Football singularity

Chapter 298 298 Man Like Henry

At West Ham Training Ground at the under 18 pitch a peculiar figure could be seen going through training drill. The reason he stood out wasn't due to his action, because he was in fact performing quite well in the drills his coaches had set up. The reason for he was attracting s much attention was due to the Gold and black hood with the words Titan-Fit on his head.

He wasn't the only one wore a head piece with a few lads wearing head bands or the occasional durag but still his Hood stood out. The fact he played like a man juiced full of rocket fuel didn't help matters. Every time he received the ball, he would swiftly bypass his opponents no matter how physical they got. Even the occasional time he did lose the ball he would hustle back nipping at the opponents heels not allowing them a moments of rest.

At this very moment he received the signal to begin the zone gate drill, which consisted of him having to dribble the ball past a defender and cross the gate at the other side. Tucking a loose blond lock into his hood he accelerated forward keeping close control of the ball as he approached David. He was a burly lad possessing the characteristic built English rugby players have but anyone that knew him knows how deceptive his body shape is.

He was not only strong but also moved with the grace of a Ballerina despite his imposing physique. This was the reason he had risen through the ranks of the West Ham program becoming one of the best Defensive players to emerge out of their academy. It was to such a player that Henry was confidently charging at not shying away in the slightest relishing the challenge.

Closing the distance between the two he performed two swift step overs making sure to sell it with swaying of his upper body performing feints. David's eyes narrowed as Henry approached. The two step-overs were sharp, the sway of Henry's upper body enough to trick a less experienced defender. But David wasn't falling for it. He braced himself, lowering his centre of gravity, ready to pounce the moment Henry committed to a direction.

But Henry wasn't done. After the feints, he flicked the ball slightly to his left, drawing David's attention just enough before quickly shifting his weight to the right. The ball stuck to his foot like it was magnetized, and in an instant, Henry darted past David, accelerating like a bullet.

David reached out with a desperate lunge, trying to recover, but it was too late. Henry was already through the gate, leaving David spinning in place. Their confrontation was over in a flash, Henry's sudden explosiveness had bested a defender of Davids Caliber. This was something that had never happened before largely due to the midfielder being too cautious when he dribbled know that if he lost the ball his team would be in trouble. Being the heart of the team was a double edged sword in a sense where a mistake could easily result in the momentum shifting against his team.

"Nice one, lad!" one of the coaches shouted from the sidelines, his whistle cutting through the crisp morning air. The other players watched in stunned silence, some of them shaking their heads in disbelief. "Henry boy come over here," Just as he was panting for breath, he heard the imposing voice of the teams head coach calling out to him. Not hesitating he jogged over to the man who was already walking onto the field to meet him.

Henry jogged up to the coach, wiping the sweat from his brow as he adjusted the hood. He could feel all eyes on him as he approached, the air thick with the unspoken question his teammates were too wary to ask. The head coach, a burly man with a salt-and-pepper beard and sharp eyes, stopped in front of Henry, hands on his hips.

"What is up with you, boy?" The coach's voice was firm but not unkind. "You've been a completely different player the past three days. Today especially, after putting on that weird headpiece." Henry caught his breath before answering. "Just... focused, Coach."

"Focused?" The coach raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Titan-Fit hood. "That it?" He leaned closer, voice dropping low so only Henry could hear. "Or is there something else going on I need to know about?" His mind instantly travelled to darker thoughts thinking his player had taken some illegal substances.

His sudden shift had been a little too drastic as he had seen a steady player push himself more in training, asking for advice and adopting a braver playing style. The fact the player had started to show great improvements beyond his duties as the midfields maestro. Normally he would love such improvements in one of his players, but the shift had been too drastic for him to believe it was natural.

"haha no coach I just realised there is so much more I can be doing, I'm too cautious and it was holding me back. Plus, I want to Join the Titan Honour List." Henry admitted with a bright smile before pointing at the Titan-Fit logo at the side of his hood.

The head coach's expression softened slightly as he took in Henry's bright smile. "The Titan Honor List, huh?" he mused, not quite understanding what the kid Infront of him was talking about. "Whatever the case I can see your motivated keep working hard and you'll find yourself moving up soon enough." he replied trying his best to motivate him after seeing the genuine desire to improve himself.

"That goes for the rest of you as well, we can tell you to work hard and instruct you on how to improve but we can't do it for you. Put in the extra effort if you want to make your dreams come true, we see everything and know when you're not giving it your all." He shouted to the rest of the boys who had been trying to subtly listen in on their conversation but failed badly at being discreet. Heck one of them tripped over grass that had been neatly combed to perfection by the grounds keepers.

"YES Coach!" The players shouted in response before resuming their training with even more vigour than they had been doing before. Seeing that his words where effective the head coach walked off with a hearty smile. Whatever this Titan List thing was, he was just happy that it had manged to lite a fire in Henry allowing him to motivate the rest of his teammates.

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Henry wasn't the only one to receive one of the 5,000 complimentary Titan-Fit launch hoods a thing that those who received one took great pride in. They had seen Rakim wear them before the old firm match and in some of the Advertisement videos and post's. Thus, being one of the lucky ones to receive one brought them great joy and bragging rights to their friends.

The fact the hoods weren't for sale on the Titan-Fit site made even more special creating a trend of people posting videos wearing them. The site had only been live for 3 days selling out their stocks each day with the first customers receiving their goods as soon as yesterday with next day delivery. So today they were flooding social media with post of them working out and reviewing their gears.

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To Be Continued...