Chapter 868: Prelude to the AFCON |
The new year brought Tottenham fans more than the usual lively New Year dining and pub packages from bars down the street.
It also brought them their team’s first game of the year. Their 21st match in the Premier League, and it was against Watford.
The Tottenham side arranged themselves in a familiar shape across the Vicarage Road pitch.
The lineup was also well received by the fans and while some fans were concerned about Jason starting the match on the bench despite his performance in the previous game, they didn’t have much complaints about Lucas Moura who was starting.
After all, the guy had been playing very well thus far and the start one bench one from game to game dynamic that Conte had been doing with Jason and Moura had showed pleasing results so far.
However despite the expectations, the first half of the game went by without a goal.
Both teams were at their peak defensively and neither of them could barely get into the penalty box of the other team nor could they fashion many clear chances.
And this was simply because the defensive efforts of both sides were top notch.
Watford was playing a 4-4-2 formation, so it was clear that they had given up some attacking power for more compact midfield and defense and they were making it work.
At half time, Conte considered bringing Jason on to see if he could shake up the Watford side as the compact midfield and defense was where the problem lay.
With Jason pulling players out of position with his runs at defense, the other players would have more space to operate and the team would have an easier time finding a goal.
But despite that being the best option, Conte hesitated to make that decision because just the previous day, Jason had mentioned that he was still a bit tired from the previous game.
Despite alternating starting positions with Lucas Moura, the matchload had still been quite heavy for the Tottenham squad and for Jason who had just gotten back from injury, it was a lot.
Considering how hard he had played in the previous match without caring much to maintain his condition, it was expected that he’d need a bit more than three days to be at full energy.
The physios had also had a lot to say to Conte in addition to Jason’s comment about his exhaustion.
Their conjection was that if the player involved mentioned being exhausted and not feeling too well, then he should be given a rest or at worst his minutes should be kept to the barest minimum.
In the end, it was up to Conte whether to take the risk or not and after a bit of thought, he chose not to bring Jason on immediately after half time.
The Premier League was a marathon and not a sprint.
Risking Jason in a match against Watford was hardly a good decision.
So what if they drew the game or even lost?
It was better than losing an important player to injury.
There was also the added part where the AFCON tournament was about to begin and by all rights, Jason shouldn’t even have been added to the match squad for this game.
The 2021 AFCON tournament was scheduled to hold between the 9th of January 2022 and the 6th of February 2022 after been postponed from June the previous year because of abnormal weather conditions.
At this time, Jason was already supposed to be with the Nigerian National team, preparing for the competition as he had received a call-up letter, but hadn’t left just yet because the team had a tight schedule and needed all the players at this moment.
But after putting it off till now, this was already pushing it and Jason had already spoken of his intention to leave tomorrow.
If Conte made him play and he picked up an injury that made him unfit to play in the AFCON tournament, then the relationship between Jason and the club management would definitely take a hit.
In actuality, Jason was here as a mascot more than anything and Conte didn’t have any intention to actually play him unless absolutely necessary and so far, Conte didn’t think it was absolutely necessary.
The second half began shortly after and the Tottenham players immediately picked off where they left off before the whistle, doing all they could to get the first goal of the game.
However, the Watford team stayed tight at the back, doing all they could to keep the Tottenham players out of the penalty box and though they couldn’t completely achieve that, they did enough to keep the Tottenham players from finding the back of the net.
Time continued running down and with every minute that passed, the Tottenham fans got more uncomfortable and began to feel like this match might be slipping away from them.
Substitutions began to be made, but despite all the Tottenham fans expectations, Jason stayed firmly seated on the bench, not even bothering to warm-up.
Soon, it was the nintieth minute and the referee held up the board for an added five minutes, but the scoreline was still the same as at the beginning of the game.
A minute after, the board went up for a final substitution from Tottenham and Lucas Moura came off, but to the dismay of the Tottenham fans, it was Bryan Gil stepping on the field to take his place and Jason was still seated on the bench, watching the match with a bored look on his face.
Deep down, Jason wanted to step up to help the team as he didn’t like losing for any reason, but doing so would be a selfish decision.
He knew his body and he knew he wasn’t at tip-top shape at the moment.
He also knew the stakes and he knew the weight of the call-up letter he had received from his country.
He had already missed most of the World Cup Qualifiers last year due to injury and he had put off joining the national team training camp to stay with Tottenham.
Of course, he could argue that part of his reasons for staying was to gain as much match sharpness as he could before the competition began, but now that he was clearly match sharp, there was no need to push himself any further, especially now.
Football was a team sport after all and he trusted his teammates to be able to play well even if he wasn’t present and if they couldn’t even do that in today’s match, then how would they cope during the month he would be away for the AFCON tournament.
{Son places the ball into the airspace in front of goal and Davison Sanchez rises to it!} the commentator’s sudden shout instantly pulled Jason out of his thoughts and he snapped to attention just in time to see Sanhez bury the ball into the back of the Watford goal with a header from a freekick.
{OHHHHHH!!!!}
{THAT HAS TO BE IT! THAT HAS GOT TO BE IT!}
{WITH THE FINAL WHISTLE BUT SECONDS AWAY, TOTTENHAM TAKE THE LEAD!}
The stadium erupted with activity from both the Tottenham and Watford sides, but while the Watford fans were putting their hands on their heads and gnashing their teeth in agony, the Tottenham fans were screaming their lungs hoarse and jumping all over the place.
The players were even worse and were rushing towards Sanchez to celebrate the goal. Even Jason who had been on the bench a second ago was now running along with the rest of the sub players to Sanchez in excitement and celebration.
