grinned again, then disappeared round the back of the dressing rooms.
And Jake felt even more sure he was about to be dropped from the team.
Sunday 2 October
United 1 Middlesbrough 2
Goals: Yunis
Bookings: Connor, James
Under-twelves manager’s marks out of ten for each player:
Tomasz 6
Connor 6
James 7
Ryan 5
Ronan 6
Chi 7
Sam 6
Will 6
Jake 5
Yunis 7
Ben 6
Yunis’s Dad
‘You all right, Jake?’
Jake was walking through the car park when Yunis came up behind him. Jake’s dad had had to leave quickly after the game, so, unusually, Jake had to make his own way home.
‘No,’ Jake said. ‘I was rubbish today. I can’t get into it.’ Jake wondered if he should tell Yunis about his fears of being dropped.
‘We were all rubbish,’ Yunis said.
‘You weren’t. You scored. And you weren’t offside even once. I was – ten times at least.’
‘It’s not just you. It’s Ryan. If he’s not going to pass it to you, how can you expect to be ready and onside?’
‘I should be,’ Jake said. ‘That’s all.’
‘Is there anything else?’ Yunis asked, after a pause.
‘Like what?’
‘What Chi told you about Ryan’s mate. The winger. Aaron.’
Jake couldn’t believe Yunis had said what he’d said. It was like he was reading his mind. He didn’t really want to talk about it. But there was no point in denying it now.
He blurted it out. ‘Do you reckon Steve will drop me? And let Aaron back in?’
‘He can’t,’ Yunis said, surprised.
‘Why not?’ Jake said. ‘He wants a winning team. If I’m worse than this Aaron, he should drop me and bring him back in.’
A horn beeped behind them.
Jake looked round, expecting to see his dad waiting for him after all. He would have liked that. Talking it through with Dad.
But, instead, a tall Asian man in a suit leaned out of a silver Mercedes.
Yunis’s face lit up. ‘It’s my dad!’
He jogged over to his dad’s car, gesturing for Jake to join him. He was grinning, like he was really excited.
‘This is Jake,’ Yunis said. ‘Jake, this is my dad.’
Yunis’s dad shook Jake’s hand. ‘Hello, young man. Can I drop you somewhere? I’ve come to take Yunis home.’
‘Are you going through the centre of town?’ Jake said.
‘Certainly. Jump in.’
Jake got in. Yunis’s dad seemed OK. He’d expected an ogre from what Yunis had said about him.
Yunis got in the back of the car after Jake. ‘Did you see the game, Dad?’
‘No, Yunis. I was here in the car park.’
‘You should have come to see the last few minutes. I scored.’ Yunis’s voice had lost its excitement.
‘I came to pick you up. Not watch your footballing,’ his dad said. ‘Get you home sooner, so you can catch up on your studies. You’re losing whole days playing this football game.’
They drove on in silence, Jake not daring to speak and wishing he’d caught the bus instead.
The Phone Call
Monday evening. Training night.
Jake had had a bad day at school. He hadn’t been able to concentrate at all because he was worrying about the football.
Dad was back from work early, as usual, so he could run Jake to the Academy.
‘Right, Jake,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’ Dad was already putting his jacket on.
‘It’s not on,’ Jake said.
‘Not on?’ Dad stopped, one arm of his jacket hanging limp at his side.
‘Steve called it off,’ Jake said. ‘He’s just phoned. Something about the first team needing the pitches.’
‘Oh right.’ Dad paused for a moment, then smiled. ‘Let’s watch the match on telly tonight, then, eh?’
Upstairs, Jake switched on his PlayStation. He’d play Football Manager until the match started. To take his mind off what was happening at United. It wasn’t true about training being off. It was still on. It’d be starting in less than an hour. Jake just couldn’t face it.
Sitting there, he felt guilty. Guilty about missing training. Guilty about lying to his dad. Guilty about letting Steve down. But he didn’t want to face Steve. To be told he was going to be released.
And he definitely didn’t want to see Ryan.
How could he go to the Academy – where he’d wanted to go for as long as he could remember – then be asked to leave?
He’d rather never go back.
It was half‐time in the match on TV – City versus Argyle. City were two–nil up. Dad hadn’t mentioned training and Jake was enjoying just sitting with him.
Then the phone rang.
Even before Dad picked it up, Jake knew it was Steve.
He jumped up off his seat. ‘I’m going to bed,’ he said.
Mum and Dad looked at him, both frowning. Why was he going to bed, with City winning two–nil?