My Goalkeeping System

"You know, Dave, you're a really good goalkeeper, there's nothing that disputes but to be honest I think you should really consider changing position?" Mr. Lucas expressed as he made his way toward the tunnel alongside Dave.

"I should consider changing position?" Dave replied.

"Yeah, just think about it, your vision is wonderful and your passing ability isn't lacking either, that's why you're able to set up the likes of Mateo from your goalpost, to top that off, your shooting is also very powerful, you'll do perfectly well as a midfielder, striker or winger," Lucas explained.

"Yeah, I sort of know all that but you could also say the same about my goalkeeping skills," Dave said without hesitation.

"Yeah, I did say that there was nothing to dispute your goalkeeping skills but if I were someone like you who had the skills to be a midfielder, forward, or goalkeeper, staying in between the sticks the whole game would be the last choice I would make." Lucas expressed before suddenly stopping at the entrance to the tunnel.

"And why is that?" Dave asked before placing his hand on his chin. "Because goalkeepers tend to get overshadowed by the ones contributing to the goals on the field no matter how hard they try in their own role."

"Exactly, you seem to understand where I'm coming from," Lucas said as his face immediately lit up with a smile.

'I see, you think just like my father.' The goalkeeper thought with his gaze on the coach.

"Is there a problem, Dave?" Lucas asked after realizing that he was strangely looking at him.

"No, it's nothing, I was just spacing out for a while." He said as he slowly shook his head.

"Oh."

"I'll give a thought to the idea you just passed on to me, thank you, I'll get going now." The goalkeeper said before he turned to continue his walk down the tunnel.

"You're welcome, I hope you make the right choice, a talent like yours shouldn't be wasted standing between the sticks."

"Yeah, I hope I make the right choice." The goalkeeper stopped for a while to reply to him before he continued his walk down the tunnel.

<For a goalkeeping coach, he sure doesn't value goalkeepers that much>

'You're right in some sense, but that isn't exactly the case.' Dave replied.

<Then what is exactly the case?>

'He recognizes my skill as a goalkeeper, but he also recognizes the other things I can do and just thinks that somebody who can do stuff like that would be better off contributing directly to the game rather than staying in between the sticks.'

<According to everything he said, I'm pretty sure he doesn't rate goalkeepers that highly just like everyone else but let's forget about that for now>

'Huh.'

<I can see that you haven't made a decision based on what he told you, why's that?>

'Why's that? Is that supposed to be a question, Catherine?'

<Of course, did it sound like anything else? I thought it was your dream to become a top goalkeeper, a better goalkeeper than your grandfather, why are you questioning that path now?>

'I…um, I'm not questioning it, I'm just trying to piece things together.' Dave replied.

<You're considering? Wow, and I thought your will of becoming and staying a goalkeeper was unshakable>

'It's not like that, Catherine, you can look through my mind, right? Why don't you do that and see for yourself?'

<No, I'm not going to do that, I want you to tell me what stupid choice you made yourself> The tone of her voice suddenly changed as she said this.

'Let's just change the topic, Catherine, I have a match to win tomorrow, I can't afford to worry about something like this.' He replied but there was no response from her. 'Oh, she's quiet now, that's great.'

The goalkeeper walked into the locker room to see that some of his teammates had already left but Mateo and a few others were still there.

"That was quite a long conversation between you and Mr. Lucas," Mateo said as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper.

"Yeah, you could say that," Dave said as he made his way to him and sat down beside him.

"Oh, then you two happened to be talking about something really important, what was it?" The winger asked.

"I'm not sure it really falls into that category, but if you want to know, he was just advising me on how good it would be for me to change position," Dave said before crossing his arms.

"Change positions? You mean like stop being a goalkeeper?"

"Yeah, I sort of know already, but he said I would make a good midfielder or forward." The goalkeeper said.

"Well, he's not the only one who has that idea, a lot of people have been saying the same thing, I'm sure you must have heard something about it even before he decided to speak to you about it." Mateo expressed.

"Yeah, but he's the first person to say it with great persuasion, it felt a bit like the time when my dad was forcing me to give up on becoming a goalkeeper and choose another position."

"Oh," Mateo said before slowly putting his head down. "But you know, he isn't wrong with the suggestion he made to you, you would make a formidable attacking midfielder."

"Attacking midfielder? You think so?"

"Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea, this isn't me advising you or trying to persuade you to change position, I'm just saying what I think, you make a formidable goalkeeper too, and I feel more at ease on the pitch whenever you're in between the sticks."

"It's really nice hearing that from you, Mateo," Dave said. "So, you think goalkeeping suits me best?"

"Yeah, but at the end of the day, it's your choice." The winger said.

'As expected, he doesn't look down on goalkeepers.' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.

"If you're not planning on staying here any longer, I think we should get going." The goalkeeper said before pulling out both of his boots.

"Yeah, everyone's gone now." The winger said as he looked around the locker room.

He wasn't kidding, the locker room was pretty much empty and quiet now.

_______ _______

Dave spent the rest of the day sleeping after returning from his training session.

He woke up by 8:00 PM only to discover that he didn't turn off his dream control feature but Catherine didn't appear to him while he was asleep, and she was still quiet.

"Still quiet, eh." He muttered under his breath before slowly sitting up on the bed.

He went downstairs to discover that Emma had already made something nice for dinner.

At first, he was a bit wary because he thought that it was going to turn into another one of those crazy nights but after a while, he came to the conclusion that she had no intention of disturbing him or trying to get on his nerves, she seemed to be in quite a cheerful mood.

After eating his fill, the goalkeeper made his way to the living room to see what he could learn from the highlights of the matches that took place earlier during the day.

He had his gaze on the screen but his thoughts seem to have drifted off elsewhere, hence he wasn't able to realize that Emma was standing right in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Hey!"

She had to get a bit loud to knock him out of his own mind.

"Oh, when did you get here?" He asked as soon as he snapped out of his daze.

"Hmm, looks something seems to be troubling my husband." She said before slowly sitting down beside him. "What is it? I'll listen."

"Hmph, you seem to be acting quite sweet tonight."

"What are you talking about, when have I not been sweet to you?"

Looking at her eyes, he could see the flames lighting up.

"I…um, didn't mean it like that?"

"Ah, forget it, just tell me what's got you all worked up?" She asked.

"Um….I don't even know how to explain this to you." He said.

"Explain it in any way, I'll understand somehow, that's part of my job as a journalist." She expressed.

"Okay, fine." He said before letting out a sigh. "You're a sports journalist who keeps up with almost all my matches right?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"And you have assessed my skills and know most of the things I can do on the pitch, right?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"Now tell me, if I were to suddenly become an attacking midfielder, what would you think of it?" He asked.

It took her a while to process that question before giving him an answer.

"I know you're going to tell me first before going through with it, I would be surprised although I think you would make a great attacking midfielder from what I've seen, that role fits you fine, maybe more than a goalkeeper from what I've seen from your improved self." She replied.

"Is that your answer?"

He was quite shocked, but he had to hide the expression.

"Yeah, but I think it's really funny how you fought with your father all these years because you wanted to be a goalkeeper and even somehow fought to show him that you could make it in that position, and then you got serious and managed to make it to this point, finally getting recognized as a good goalkeeper." She expressed before turning her gaze to him. "And now you want to abandon that position for an undoubtedly better one that will no doubt fetch you more fame and wealth. I think you know the answer to what you're asking deep down, Dave."

After saying all that, she got up from the couch and returned to the kitchen to finish what she was doing.

Dave stayed like that for a while with his gaze on the television elsewhere and after a little while longer, he let out a deep sigh before crashing onto the couch.

'You're still not going to talk, Catherine.' He said subconsciously before slowly closing his eyes.

*****

Hey, guys, I'm sorry I had to stop updates without notifying you, but there were things I needed to take care of.

Updates are still going to be a bit shaky after this one but daily updates will resume fully next month no doubt about that.