When playing football, you should call it GOAT.

Chapter 6: Stade Louis II (Please continue reading!)
"The five-second rule! Immediately counter-press after losing possession!"

After B team midfielder Chicos tackled and dispossessed Rothen, he was immediately surrounded by a triangular encirclement formed by A team players.

"Seal off the passing lanes! Force him to pass back to the goalkeeper! Force him to clear the ball with a long kick!"

Command the forwards to cut off short passing routes between the center-backs and the defensive midfielders.

"Support! Support! Run to create more passing options!"

"Pay attention to the strength and weakness of the passing game! Wingers, spread the width! Midfielders, make direct runs into the flanks!"

Deschamps was playing both sides on the sidelines, directing his two formations to execute his tactics with fervor.

He kept glancing at Roy, who was playing adeptly on the left side of the two-striker formation. It was clear that Roy's back-to-goal ability was average, and he had almost no ability to act as a target man. However, his movement was very agile, and he was always roaming in the most dangerous places in the opponent's defense. Team A didn't dare to let anyone mark him, let alone let Squillaci mark him alone.

Once you can't keep up with his body, a quick burst of speed will give him a chance to go one-on-one or even a one-on-one opportunity.

Team A's players were too proud to play low post defense, which resulted in Roy having a lot of freedom and depth in the half of the court, like a fish swimming in the sea.

When Gallardo wasn't making any rash decisions, he was one of the best attacking midfielders in Ligue 1, and he once won the Ligue 1 assist title with Paris Saint-Germain.

Gallardo didn't hold onto the ball much today, while Roy frequently dropped back to receive passes, giving him a stable outlet.

Even when Team A's formation pushed forward as a whole, once they lost possession in their own half and passed the ball to Gallardo, Roy would start sprinting like a maniac, as if chasing a frisbee.
That's a bit insulting, but it's certainly a vivid description.

Once a long-range through ball penetrates the defense, Roy will have a clear path ahead.

Even after seeing Roy's physical measurements, athletic ability is like a man's size—no amount of talk can compare to seeing it for yourself.
Roy's speed and explosiveness were even more astonishing than he had imagined. Deschamps thought of the French team's few fast horses. Anelka was definitely not as fast as Roy, while Henry and Cissé were probably about the same speed.

Actually, the guy with the "Afro" hairstyle from the Brazilian team is the one who feels the closest to me.

However, Roy seemed a bit rougher than that person, and he didn't have that omnipotent imagination.

Fortunately, he handles the ball more directly, which is a good thing.

As a representative of "pragmatism," Deschamps believes that some of the tactical decisions made by the Brazilian players are actually a waste of their talent.

He once publicly criticized Neymar's "showy dribbling" as slowing down the counter-attack, and said the famous quote: "Football is the geometry of eleven men, not a circus."

Team A still holds the advantage on the field.

The score on the field was also 4-2.

In training matches, everyone is more careful with their movements, making it relatively easier to score goals.

However, the other side was not without a fight. Their low-post defense effectively blocked Team A's advance, and they launched a quick counterattack once they gained possession of the ball.

On the court, everyone was stunned.

After intercepting the ball at the edge of the penalty area, the B team's center-back cleared it with one foot. The ball flew towards the center circle, where Roy, who had started to accelerate from the edge of the penalty area, was getting closer and closer to Max, who had run ahead to the landing point.

The moment he started was as if he had pressed the fast forward button. Max had started at least five body lengths ahead, but the gap was wiped out within ten steps.

Each push off the ground sent grass clippings flying, the yellow sports vest whistling in the wind.

When the two stood side by side, Max instinctively reached out to grab, only to grab a wisp of air that had been dispersed by the speed.

Roy dribbled past Squillaci in the penalty area, and once again became a backdrop for this "outlaw." As Roy lost his balance and was about to fall, he unleashed a powerful sliding shot.

The moment the ball nestled into the far corner again, he was thrown to the ground by the momentum.

"Wow, what an amazing little guy!"

Juli grinned and whistled.

"He plays center forward, but he likes to drift to the left wing, right?"

Rothen stared wide-eyed. "I thought he was here to be my substitute."

He felt the pressure of competition.

Deschamps and Petit exchanged glances, both smiling. They stopped thinking about why such a young man shouldn't stay at Real Madrid and be nurtured as a future star. Florentino Pérez proposed the famous "Zidane plus Pavón" policy, which is to bring in top superstars and add them to the team's own youth academy.

They bought Roy for 300,000?

What level of center-back is Pavon?

As the training match neared its end, Roy once again moved to the left flank to find a space where he could accelerate aggressively, and he immediately outpaced Gilville, who was following behind.

Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, his left shoulder slumped, and his right foot shifted outward, deceiving Gilville and causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.

Then he lightly poked the ball with the toe of his right foot, sending it through Bernardi's legs, while he violently overtook the ball from the side.

Before Marquez could collide with him and fall to the ground, he passed the ball to Suleiman Kamara, delivering the final assist before the end of the training match. Suleiman Kamara received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and curled a shot.

The score is fixed at 4:4.

Roy, who was rolling on the ground, smiled and grabbed Max's outstretched hand. His teammates, who were wearing yellow and blue vests, all looked at him, and people nearby started talking to him. For a moment, he didn't know who to answer first.

Compared to that formal procession, this felt more like a welcoming ceremony.

Seeing the astonished looks on his teammates' faces, Roy knew that from this moment on, he had officially become a member of Monaco.

As Roy went to the sidelines to hydrate, Deschamps called him over. The imposing coach extended his hand and gave him a kind smile. "You did well, Roy."

"I was very impressed with your direct and efficient style of play. You like to dribble past players and pass or shoot at the right time."

"I don't like football shows; this is what I want—the most direct way to win."

Deschamps didn't move his eyes, but Roy saw Marcelo Gallardo walk by and ignored him as well.

"I'm honored. I don't play football to please the critics, I just play to win."

Roy smiled. He couldn't remember where he had heard those words, but Deschamps's admiration was clearly stronger now.

He swore he liked that phrase.

Do you like it? You'll have to tell me in the future.

It is worth mentioning that the French coach's only publicly known hobby is studying the military history of World War II.

My favorite general is Rommel, and I have always incorporated the Desert Fox's saying, "The best defense is a good offense," into my tactical philosophy.

It's somewhat hellish, but not hellish enough.

If it were Guderian, that would be the decisive goal.

After the training session, Deschamps explained the tactics for tomorrow's match against Sedan in the tactics room, and Roy's name was then added to the team's roster.

No one on the team gave him any strange looks; everyone acted as if Roy had already joined the team.

If you can provide help on the field, you deserve to be respected.

Even if you have Matthäus's personality, as long as you have Matthäus's skills, it doesn't matter.

February 1, 2003, Stade Louis II, Principality of Monaco.

An hour before the start of the match, the stadium, which is adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, was filled with the sounds of yacht horns and supercars.

Located in a prime location where every inch of land is precious, the Stade Louis II has only 18523 seats. These people are probably the wealthiest local fan group in the world, but their passion is no less than that of fans from other regions. To compensate for the disadvantage of insufficient numbers, the stadium is designed with special sound wave reflection.

Roy sat in the locker room, where he could make his official Ligue 1 debut tonight.

This is something to celebrate.

But he couldn't find anyone to share this joy with, and at that moment he suddenly remembered.

I almost forgot that I have family in this world.

After a moment's thought, he dialed a phone number that was etched into his memory.

"Roy? How have you been lately?" A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding very surprised.

“When I called from Spain, the landlord said you had already moved out. I thought something had happened to you.”

Roy was stunned. The original owner of this body was a very filial son, and he would call home almost every day or two.

He completely forgot about it after he traveled through time.

"I'm doing very well. There are no problems here. The club has arranged a new place for me to play. Now that I'm back in France, I'm going back to play football in France."

"I'm making a lot more money than before."

Roy said something that would put the adults at ease.

"I will send some money over in a while so that my younger siblings can have something nice to eat."

"Keep the money, everything will be fine at home."

Roy's father died when she was eight years old. Roy's mother, Chen Lan, was a Chinese refugee who fled from the turmoil in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. Her experience of exile from a young age shaped her resilient character.

Boulogne is a famous fishing port in France. This woman supported Roy and his young siblings by handling fish for fishing boats at the port and doing various part-time jobs. She also fully recognized Roy's talent in football and supported him to complete his youth training.

During his youth training period, Roy received only meager stipends and relied almost entirely on his mother's support until he signed a formal professional contract and began earning a weekly salary of 1,000 euros, at which point the family's living conditions improved slightly.

Roy was originally a somewhat detached person, and he didn't want to pretend to have any deep feelings for the original owner's family.

But he believes in responsibility; having a social identity means taking on a social responsibility.

"By the way, it was Christmas. Frank came to our house when he came home and asked about you."

"He now plays in Alles in the south of France."

Chen Lan said.

“You and Frank are good friends who played football together since you were little. You haven’t seen him much since you came to Spain. He left you his phone number. You should call him and chat with him when you have time. Don’t let your friendship fade.”

"Frank? Hmm?"

Memory is sometimes like a deep sea; you need an anchor point to retrieve information from it.

An image of a thuggish face flashed into his mind, with crooked teeth, disheveled hair, and a scar running down his right cheek.

(End of this chapter)