Every evening, after training ended, the Newton Heath Training Base would look empty.
Ethan walked out of his office, first passing through the corridor between the first-team and youth-team training grounds.
Messi, Curtis, Evra, Michael Johnson, and several other players who lived near the training base were still doing extra training. They had a good relationship and often hung out together.
In truth, calling it extra training was more like playing around. They had nothing to do back at their lodgings, so they voluntarily stayed behind to practice after training ended. However, seeing them play football so freely and casually on the pitch, it was clear that they enjoyed the fun of the game more here than they did in actual matches.
Although the club had clear regulations regarding youth-team training hours, their activities were just for fun, so the coaching staff did not prohibit them. Furthermore, they were clearly not the only ones staying behind to train on their own.
Ishmael Miller was also one of those who most frequently stayed behind for extra training. He focused on strength and agility training, but his passion for technique remained unchanged. At the same time, he followed the coaching staff's advice and added heading practice to his routine.
Sometimes, watching Miller on the pitch, Ethan could not help but feel expectant. His arrival had changed so much. If this kid could really continue developing according to the current trend, he might truly become an Ibrahimović with lethal heading ability, and his physical condition would be even better than Ibrahimović's.
He would definitely become a treasure for the club!
Ethan naturally valued such treasures highly. He had even begun researching how to provide better conditions to keep Miller, as well as Messi and a whole group of others.
Scouts in England were everywhere, and there were many clubs around Manchester. If any Premier League team took a fancy to a rising star from New Manchester United and offered lucrative terms to lure them away, it would be very difficult for New Manchester United to keep them.
Ethan was helpless about this. All he could do was try his best to prevent such situations from happening.
Walking into the first-team training ground, he could hear the thumping sound of footballs being struck from a distance. From afar, he saw a Brazilian practicing free kicks outside the penalty area. He lined the balls up one by one at a distance of about 30 meters from goal, then struck them one after another. Some went in, some missed, but he kept going regardless.
"How many free kicks do you practice after training every day, Ribeiro?" Ethan arrived near the penalty spot and asked, staring at the sweating Juninho.
"100 to 200, depending on the situation!" As Juninho answered, he had already struck another free kick. The ball traced an arc through the air and dipped into the top corner.
Ethan noticed that at the very moment the ball entered the net, a flash of joy crossed Juninho's eyes.
"I haven't seen you show your free kicks on the pitch!" Ethan sat down on the grass.
Although New Manchester United were only a fifth-tier club, the grass on the first-team training ground was soft and very comfortable.
"Darren Lyons has a high success rate from free kicks, and he has been taking the team's free kicks and corners for the past two years."
"But you can ask him. I believe Darren would definitely be happy to give you that opportunity. You know, everyone on the team is very willing to help you."
Hearing Ethan's words, Juninho clearly hesitated for a moment, but he still ran a few steps and struck another free kick.
"When did you start practicing free kicks?" Ethan changed the subject.
"Over a year ago, when I was at Vasco da Gama, a coach who had retired as a player told me that if I wanted to establish myself in Europe, I had to have more specialties, especially when I didn't have much talent."
"So, from that time on, you made a plan for yourself to do extra training every day after training ended?" Ethan stared at Juninho and asked.
No free-kick expert could succeed on talent alone. Masters of the free kick like Beckham and Roberto Carlos all achieved their superb level through hard training.
In football, putting in the sweat did not guarantee a proportional reward, but if you did not put in the sweat, you definitely would not get even the slightest reward.
The same was true in other areas of real life!
Juninho did not answer Ethan. He just kept striking the balls one by one. Roughly every five or six shots, one would carve a beautiful arc and fly into the goal.
That was his success rate in training. In a real match, he believed the conversion rate would drop, but it was still considered very high. After all, a free kick could not be taken like a penalty. Otherwise, it would truly be unstoppable.
"I think you should be more proactive. Talk to Darren and ask to take the free kicks and corners. You are the core of our team. You should be more confident and more proactive so that others will recognize you!"
Ethan's words made Juninho stop again. He gritted his teeth, as if hesitating over something.
After a short while, he seemed to have made up his mind. He looked up and gazed at Ethan.
"Boss, my agent helped me contact a club back in Brazil. They are willing to pay the same price to take me back to Brazil... You already knew?" Seeing that Ethan was not surprised, Juninho immediately guessed something.
Ethan smiled slightly. "There are no secrets in football, and how big can the football world be? Have you thought it through?"
Unsure of what Ethan meant, Juninho still nodded. "Yes."
"That's really terrible. We went to great lengths to convince you to join us back then, but it hasn't even been two months, and you want to go back? I still remember that at the time, you were trying every possible way to leave Brazil!"
"I'm very sorry, Boss. I don't think I'm suited for this place. The club, the head coach, and you have all taken great care of me, and for that, I am extremely grateful. But being unaccustomed is just being unaccustomed. It's like when I was in Brazil, I loved going to the balcony every morning to watch the sunrise, but in Manchester, I can only ever see grey, misty fog."
"Is this your reason for wanting to go back?" Ethan still did not express his stance.
"Yes!" Juninho was much more resolute this time.
Ethan stood up from the ground, walked forward a few steps, arrived in front of a football, and nudged it with his foot a few times.
"After you go back to Brazil, what are your plans? Continue playing in Brazil? Would you still want to come to Europe?"
Juninho was clearly somewhat unprepared for this question and hesitated. "I suppose... if there's an opportunity, I will come back."
"And what if you're still unaccustomed?" Ethan suddenly turned his head, stared at him, and asked, "Will you still decide to return to Brazil in less than two months? Or endure it for half a year before going back?"
Juninho was instantly rendered speechless. He really did not know how to answer this question.
"Don't think about it, Ribeiro. You are 24 years old this year, not 4, and not a child. You are an adult. You are already shouldering the livelihood of a family. Do you really think you are the kind of child who can cry and go home after suffering a grievance, asking your parents to hold you and coax you to sleep?"
Juninho was somewhat surprised because Ethan had always been gentle when speaking to him and had never been as agitated as he was now.
"If it were me, when I encountered difficulties, I would find every possible way to solve them. I would not escape, because escaping can never solve problems. But right now, Ribeiro, look at your actions. You are escaping, do you know that?"
Ethan raised his voice, and the sound carried far across the empty Newton Heath Training Base, reaching Evra and the others in the distance, who immediately looked over.
When they saw Ethan talking with Juninho, who had been performing poorly lately, they immediately assumed Ethan was there to scold the Brazilian awake, so they did not dare come over to disturb them and only watched from afar.
"The club's coaching staff and The Lab are all trying every way to help you solve this. Do you know why Bruce wanted you to sit on the bench? You think it's because you performed poorly? Not entirely. It's more because he hoped you could sit on the bench and properly watch how your teammates play and how they move. But what about you? You were only thinking about how to escape this damn place. Am I right?"
Juninho was left speechless by Ethan's questioning.
In fact, when he made the decision to leave Manchester, his agent Faou was also completely against it, because Juninho had only just managed to leave Brazil with great difficulty. If he were to return now, would that not be repeating the same mistake?
"I specifically hired a data collection company. I had them track the team for 6 matches and produce a report this thick, just hoping that by looking at data from every aspect, we could see exactly what went wrong between you and the club. But you tell me at this moment that you're quitting?"
"Damn it!" Ethan cursed. He was fuming, extremely angry.
Juninho did not know how to answer Ethan. Indeed, Ethan and everyone at New Manchester United had already done everything they could for him. His decision to leave at this time was undoubtedly a betrayal of the team, so it was no wonder Ethan was so angry.
But he really, really did not want to stay in this place any longer.
"I am very disappointed in you, Ribeiro. I'm telling you, if you leave now, then don't ever think about succeeding in European football in the future, because this experience will become a permanent psychological burden, and you will only ever drift along in the Brazilian league for the rest of your life."
After pausing for a moment, Ethan continued, "Also, our team brought you in hoping you would succeed. For this, we have also made a considerable amount of effort. We have given you help in every aspect. I will not let you leave, because I cannot let our hard work go to waste."
"You still have a four-year contract with our team, Ribeiro. I will call Faou. I will tell him that there is no possibility of you leaving. Even if the other side offers 10 million pounds, I will not let you go. For the next 4 years, you will only play for our New Manchester United. If you want to leave, fine, you will gain your freedom in 4 years, but during these 4 years, don't even think about it!"
"Whether you want to sit on the bench for 4 years and then leave in disgrace, or be proactive, open up your heart to adapt to this environment, show your strength, strive to gain everyone's recognition, and then earn a higher salary or attract the attention of higher-level teams, that depends on how you choose, Ribeiro!"
Having said that, Ethan turned and walked away assertively!
(To be continued.)