sessions & first impressions
26/07/18
Like any other busy morning at Melwood, the Reds were already hard at training doing their usual warm-ups which were being led by Jordan. Normally, Klopp would have been watching the players as they trained but today he was nowhere in sight which left his players confused.
The players got themselves into groups to complete their stretches. One group held Virgil, Gini, Joe, Jordan and the youngest of them all, Trent. "Does anyone know where Klopp is at?" Gini was the first one to speak up.
"I don't know where he is, but I saw him this morning and it seemed like he was in a rush—like he was expecting someone," Virgil replied as he worked on his legs. "I saw some reporters as well."
"Maybe we're expecting another player," Joe suggested.
Virgil nodded. "Yeah. Now that I think about it, coach did say that after Alisson there would be another player coming to Liverpool. I wonder who he is."
Suddenly, Joe stopped all of his movements. "Wait a minute, have you guys seen the rumours about the football player, Wynter Reyes? Maybe, just maybe, she's the player that's being transferred!"
"Why would Klopp bring a girl onto the team?" Trent asked with an adverse tone. He didn't mean for his voice to seem so negative but unfortunately, what he said was what he said.
"Why do you sound so against the idea?" Jordan questioned. As the captain of the team, he already knew about the female transfer since Klopp told him in advance. Heck, he'd the chance to meet the player just after she'd signed her contract and spoken to the press. So since she was going to be new to the team, he felt as though it was his job to make her feel welcome and assistant her within future backlash that she may face. Even if it meant talking some sense into some of his own teammates.
"I'm not. I'm just sceptical about the idea of having her on the team, that's all." Trent spoke in defence.
"Well, what a way to word it, huh?" Gini laughed, causing Trent to send him a glare.
"Seriously Trent? You're sceptical about the Wynter Reyes? She won the World Cup and you want to tell us that you're sceptical?" Joe scoffed. "I don't know about you guys but I'm excited. A new addition to the team that finally isn't a guy. We need a change around here."
"I mean, that's not why you should be excited Joe but okay," Virgil chuckled before the group continued their stretches in peace.
Trent huffed to himself as he got up from the grass, moving onto a different part of his body. It wasn't like him to act so defensively in a situation so sensitive like the one he'd just been involved in. Although he had only grown up with brothers, his mother always taught him better than the way he had just conveyed himself to his teammates.
And anyways, Trent couldn't understand why Wynter was needed on the squad. After the devastating Champions League final defeat, it was known to everyone that Jürgen was going to make necessary adjustments and regrouping in the team. And in the end, that's exactly what he did by bringing in Alisson, Naby, Xherdan and Fabinho. So why was it necessary to bring in another player with the Premier League inching closer as the weeks passed?
He wouldn't exactly call himself a feminist due to the way the media displayed that title. However, Trent had nothing, absolutely nothing against women. Since forever, he believed that women and men should all be on the same level of equality and both genders should accept each other for the qualities that made them differ—more men towards women than vice versa.
But now when he was unexpectedly put into a situation where he would have to come face to face with testing his judgement on others, his mouth was spitting out harsh words, quite the opposite of what his thoughts and beliefs preached.
Trent unconsciously shook his head. It's just a rumour, it's just a rumour.
As the team resumed with training, Jürgen came striding towards the players with a satisfied smile on his face. "Alright boys, let's come together for a second." They didn't want to waste any time so the players all came together as a group with their manager stood in front of them.
"Okay guys, during the last training session I told you guys that there would be one more player joining the team. I would have brought this player in earlier, but I guess FIFA and the FA were kind of hard to convince to have this player on the team." As he spoke, there were a few baffled looks and some whispers from the players. "But anyway, enough of that. This player took part in the World Cup and she won it. Please welcome Liverpool's newest edition, Wynter Reyes."
Trent's head whipped over to the right to see a shy figure walking towards them as everyone welcomed her with applause. He watched as Wynter walked over to the group with a timid smile, knowing very well that some of the players seemed happy about her arrival, especially Joe.
His eyes then shamelessly eyed her body as he realised that she wore the usual Liverpool training kit—a red t-shirt and a pair of shorts that went just above her knees, branded with the crest. She made her towards the manager and stood beside him.
You've got to be kidding me.
. . .
Once Wynter faced the players, she felt a wave of nerves course through her slim body. Even just making her way over to the group, she already witnessed a few displeased facial expressions, even if they tried to mask it with their applause, she saw. Her fingers were clasped together behind her back as she stood with formal posture.
"Alright Wynter, anything you want to say before you join the boys in training?" The manager asked the player.
"Uh, yeah. Of course, I'm really happy to be here, you know, to play alongside all of you guys. I know that probably some of you guys are, I guess, confused as to how or why I'm here. Well sorry to say this, but I think I'm going to be here for a while," she joked, causing some of the players to laugh. "But anyway, I hope I can help the team in any way possible and work well with everyone. So yeah, I'm done talking. Let's train shall we?"
"Alright lads and Wynter, let's do 5-5 matches. One match on this side of the pitch and another match on the other side." Jürgen ordered the players.
They complied and the players soon began forming the necessary teams. When Wynter thought that she had to wait until she was the last one chosen on a team, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Jordan.
"Hey, come with me on my team." He said.
"Sure, why not? It's not like I'm waiting for someone else to choose me." Wynter replied in a joking tone.
Jordan chuckled as they walked towards the opposite side of the pitch. "Listen, I know that you probably think that it'll take a long time for the lads to warm up to you. But trust me, I'm pretty sure it won't take longer than a week. And anyway, I'm pretty sure there's someone who's already in love with you."
"Is that so? Who?" The french player raised an eyebrow, curiosity quickly uprising within her.
"I think Joe's got something on you, to be honest." Jordan casually pointed out the English player who was caught up in a conversation with Gini.
"Well, at least I know for sure that someone wants me here."
After everyone was finally in a team, Wynter found herself on Jordan's team which consisted of her, Jordan, Fabinhio, Bobby and Virgil. The five of them were facing off with Joe's team who had Gini, James, Andy and Trent.
The french player inhaled, slowly exhaling out the warm Liverpool air. She did a few knee jumps to help her heart rate sped up a bit. Though it was only a practice match, Wynter felt pressure to do well because now would be the first time that the guys would judge her athletic abilities up close. Now wasn't the time for her to suddenly flunk up and fail—her team needed to win.
She smiled brightly as she put on her neon yellow bib when she got to play in her comfortable position, the role of the second striker/winger to Bobby's left. Some commentators like to see her left foot usability as a weakness. What most people didn't know about Wynter was that she could use both legs without any kind of struggle.
When both teams finally got in formation, the mini-match began with the other team starting with the ball. Andy started with the ball close to his feet before he passed it to James, who began to dribble the ball closer to their opponents. At first, the match started slowly. Only a few calm passes here and there, strikers taking safe shots, defenders effectively knocking the ball away from their goal, but none of the action got Winter's heart beating out of her chest. She only had the ball at her feet a few times and so the chances to lead her team to a victory were very limited.
It wasn't until the opposing team were awarded a corner that would be taken by the young scouse. As Trent got himself ready, an idea popped up in Wynter's mind. She didn't know if it would work or not, but there wasn't any harm in trying. While everyone was getting themselves marked up with another player, the french girl realised that no one seemed interested with her so she was left wide open. She quickly made her way over to Virgil.
"Hey, um, Virgil. I was thinking that if you could try and head the ball this way so then I or Bobby can do a sprint and score a goal," Wynter whispered, not wanting the others to hear. "If that makes any sense."
"Yeah, yeah. No problem," Virgil nodded, agreeing. "Go out wide."
The season-named girl jogged to her position with her hair tied back, frontal curls stuck against her sticky forehead. Trent raised his arm signalling he was ready and kicked the ball with force, sending it towards the far left of the penalty box. Somehow, Virgil successfully found the ball and headed it to Fabinhio who sent it to Jordan. With such short passes, the other team's defence were beginning to come together again, but Wynter didn't allow them to stop her plans.
Jordan ran off with the ball down the pitch. Soon defenders were closing upon him so he sent a long pass to Bobby, who was about to be halted by Trent who'd somehow caught up. Just when Trent was about to deflect the ball, the Brazilian swiftly flicked the ball over the defender, crossing it over to Wynter herself.
And then it was all up to her. When the ball approached her, she stopped and controlled it with the inner part of her left foot. With that, she sprinted with the ball at her feet. As she approached the penalty area, Wynter smiled to herself as she thought of her usual football trick she would do on goalkeepers. She approached the area, seeming as though she'd shoot with her right foot so the goalkeeper aimed to stop the ball from the left side of the goal. However, she psyched him out by smoothly changing foot and nicely scored in the upper right corner.
When she witnessed the ball hit the back of the net, she ran over to Bobby's with a stupid smile of her face. The pair met each other halfway with their arms up and high fived, which turned into a loose hug.
"Nice work there, Wynter. I think I'll get used to working with you." The Brazilian smiled as he pulled away from the hug.
"Thanks and you too." Wynter laughed, a sudden rush of happiness coming over her.
Just then, Virgil appeared. "Nice shot, little one. Your idea worked perfectly," he smiled, swiftly grabbing her and ruffled her curls.
"Thanks but why are you calling me little one? I'm not even that short." Wynter exclaimed, fixing her hair.
"If you say so," the Dutchman concluded as he began to back away, though Wynter could see the smirk he tried to withhold. She shook her head, the corner of her lips turning upwards.
"You see, everyone's beginning to warm up to you already. You'll be best friends with everybody in no time." Jordan said to Wynter as he slung an arm around her shoulder while they prepared to regroup.
"Let's hope so," Wynter wished. 'Cause once she got back into her position, she felt a certain scouse's glare directed towards her, leaving her confused. However, she still focused back on the game.
In the end, Jordan's team came out as the victors of the minor match. It ended with a close 2-1 score. Minutes after Wynter's impressive goal, James equalized the scoreboard. The two teams continued to battle it out for the win for the next few minutes as the next goal would determine the winners of the match. Unfortunately for Joe's teams, they'd given away a free-kick which was taken by Jordan, who then scored the winning goal.
All the players then found themselves indoors for their water break and lunch before they would go back outside and resume training. As she went to sit down by Jordan's side, Wynter found herself casually starting a conversation with Joe.
"So Wynter," he started, catching the young girl's attention. "Tell us about you. You know things we probably wouldn't know about you already."
When Wynter realised that nearly everyone's attention was placed on her, she gave them a sheepish smile. "Okay. Well, my name's Wynter, but my friends and family call me Winnie. Uh, I'm French 'cause of my mom but also American because of my dad. I've been playing football since I was five and yeah. Unless you want to know anything else, that's all I have got to tell you all."
"I've just got to ask," Gini stepped into the conversation. "What was like winning the World Cup?"
An acutely bashful smile appeared on her face. "It was cool. You know 'cause I got to win it for my country with my friends, some of which I've been friends with for a while like Mbappé, Griezmann and Pogba. And since I'm female, it was a bit of a shock to some people when I ended up playing on the overall winning team. So it was also funny to see their reactions as well when I won. But you know it wasn't just all smiles then."
"What do you mean?" Virgil asked.
"You know, just the regular backlash and criticism that you would get from the media or even the fans themselves. Except for me, because I was the only girl playing in the competition, some people, I guess, took offence to it and hated me for it because they didn't like the idea of a girl playing in men's games." Wynter shrugged as she looked down at her food.
As he noticed that the mood had quickly shifted, Jordan picked up on a different convo. "Are you going to be playing with France in the Nations League?"
"I've been told so, I'm not sure but I think I am if I'm called up." She smiled.
The players continued to have their conversation amongst each other within their small groups. As Wynter was eating, minding her own business, she felt a pair of curious eyes on her. She glanced up from her plate and saw Trent staring at her from where he sat. His faintly cruel eyes glared at her with discontent and quite frankly the french girl couldn't help but be confused by his sudden attitude aimed at her.
When the young players' eyes aligned with each other, Wynter's melanin eyes travelled over to the exit of the cafeteria. Trent's followed her direction and instantly understood what she'd was trying to convey. He got up from his seat and slowly made his way out.
Wynter sighed to herself and followed ensuite with Trent. "I'll be back in a minute," she told the players at the table she sat at. She watched them nod before she left.
Wynter walked along the hallways of the training grounds, eyes scanning the area. The boy only left a few seconds before her and yet she couldn't find Trent anywhere.
"Hey, Trent?" She called out, though she got no answer. "Hello? Trent—"
Suddenly, Wynter felt a warm hand grab her own, pulling her to the side. When she was about to let out a cry of dismay, she came face to face with the boy himself. "Trent, what the hell? You can't just do that! You almost scared of me."
Trent disregarded her questions. "What do you want? You're the one that wanted to talk."
"I just want to know what is going on with you. Ever since you saw me today, you've been giving me all these bad looks and I don't appreciate them. Do you have something against me or what because I won't be surprised if you did."
"What? Of course not! I'm just not in the best mood today, that's all." He shrugged.
"And so you have to direct all of that on me?" She huffed, folding her arms.
"Look, whatever you think I have against you, it doesn't even exist, alright? I'm going to say it all now, I'm sorry for anything that I have done today that may have offended you. It was unintentional. But on a serious note, I've no idea about what you're talking about."
Wynter didn't get a chance to reply as Trent had already pushed past her, leaving her alone in the hallways with her unanswered thoughts.
——
[ do y'all think the chapters are too long?
edited—13/04/20 ]