October 25, 2008
(Third person pov)
Full time
Everton 7-3 Arsenal
Matthew Delevigne (13, 19, 33, 41, 63)
Jack Wilshere (48, 68, 74)
Mikel Arteta (79,88)
"I'm going to train" said Ronaldo before leaving them at his home, he has watched the entire second half without leaving the couch.
He was the best in the world, the Balloon d'or nominee and the strongest contender to win, he can't let a kid take him over.
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Looking at the now half empty home stands, Matt sighed and clapped for the Everton fans, they were packed, not a single Everton fan had left the stadium.
'It feels good to finally shut them up, they were too loud' thought Matt looking at the Arsenal stand.
"You couldn't go easy on us" said Theo his hand on his mouth as he hugged Matt.
"You would have liked that? tell me" said Matt patting his back.
"Fair, now give me that jersey before Jack arrives" he said taking out his top and handing it to Matt.
"Here" said Matt, he looked at that Arsenal shirt and hesitated for a second before putting it on his shoulder.
His hair down, and shirtless made the photographers crazy, there were series of flashlights as he removed his shirt.
Matt went down to the referee and got the ball, his teammates hugged him, his skin was sticking to their jersey, he really needed a shower.
"You bastard, you knew and still gave your shirt to Theo?" Said Jack, he hugged Matt.
"Take this, it's mine too" said Matt handing him the ball he was carrying.
"Hmmn, I was thinking of stealing it from your flat anyways" he said with a shrug, which made Matt want to take that ball back but he knew he couldn't do that.
"Take care of it, it's a reminder of your spanking" said Matt, his hand on his mouth.
"See ya in the champions league, oh wait. Someone is not qualified to" said Jack patting Matt's shoulder and moving away with the ball.
He couldn't reply to Jack, 'Next year, just you wait shit head' thought Matt.
Players were moving back to dressing room, he could see Fabregas fuming, not even shaking Wenger's hand.
Same was with Yakubu, he too didn't look delighted for the win, he moved past David who didn't even extend his hand to shake.
"You should wear that, you'll look good in it" said Wenger, shaking Matt's hand and pointing at the Arsenal jersey on his shoulder.
"I look good in anything I wear" said Matt with a smile, which made Wenger's face stiff.
He moved towards David Moyes, who looked excited as if he just saw a cute puppy.
"That's the best individual performance in the history, Mattey, the best. Owner called me, he has a gift waiting at your doorstep" said David hugging Matt and ruffling boy's hair.
"Thanks Boss, also give my thanks to Mr. Kenwright" said Matt, he moved towards the tunnel, shaking hands with people of Everton's camp.
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A large television was set on the wall, in the white painted room, well suited men sat on chairs looked at the boy reciving Man of the match award.
"I want him in every English training camp! Every single one" exclaimed Fabiano Capello.
"We play Ukraine on 15 Nov and Germany on 19. The germany one isna friendly, we can start -" said Ray Lewington, but he was interrupted by the manager.
"He's playing both. No questions asked" said Fabian, he scolded himself for not finding the boy earlier.
"San Marco!" Exclaimed Fabian making the others in the room confused, his fist clenched as he looked at the boy.
"Everyone, Matthew Delevigne is going to be the player that wins us Worldcup. I expect you to treat him as such. I won't tolerate any player or staff making snides on him because of his age. Understand?" Said Fabian.
"Yes Boss" said the management.
He was having ego clashes with the team, and bringing a 16 year old player and playing him above Rooney or scholes would create friction.
His management and strict philosophy was making team more further apart, but everything would turn around if he could win the worldcup.
The loss of euros were still weighing his conscience, he had lost all hope.
'The English was too arrogant to win anything' that's what he had thought before he saw Matt play.
"Also call that Arsenal's striker, he was exceptional too. They both are young talented players" said Fabian.
His management was now more confused, he had yet to praise a single main team player, many thought he didn't had that in his vocabulary.
But here he was singing praises of two 16 year olds.
"Tell everyone, if they want a spot in the team, they have to fight for it. Show me why you deserve it over these kids" said Fabian ending the meeting, he had seen enough. It was time for him to prepare for the future.
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"Genius. Fucking monster" exclaimed Zahavi, he watched Matt demolish Arsenal with fire.
"If he continues with this form.. I wouldn't be surprised if he.. I need to talk to some people. Quick." He said to himself, dialing a number.
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"A absolute Entertainer of a match came to an end, 7-3 to Everton, a brilliant performance by Matthew Delevigne and Jack Wilshere.
We have with us the captain of the winning team and the man of the match himself.
"How are you feeling Matthew? Do you realize what have you done tonight?" Said Richard Keys.
Matt and Phil stood side by side, Matt wearing his fresh Everton shirt glanced at Phil and began speaking, "I am just taking it all in, Boss had pulled me to the side and said to have fun on the field.. and I did that. I just saw the ball".
"Now that's interesting. You were booed by the Arsenal fans before even the game began, did that ignited a fire in you?" He asked.
Phil looked a little hesitant for Matt to answer this question.
"Not at all. I don't need that, I am a professional football player and it's my job to give 120% for the club, it's what I get paid for. It's what I owe to the club and our fans.
I play for them, not for the people booing me" said Matt, he looked serious, Phil almost chuckled at Matt's answer.
He had heard Matt before the game and he knows Matt's lying to the core.
"Phil, an important win for the team. 3 points and at the top of the table. Do you think you can win the premier league this season?" There was a mischievous glint in Richard Keys eyes.
"Now, it's too early to say that. We are at the top and right now our focus is to remain there as long as possible" said Phil, a modest answer of the captain.
"What do you think Matthew?" He asked Matt.
"Hmm, Why play in a tournament when you not even trying to win? I believe we'll win" said Matt with a straight face which made Phil's face turn awkward.
"Isn't that too arrogant? You've had a good start, but maintaining it is different. Do you truly believe that?" He asked doubling down.
"Yes, I do. And it would have been arrogant if we were not at the top of the table, unbeaten." Said Matt he didn't liked when people doubted him.
"Then I wish you best of luck. Thankyou for your time, Matthew and Phil, we look forward to the rest of the season." Said Richard ending the interview, he was sure he had done his job Good enough.
"What was that? You know, they'll slew us if we loose next game now" said Phil walking beside Matt, he looked troubled.
"We won't, just trust me captain" said Matt, flashing a grin which made Phil smile.
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When Matt was busy with his after match routine for recovery, the Twitter was having meltdown regarding his claims of Everton winning the league.
@Livred72
Boy's exceptional but delusional, few goals scored and he thinks he's Pele.
@geoBalenciao
He's got ego problem, it's apparent how he spoke. I didn't like that.
@urlovwrboy
He got that winning mentality and Arsenal let him go! Truly marvelous Arsenal haha ole ole
@puffygirl
He looked so damn good, I wish I could touch his abs. Ugh.
|>@Fbigoeswild replied to @puffygirl
He's 16, you're arrested. (Gun emoji).
|>@loveonline replied to @puffygirl
You can touch mine, I've got one big.. Ab.
It got controversial, pundits claimed of him being young and ameture, while Everton fans who were previously not convinced, now looked at him as their hope.
One thing United the people, they collectively made fun of Arsenal, even though they had scored 3 goals, Arsenal became the laughing stock of premier league for letting Matt leave the club.
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"David, I interviewed you're protegee, just few minutes back. He was very confident about Everton winning the league, is this the emotion shared by the entire club?" Asked Richard Keys to the winning manager.
"Absolutely. If we keep the performance we have, we'll definately win the league, there's no question about it" said David, on the outside he was calm, inside he was jovial.
He admired Matt's mentality, that belief in one's own ability. The last he saw someone like that was Sir Alex Ferguson himself.
"Tonight we saw Yakubu miss two chances earlier in the game. After that Matthew stopped passing to him, do you think this will create tension between players and was Matthew's decision reasonable?" Asked Richard.
"Every player has good game and bad game, and today wasn't Yakubu's. But ultimately what matters is for the team to win, and we did" said David not elaborating at the entire situation.
"Thankyou for your time David, enjoy the evening" said Richard as David moved towards the dressing room.
David entered the dressing room, it was Joyous, player laughing, talking.
Matt sat beside Mikel, he was talking to his mum on call, seeing David he said her goodbye and put down the phone.
"It was a good game, we won and it's because of the individual brilliance of two players. Yakubu, you were shit, you deserve to be called the worst striker in the league of you miss chances like that.
And You three the backbone.. Phil you are the captain, show it with your performance."
The dressing room went quite, players not looking at the manager, everyone waited for their turn.
"Howard, you did well considering how shit out defence was. If it wasn't for Matt, we would have conceded 5 more goals!" He hallowed.
His breathing was heavy, he couldn't enjoy the victory when the team was this volatile.
"You guys needs to step up your game or leave. We are here to win the league not just participate, of you think like that, give me your name for the winter transfer" said David.
"That kid's a hundred times better than you, did you think he deserves mediocre team members like you? Rather than celebrating, I want you on the training field at 7, anyone late is out of the squad" he said before leaving with Steve.
Phil didn't look at David entire time, he was disappointed at himself, at his performance.
"Hey guys, I might have announced the world that we are going to win the premier league.. so can you please give your best and atleast attempt that we finish where we are" said Matt standing up.
"Yes! We'll win the fucking league" exclaimed Arteta.
"Yup, nobody can stop us now. Just needs to work on a little" said Lascott, making Matt laugh.
The atmosphere gradually cooled down, they couldn't rest, their next game is against Manchester United after all.
(Pov end)