Chapter 264: Replay Plan

Chapter 264: Replay Plan

The morning after a cup tie on a heavy pitch was always difficult.

Inside the Broadfield training facility, the players were focused on recovery. Thomas, the head fitness coach moved between them with his tablet checking their reported fatigue against the GPS data from the match.

The 1-1 draw against Notts County had taken a lot out of them. Their legs were heavy, their joints were stiff and they knew they had to do it all again in a few days.

Niels, however, was already looking at the match.

He sat in the video room with Gary watching the footage on the screen. It was paused at the fifty-second minute.

"The direct approach saved us," Niels said. "When Leo and Max became the main targets, we got around their midfield press. They couldn’t control us in the middle."

Gary nodded. "Max kept their center-backs busy. And when Dev came on, their left-back couldn’t deal with his pace."

"Exactly. Dev took advantage of their tired legs, which gave Pogba more space," Niels said. He rewound the footage to the first half. "But we can’t go to Meadow Lane and expect the same thing to work for ninety minutes. Their manager will adjust their game plan. He’ll drop his line from the start to take away the space behind them."

Niels hit play and watched a sequence from the twenty-eighth minute. Notts County won the ball in midfield and quickly sent a diagonal pass toward the right flank.

"Look at this," Niels said, pointing at the screen. "Reece likes to overlap early. He wants to get forward and help the attack. But they noticed it straight away. Every time they won the ball in the first half, they looked for the space behind Reece."

On the screen, a Notts County winger ran into the space Reece had left and sent a dangerous cross into the box.

"They kept going after that space," Gary said. "If Kieron hadn’t worked hard to cover, they could have scored three."

"Exactly," Niels said pausing the video. "At Meadow Lane, they’re at home and they will have the advantage. They’ll come at us from the start, and they’ll target the same weakness. We need to be aggressive too, but we can’t leave ourselves exposed."

Niels stood and walked over to the tactical board. He moved the magnets around.

"We go back to controlling the ball," he said. "But we need a backup plan. Max starts. He’s our main option if we need to go long. Dev starts on the right, and I want him attacking their full-back straight away. Don’t give him any time."

He picked up the blue number nineteen magnet and placed it in the middle of the midfield.

"Jamal starts," Niels said.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "You’re dropping Kieron after the shift he put in yesterday?"

"It’s rotation, Gary, not dropping him," Niels said. "Kieron gave everything yesterday. We need Jamal’s passing to control the game away from home. More importantly, Jamal will be our cover on the right."

Niels drew an arrow from Jamal’s position into the space behind the right-back.

"When Reece pushes forward to overlap Dev, Jamal’s job is to cover that space. If Notts County try to counter through there, I want Jamal in position to stop them."

By Tuesday morning, they were working on the plan in training.

The squad trained in the cold as Niels put them through transition drills.

On the right side, Reece Darby and Jamal Osei worked on their roles. Dev would receive the ball and move forward, which triggered Reece to make his run.

As soon as Reece crossed the halfway line, Jamal moved wide and deeper, taking up the right-back position Reece had left open.

When Gary blew the whistle to signal a turnover, the attacking team tried to play the ball into the channel. Jamal was already there. He intercepted the pass and played the ball safely back to his teammates. The rotation was working exactly as planned.

Further up the pitch, Pogba and Dev worked on breaking down a low defensive block. They exchanged quick passes around the edge of the box, looking for space.

Max Simons worked between Harry Thompson and Darnell Prince, practicing his hold-up play and laying the ball off to the runners coming forward.

At the other end, Adam Fletcher was back in goal. The veteran goalkeeper had rested after Benji played in the cup, and he was now organizing the defense against a series of crosses.

"Attack it! Don’t let it bounce!" Fletcher shouted as Liam McCulloch headed the ball clear.

Benji had done well in the first match, but having Fletcher back for the replay gave the defense more confidence.

As the session came to an end, Niels stood near the touchline, looking over his notes.

Emma Hayes walked onto the pitch, her coat pulled tight against the wind. She watched the players for a moment before turning to Niels.

"Thomas says the fatigue levels are high," Emma said. "This replay has caused a problem with the schedule, Niels. We have an important league match just three days after we travel to Nottingham. The board is worried about what this will do to our promotion push."

"I know," Niels said, still watching the players. "It’s not ideal. The players are tired."

"If we rest the starters at Meadow Lane..." Emma began.

"No," Niels said firmly.

He turned to face her. "I’m not giving up on a cup tie just to make the league schedule easier. We fought for ninety minutes in the mud to earn this replay. A cup run gives the team confidence. It shows the players that we don’t back down, even when we’re tired."

Emma looked at him for a moment, then gave a small smile.

"Alright, Niels. Just make sure we don’t leave our league form in Nottingham."

"We won’t," Niels said.

Hours later, long after the players had gone home and the training ground was quiet, Niels sat alone in his office.

He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window as the floodlights over the training pitches switched off one by one. The training ground was soon dark, with only the stadium lights in the distance still visible.

The replay at Meadow Lane was only a few days away.

Notts County had seen what Crawley could do in the second half. They knew about Dev’s pace, Max’s strength, and their threat from direct balls. They would be ready for it.

But Niels smiled to himself. He already knew how they would respond, and he had a plan for it.

The game was ready.