Rise of a Football God

Sam returned to the hotel just before the 7:00am mark.

After greeting his father who was just waking up, he took his bath, got set before quickly taking the car off to Craven Cottage, his team's home stadium.

A little while ago in Nigeria, since he already hit 18 years, the legal driving age, Mr. Moses finally taught his son how to drive.

Sam already got his driving license.

Just like Alex Iwobi advised, Sam took it a step closer, arriving at Craven Cottage when it was just 7:15am.

He was the very first Fulham player to arrive for training.

About 15 minutes later, other players arrived and a few more minutes later, Coach Marco Silva also arrived.

Without wasting anytime, the manager quickly led his players to the gym in the stadium. Sam already knew before now that different managers had different coaching and training styles, but this was his first time experiencing it.

Unlike Coach Yemi Daniel's style of taking his players to the pitch, taking them through some light training before ramping it up, the Fulham manager, Marco Silva's ways were more modern, more refined. Find exclusive stories on empire

Entering the gym, Sam quickly noted something. 'It's far more advanced than any other gym I've seen in Nigeria'.

'Damn! I'm going to love this'.

Alongside the other players, following the instruction of the assistant coaches, the players started working out in the gym.

The first set of exercises were game-recovery exercises.

The feat of defeating Arsenal in their last game was not an easy one. After such a grueling defeat, most of the players comprising the starting XI of Fulham FC were still suffering from post-match fatigue.

This was why the first set of exercises were post-match recovery exercises.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After the unique set of exercises, Coach Marco Silva took it up a notch, giving his players freedom to work on themselves the best way they knew.

Most of the players, especially the defenders immediately started lifting weights and working on their legs, trying to condition their physicality.

As for the forwards and midfielders, they mostly did agility training, using the treadmill and other modern gym facilities.

In the gym, Sam followed Alex Iwobi's leadership, sticking to his fellow Nigerian like glue. They started in the treadmill, jogging at first before progressing to a full-blown sprint before reducing the intensity again.

After about 40 minutes of exercising in the gym, Coach Marco Silva clapped. "Ok, that's enough, time to go outside to the pitch".

"You have 10 minutes of rest, catch your breath and join me on the field".

"Yes, coach". The players answered.

"How are you feeling?" Alex Iwobi asked as Sam chugged down a bottle of water.

Hearing the question, Sam smiled and looked at him. "I feel great, better than before even. I can't wait to impress the coach".

Alex grinned. "I love your confidence; you'll need it in the premier league".

Just like the coach said, he kept to his time and exactly 10 minutes later, he entered the gym again, clapping loudly and summoning them to the pitch.

On the pitch, the real team training finally started.

After a few more general training drills, Coach Marco Silva divided his players, separating them into 6 vs 6 sides. This was the first real training game of the day.

Sam was isolated in a team filled with foreign faces, and the team he was facing was that having Alex Iwobi.

He was not deterred though; he was determined to do his thing.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the game started, Sam showed his intensity and physicality, running all over the place, showing his incredible stamina as he won back the ball frequently while winning most duels.

He didn't play like an 18-year-old at all, rather, he played like an imposing young man who was in the prime of his physicality.

Sam was in a great mood; he was enjoying the game.

He would have been the best player of this game, if it was not so technical.

In 6 vs 6 games, the pitch was not as open as an 11 vs 11 game. The space to run in was much smaller, time spent on the ball was shorter which meant a shorter time frame to make decisions.

6 vs 6 games were games of technicality and fast decision making.

Sam covered the most distance in the game but it was clear that his technicality was not yet at that elite level of his teammates.

Despite this though, Sam was a stand-out performer as he showcased his skills to his coach, helping his side win 6-5 against Alex Iwobi's side.

After the game, the Nigerian international approached him with a big smile on his face, wiping his sweat. "You're good Sam".

"Honestly, I didn't expect such a performance, kudos man".

Sam grinned. "Thanks". Then, he sneaked in a cheeky question. "Do you think I'll make it into the coach's starting XI for the next game?"

Alex smiled. "Not a chance man. Don't get me wrong, you were one of the stand-out performers today, but Silva is not that flexible".

"I've worked with him before in Everton so I know. He prefers sticking with proven veterans rather than exciting new players, so you'll need to prove yourself to him over an extended period of time before he really trusts you".

Sam grimaced. "Thought so".

Coach Marco Silva introduced more training drills as time went on. Throughout though, the coach never set up an 11 vs 11 training game, sticking with the smaller 6 vs 6 and 3 vs 3 games.

After a few hours of going at it, the coach finally called it a day, today's training was over.

After Fulham's game against Arsenal on 31st December, they had 4 days of rest before their next game which was in the FA Cup.

Fulham would be taking on Rotherham on 5th January 2024, a club from England's lesser divisions in the FA Cup third round.

And after the training session, Coach Marco Silva finally dropped his starting XI.

Samuel Moses was not part of the names that made the list.