My Ultimate Gacha System

Chapter 355 - 30: Carrington & Old Trafford III

Carrington Media Room

12:30 PM

The squad showered and changed into casual England tracksuits while lunch was being prepared in the canteen, and some players headed directly to eat while others stopped in the players’ lounge where Sky Sports News was showing Southgate’s pre-match press conference live from Carrington’s media room.

Demien sat with Eze, Gallagher, and Phillips on one of the sofas while the screen showed Southgate at a table with microphones and the FA backdrop behind him, and journalists sat in rows asking the questions that journalists always asked before qualifiers.

The first few questions were standard—team news, injuries, formation plans—and Southgate gave the answers that gave nothing away while sounding cooperative, and then a journalist in the third row asked the question that made Demien’s attention sharpen.

"Gareth, Demien Walter impressed on his debut Friday. Is he in contention to start tomorrow?"

Southgate’s expression didn’t change and his voice stayed level. "Demien did very well against Malta. Showed composure, quality, understanding of the game beyond his age. Tomorrow’s match is a different proposition. North Macedonia are strong, organized, experienced. They beat Ukraine two-nil in their last qualifier. We have excellent midfield options and depth. The starting eleven will be decided based on what we need tactically for this specific match."

Another journalist followed up immediately. "But he scored on his debut in just thirty-three minutes. Surely that puts him in strong consideration?"

"One performance doesn’t determine selection," Southgate said, and there was no edge in it but the firmness was clear. "Consistency matters at international level. Demien knows that. He’s nineteen years old, he’s learning, he’s adapting to senior football, and he’s got a very bright future with England. Tomorrow we’ll select the team that gives us the best chance to win three points."

Translation: He’s not starting.

But he’s playing.

Another journalist: "Liverpool and Manchester United are reportedly both interested in signing him. Does that create any distraction for the player or the camp?"

"Demien’s focused on England," Southgate said without hesitation. "What happens with his club future is between him, his representatives, and the clubs involved. That’s not my concern. My concern is his performance in an England shirt, and that’s been excellent so far."

"Will he feature tomorrow?"

"We have a twenty-five-man squad. Everyone’s available, everyone trained well today, and we’ll use the squad appropriately to get the result we need."

Non-answer, but Demien knew what it meant.

The press conference continued for another five minutes with questions about Kane’s fitness and Rice’s role and North Macedonia’s counter-attacking threat, and when it ended Sky Sports News cut back to the studio and Phillips reached for the remote and muted it.

"You’re getting at least thirty minutes," Phillips said while turning toward Demien. "Probably closer to forty-five. Gareth doesn’t mention players by name in press conferences unless they’re playing. That’s his pattern."

Gallagher nodded. "He’s protecting you from starting pressure but setting expectations that you’ll contribute. Smart management."

Demien said nothing because there was nothing to say that mattered, and the confirmation that he’d play was enough because the minutes he got would be the minutes he had to use.

Carrington Canteen

1:15 PM

Lunch was buffet-style with grilled chicken, brown rice, roasted vegetables, quinoa salads, and fruit, and the nutrition staff stood near the serving area with clipboards monitoring what players took because match day minus one required specific carbohydrate-to-protein ratios that varied by position and body weight.

Demien loaded his plate with chicken, rice, broccoli, and took a banana and water, and he found a seat at a table where Rice and Trippier were already eating while discussing North Macedonia’s right winger and how aggressive he was when tracking back defensively.

His phone buzzed in his pocket during the meal and he pulled it out to see Marco’s name on the screen with a message that had come through thirty seconds ago.

Marco:Saw Southgate’s presser. You’re playing tomorrow. Both clubs watching. Liverpool sending director of football Julian Ward. United sending technical director Darren Fletcher. No pressure—just play your game. Beat North Macedonia, then we talk Thursday/Friday. Stay focused. - M

Brief, professional, no unnecessary words, and Marco knew not to add pressure before big matches because pressure already existed and adding more didn’t help anything.

Demien didn’t reply because replying would start a conversation and conversations with agents on match day minus one were distractions, and he locked the phone and set it face-down beside his plate while he finished eating.

Kane from across the table looked up from his own meal and his eyes went to the phone briefly before coming back to Demien’s face.

"Agent checking in?" Kane asked.

"Yeah," Demien said.

"Tell him to wait until Wednesday," Kane said. "Tomorrow’s about football, not contracts."

"That’s what he said," Demien said.

Kane nodded once and went back to his food, and the brief exchange was approval rather than advice because Kane understood the pressure that came with transfer speculation during international breaks, and his acknowledgment meant more than extended conversation would have.

Old Trafford

3:30 PM

The team bus departed Carrington at three and the drive to Old Trafford took ten minutes through Sunday afternoon traffic that was light enough to make decent time, and when the stadium appeared in the distance Demien saw it properly for the first time—massive, imposing, red brick and modern construction mixed together in ways that created something iconic rather than just functional.

The bus pulled into the secure area behind the stadium and the squad disembarked and walked through the players’ entrance where security nodded them through, and the tunnel that led to the pitch had red walls and "Theatre of Dreams" signage and photographs of legends mounted in frames—Best, Charlton, Cantona, Beckham, Ronaldo, Rooney—and the history was everywhere in ways that made the walk toward the pitch feel different from walking toward any other pitch.

Demien followed the group through the tunnel and emerged into the vast bowl of the stadium, and even empty it was imposing in ways that smaller grounds weren’t because seventy-five thousand seats wrapping around the pitch in three tiers created a scale that changed how you thought about playing football in front of people.

He walked toward the center circle and stopped there and turned slowly to take it in properly—the Stretford End towering at one side, the main stand opposite, the corners open to sky, the pitch perfect even though tomorrow’s match would tear it up slightly, and the emptiness somehow made it feel bigger because imagination filled the seats with seventy-five thousand people who would be here tomorrow night.

Rice walked past and his voice carried without him needing to raise it. "Wait till it’s full. Noise is different here. It’s inside your chest, not just your ears. You’ll feel it before you hear it."

Kane was standing near the penalty spot looking at the goal and his body language showed he was visualizing because visualization before matches in venues you’d played before was part of preparation, and he’d scored here for England multiple times and knew exactly what the feeling was when the net rippled and seventy-five thousand people roared at once.

Southgate let the squad explore for fifteen minutes and players walked around checking different things—pitch firmness, sight lines from various positions, how the stands felt from different angles on the field—and goalkeepers were testing how the goal looked from twenty yards versus thirty yards while defenders were checking where they’d position themselves for different attacking patterns.

Demien walked to the spot thirty yards from goal where central midfielders received the ball in transition, and he stood there and looked up at the stands and imagined them full and singing, and the scale was different from Gewiss Stadium’s twenty-one thousand and different from San Siro’s sixty thousand because this was seventy-five thousand people in a tighter configuration that trapped sound and pushed it back down onto the pitch.

This was what he’d worked for.

This was the level.

Southgate’s whistle cut through the quiet and his voice carried across the pitch. "Right, back to the bus. We’ve seen enough."

The squad filed back through the tunnel and Demien took one last look at the pitch before entering the red-walled corridor, and tomorrow night this would be lit and full and loud and real, and the mental image sitting in his head now would become the actual experience in less than twenty-four hours.

The Lowry Hotel — Conference Room

6:00 PM

The final team meeting before match day happened in the same conference room where Friday’s Malta meeting had happened, and the squad sat in the same general positions while Southgate stood at the front with the tactical board and the projection screen showing North Macedonia’s crest.

The lineup still wasn’t announced but the preparation was specific now rather than general, and Southgate’s approach shifted from teaching to confirming.

"North Macedonia’s expected lineup," he said, and the screen changed to show their formation with names in each position. "Four-four-two mid-block. Elmas and Bardhi in central midfield. They’ll press our pivots aggressively and intelligently. Trajkovski and Churlinov on the wings—both have genuine pace on the counter. Miovski up front—physical player, strong in the air, good at holding up play."

Video clips played showing their goal against Ukraine where the counter-attack developed in four seconds from winning possession to scoring, and then their defensive organization against Italy where they held a clean sheet for seventy minutes before conceding to a set piece, and then their set piece threat where they loaded the box with five or six players and attacked crosses with real intent.

Southgate let the clips run without commentary and then paused the screen. "We need to be patient tomorrow. Move them side to side. Stretch their defensive block. When space opens in the half-spaces, exploit it quickly with quality. Don’t force passes that aren’t there. They want us to rush decisions. We won’t give them that."