Michael Sterling stood in the locker room. He felt invincible. They had beaten Atletico Madrid. They had signed stars. He felt like he could walk on water without getting his shoes wet.

Arthur Milton sat on a bench eating a stick of grilled squid. He looked skeptical.

"Boss," Arthur said chewing slowly. "Are you sure about this? It looks very risky. It looks like we are trying to juggle knives while blindfolded."

"It is not risky Arthur," Michael said pointing to the tactical board. "It is revolutionary. We are in preseason. This is the time to experiment. The time to be brave."

On the board Michael had drawn a formation that looked less like a football strategy and more like a circle.

THE TACTIC: THE ALL OUT SUFFOCATION.

"We play a high line," Michael explained to the terrified looking squad. "A very high line. The defenders stand on the halfway line. We compress the pitch. We force PSG to panic."

"But Boss," Jan Visser raised his giant hand. The goalkeeper looked nervous. "If they stand on the halfway line I am alone. I am lonely in the big box."

"You are not alone Jan," Michael said. "You are the Sweeper Keeper. You play with your feet today."

Jan looked at his size fifty boots. He looked at Michael.

"My feet are for standing Boss," Jan whispered. "Not for art."

"Trust the plan," Michael said with a smile that was perhaps too confident. "Dembele is fast but he cannot run if he does not have the ball. We keep the ball. We keep the space small."

Diego Nunez stood up. He cracked his neck.

"I like the halfway line," Diego grunted. "It is closer to their strikers. I can smell their fear."

"Exactly," Michael said. "Let us go out there and suffocate them."

THE FIRST HALF: THE DISASTER MOVIE

The stadium was packed again. The Korean fans were waving purple flags. They wanted to see the famous Barnsley magic.

Instead they saw a comedy show.

MINUTE 5

The game started. Barnsley pushed up. Diego Nunez and Benjamin Pavard stood exactly on the halfway line just like Michael ordered.

PSG had the ball at the back. Donnarumma the PSG goalkeeper looked up. He saw the Barnsley defense standing miles away from their goal.

Donnarumma smiled.

He kicked a long ball.

It flew over Diego head.

Ousmane Dembele started running.

Dembele was one of the fastest humans on earth. Diego Nunez was fast for a tank but he was not a Ferrari.

Dembele was through on goal. He had forty yards of empty green grass.

Jan Visser came rushing out. He looked like a confusing windmill.

Dembele did not panic. He simply rolled the ball around Jan.

He tapped it into the empty net.

GOAL.

PSG 1. Barnsley 0.

"It is okay!" Michael shouted from the sideline clapping his hands. "It is just one mistake! Hold the line! Keep it high!"

Arthur Milton covered his eyes with the squid stick. "I cannot watch Boss. It is like watching a car crash in slow motion."

MINUTE 15

Barnsley tried to play football. Enzo Silva won the ball in midfield. He passed to Kai Sora.

Kai looked up. Usually he had space. But because the team was so compressed there was no space. The pitch was crowded.

Kai lost the ball to Vitinha.

Vitinha looked up.

Long ball. Again.

This time it was Goncalo Ramos running.

Pavard tried to catch him. He pulled Ramos shirt. But Ramos was too strong.

Jan Visser was standing on the edge of his box trying to be a Sweeper Keeper.

Ramos saw him. He chipped the ball.

The ball floated over the giant Dutchman. Jan jumped but even his long arms could not reach the sky.

The ball bounced into the net.

GOAL.

PSG 2. Barnsley 0.

The crowd went quiet. This was not the magic they paid for. This was a massacre.

"Boss," Isaiah King shouted from the wing. "This tactic sucks! I am running back more than I am running forward! I am a striker not a marathon runner!"

"Stick to the plan Isaiah!" Michael yelled back. But his voice lacked conviction. He was starting to realize that playing a high line against the fastest team in France was perhaps a bad idea.

MINUTE 30

The third goal was the worst.

Jan Visser had the ball at his feet. Michael had told him to pass.

"Pass it Jan!" Michael screamed.

Jan panicked. He saw Hakimi pressing him.

Jan tried to pass to Diego.

He kicked the ground.

The ball rolled three yards.

Hakimi took the ball. He said thank you. He passed it into the net.

GOAL.

PSG 3. Barnsley 0.

Jan Visser lay on the ground. He put his face in the grass. He wanted the earth to swallow him.

"I told you," Jan whispered to the grass. "My feet are traitors."

Michael sat down on the bench. He felt cold despite the heat.

"I broke them," Michael muttered. "I tried to be clever and I broke them."

"You tried to be Einstein," Arthur said offering Michael a piece of squid. "But you ended up being Mr Bean. Eat the squid. It helps the pain."

HALFTIME

The locker room was silent. It was the silence of a library that had just burned down.

Diego Nunez was sitting on the floor staring at a wall.

"They are too fast," Diego said softly. "I turn around and they are gone. Like ghosts."

Isaiah King was checking his phone.

"Twitter is laughing at us Boss," Isaiah said. "They made a meme of Jan. They put clown shoes on him."

Jan Visser made a small sobbing sound in the corner.

Michael stood up. He had to fix this. He had to own it.

"My fault," Michael said. His voice echoed in the room.

The players looked up.

"I got arrogant," Michael admitted. "We beat Atletico and I thought we were gods. I thought we could play any way we wanted. I was wrong."

He walked to the tactical board. He erased the high line.

"We are not gods," Michael said. "We are Misfits. And Misfits do not try to be clever. Misfits fight."

He drew a new shape. A standard sturdy 4 4 2.

"We go back to basics. Defenders defend. Strikers strike. And Jan..."

Jan looked up with teary eyes.

"Yes Boss?"

"If the ball comes to your feet," Michael said. "Kick it into the stands. Kick it to the moon. I do not care. Just do not try to pass."

Jan smiled. A huge relieved smile.

"I can kick to the moon Boss. I have strong legs."

"Good," Michael said. "Second half is damage limitation. We do not win this game. But we win our dignity back. We stop the bleeding."

THE SECOND HALF: THE DAMAGE CONTROL

The team walked out. They looked less confused. They looked angry.

The whistle blew.

Barnsley dropped deep. They stopped trying to compress the pitch.

It worked immediately.

Dembele tried to run behind. But Diego Nunez was waiting. He was standing deep in his own box.

Dembele arrived.

BOOM.

Diego tackled him. It was a fair tackle but it shook the stadium.

"Not this time little rabbit!" Diego roared. "Welcome to my house!"

The crowd cheered. This was what they wanted. The passion.

MINUTE 60

PSG were still winning 3 to 0 but the game was different now. It was a fight.

Enzo Silva the Pitbull was everywhere. He tackled Ugarte. He tackled Soler. He tackled the referee by accident and apologized with a hug.

"We fight!" Enzo shouted to the fans. "We are Barnsley!"

MINUTE 75

Michael made a change.

"Jamie," Michael said to the veteran striker warming up. "Go on. Cause trouble."

Jamie Vardy grinned. He crushed his empty energy drink can.

"Trouble is my middle name Boss."

Jamie ran onto the pitch replacing a tired Isaiah King.

The old Rat immediately started his work.

He stood next to the PSG defender Marquinhos.

"Nice shoes," Jamie said. "Do they come in men sizes?"

Marquinhos frowned. "What?"

While Marquinhos was confused Kai Sora played a long ball.

Jamie Vardy did not have the pace of Dembele. But he had the brain of a predator.

He knew where the ball would land before the ball knew.

He ran across the defender. He let the ball bounce.

Donnarumma came out.

Jamie Vardy did not shoot. He waited.

He waited until the goalkeeper committed.

Then he chipped it.

It was a delicate cheeky chip.

The ball floated into the net.

GOAL.

PSG 3. Barnsley 1.

Jamie Vardy ran to the corner flag. He did not punch it this time. He pretended to be an old man walking with a stick. He held his back in fake pain.

The fans loved it. They laughed. They cheered.

"He is a cartoon character," Arthur said chuckling. "But he scores."

THE FINAL WHISTLE

The game ended.

PSG 4. Barnsley 1.

(PSG scored a late goal when Hakimi hit a rocket that even Jan Visser could not reach).

It was a heavy defeat. A thrashing on paper.

The players looked tired as they walked off. But they did not look broken like in the first half. They looked humbled.

Michael walked onto the pitch. He shook hands with Luis Enrique the PSG manager.

"You played a brave game first half," Enrique said. "Too brave maybe."

"Suicidal," Michael corrected. "I learned my lesson."

He gathered the team in the center circle.

"Listen to me," Michael said. The players formed a circle around him.

"Look at the scoreboard," Michael pointed. "4 to 1. It is ugly. It hurts."

"It stings," Diego nodded. "Like a bee on the nose."

"Good," Michael said. "Let it sting. We needed this."

"We needed to lose?" Kai Sora asked adjusting his sunglasses.

"Yes," Michael said. "We were flying too high. We forgot who we are. We thought we could play like Barcelona or City. We are not them."

He looked at Jan Visser.

"We are a team with a goalkeeper who cannot pass."

He looked at Jamie Vardy.

"We are a team with a striker who drinks caffeine for dinner."

He looked at Enzo Silva.

"We are a team with a midfielder who bites ankles."

He smiled.

"We are Misfits. And when Misfits try to be perfect we fail. When we accept our flaws we win."

"So no more high line?" Tom asked hopefully.

"No more high line," Michael promised. "Next game we play our way. The ugly way. The beautiful ugly way."

"We play FC Seoul next," Arthur reminded him. "The hosts."

"Then we will show them," Michael said. "We will show them the real Barnsley. Not the experiment."

They walked towards the tunnel.

The fans were still cheering. Even in defeat the Barnsley energy was infectious.

Michael felt the Golden Whistle in his pocket. He had not used it today. He realized that magic items could not fix bad tactics.

It was a valuable lesson.

A Dynasty is not built on fancy tricks. It is built on knowing exactly who you are.

And today Michael Sterling remembered exactly who they were.

"Arthur," Michael said as they entered the tunnel.

"Yes Boss?"

"Is there any more squid?"

"Always Boss."

"Good. I am hungry. Defeat makes me hungry."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.