Awakening the Messi template, Florentino Pérez begs me to join Real Madrid

After training, assistant coach Chen called Wu Shi aside.

"How did you feel starting in the last game?" Coach Chen asked directly.

"He wasn't quite in form in the first half, but thankfully the old man gave him a timely nudge," Wu Shi said truthfully.

Coach Chen nodded and handed over a printed sheet of paper: "You're on the roster for the next away game against Liaoning FC."

Wu Shi took the list and saw his name in the substitutes' section—number 21, Wu Shi. In the starting lineup, Gao Lin's name was listed for the left winger position. Gao Lin had recovered from his injury and had begun training with the team.

"Can Gao Lin play in this match?" Wu Shi asked.

"The recovery is going well, but just to be on the safe side, he might start as a substitute." Coach Chen looked at him.

"Your opportunity lies in training. If you perform well in the scrimmage these next few days, I wouldn't rule out starting again. Coach Lippi approves of the adjustments he made to you in the second half of the last match."

These words were spoken cautiously, but Wu Shi understood: the position was not secure; one had to earn it oneself.

[System: Did you hear that? 'Not ruling out starting again' means 'If you don't play well, you'll be benched for life.' That's the reality of professional football, kid.]

Back at the training ground, Wu Shi practiced free kicks for an extra half hour.

The football arced through the air again and again, striking different parts of the goal.

"The arc is right, but the power control needs to be more precise." Zheng Zhi was standing on the sidelines at some point. "Liaoning FC's home ground is tough to play against, their fans... are quite unique."

Wu Shi stopped the ball, wiped his sweat, and asked, "Special?"

"You'll find out." Zheng Zhi smiled, a smile that held something indescribable.

"Anyway, don't get scared."

That evening, Wu Shi was looking up information about Liaoning FC in his room.

This team isn't considered a top-tier team in the Chinese Super League, but their home record has always been very strong—they've only lost three home games in the past two seasons.

The fan culture is known for its fervor, earning it the title of "the most intimidating home ground in the Chinese Super League".

In the video highlights, the stands at Liaoning FC's home stadium are always packed, with red flags waving and slogans chanted in unison.

The camera panned across the away team players, and many of them clearly displayed distorted movements in that atmosphere.

[System: Environmental stress preload. According to historical data, Liaoning FC's home and away team error rate is 18% higher than the average. Your mental fortitude rating is currently B-; it is recommended that you prepare to withstand interference.]

Wu Shi turned off the video and opened the tactical analysis software.

Liaoning FC's defense favors high-pressure pressing, especially targeting young and physically weak wingers.

Their left-back is a seasoned veteran, experienced, and prone to dirty tricks.

He pulled up the video of his previous game and fast-forwarded to the part where he made a defensive mistake.

[Finally, you've learned to review your performance? That's progress. But just watching isn't enough; you need to practice.]

Oh right, I forgot to remind you before, your integration level has reached 5.5%, which unlocks a new feature.

[Unlock special training module: Time Slice.]

[Function Description: Can be activated once a week. The consciousness will load any 10-minute segment from any official match within the past week, allowing you to relive that time period from a first-person perspective. It can be paused, slowed down, and includes real-time system analysis and suggestions.]

[Note: This is a non-invasive replay and cannot alter historical operations; it is for learning and analysis purposes only.]

[Number of attempts remaining this week: 1/1]

"Time Slice..." Wu Shi was a little surprised by the name of this new feature.

Don't get your hopes up. This isn't a time-reversal cheat, just an advanced video analysis course. But for a newbie like you who can't even remember how you made a mistake, it's enough.

Wu Shi ignored the mockery and excitedly opened the function interface.

A timeline appears before my eyes: every minute of last week's match against Kyoto was marked as selectable.

He chose the 33rd minute almost without hesitation.

Consciousness sinks.

The senses are instantly activated.

Takeshi "returned" to the left flank of Tianhe Stadium. It was Saturday night, the score was 0-0, and he had just received a pass back from Cleo. Two Kyoto players were pressing in from different directions.

The first-person perspective is incredibly realistic: he can feel the burning sensation in his chest as he accelerates, hear Zheng Zhi shouting "Pass!" in the distance, and see Muriqui on the right wing raising his hand to ask for the ball.

Then came that fatal 0.5-second pause.

"pause."

The scene froze. Wu Shi, as an "observer," examined his frozen self: his body slightly leaning, his right foot hovering beside the ball, his eyes rapidly shifting between the three passing lines.

[System analysis window pops up:]

[Current situation: You have drawn two defenders. Muriqui is in mid-air on the right wing, and Zheng Zhi is making a run into the middle. The back pass lane has not been cut off.]

[Decision Tree Evaluation:]

[A. Through ball to Muriqui (estimated success rate: 68%) → Potentially creates a cross opportunity from the byline.]

【B. Pass to Zheng Zhi (Success rate: 82%) → Move to the middle lane to organize.】

[C. Forced inside cut (success rate: 31%) → High probability of conceding the ball.]

[D. Return pass (success rate: 95%) → Safe but loses attacking opportunity.]

[Your actual choice: Hesitate for 1.2 seconds → Get double-teamed and lose the ball.]

The scene slows down. Takeshi sees himself unconsciously taking an extra half step with his left foot while he hesitated—it was this half step that allowed the Kyoto team players to complete their encirclement.

"What was I thinking at the time?" Takeshi asked.

[The system retrieved the physiological data at the time: heart rate 142, elevated cortisol levels, and delayed decision-making.]

[Translation: You were too nervous and your brain short-circuited. Or you were sleepwalking.]

The footage continues. The ball is intercepted, a counter-attack is launched, and Kyoto's shot hits the crossbar.

Throughout the entire process, Wu Shi saw himself standing still for a full two seconds before turning back to chase after them.

Holy crap!

"Was I really sleepwalking for those two seconds?"

[System: Yes, you need to criticize yourself more.]

The reason for the criticism isn't the goal conceded, but rather that professional players' first reaction after conceding is always to track back, not to blame themselves. If you don't correct this habit, you'll never be able to play at a high level.

The 10-minute experience is over.

When Wu Shi returned to reality, he was covered in sweat—even though it was just a replay of his consciousness, the tension and regret were still real.

He immediately turned on his computer and pulled up the video of the match from the same time period. From God's perspective, the choice was cruelly clear: the defender in front of Muriqui was turning his head to look at the ball at that moment. If Wu Shi had made a through pass immediately, Muriqui could have received the ball and gone down the wing.

"So the correct answer is A," Takeshi murmured.

[System: Anyone can be wise after the event. The key is that your body needs to react correctly the next time you encounter a similar situation. Although the system keeps providing prompts and analysis...]

[But haven't you noticed that in high-intensity, fast-paced matches, you don't have time to think about system analysis?]

The system analysis function is very useful for playing matches in the China League One or lower, but it will become increasingly useless in actual matches in the future.

If you want to play in a higher-level league in the future, the pace will be faster.

You can't rely on system analysis for every problem; you need to repeat the training hundreds of times to etch the right choices into muscle memory.

"Next week against Liaoning FC," Wu Shi said, "a similar situation is bound to occur."

Of course. Liaoning FC's pressing will only become more aggressive, giving you even less time to think. So—