But under the “weaknesses” column, it was written: “Average speed, not a speed-type player,” “Slightly thin, lacks physical strength,” “He’s not the kind of player who can run from the first minute to the last minute of a match. As a forward, his range of movement isn’t large, mainly concentrated in the midfield and front, especially near the opponent’s goal”...

To put it bluntly, these weaknesses mean that speed, stamina, and strength are not his strong suits; physically, he is quite average.

But why does someone with so many shortcomings have such a high scoring efficiency and goal count, and can always serve as the team’s main striker?

Eric Grant did not look down on school football, because in his generation of players, as well as the generation after, quite a few had played football at school during their elementary years. While schools may not necessarily produce high-level players, there could still be promising talents.

These promising talents, after joining the youth teams of professional football clubs and receiving formal training, would have their potential discovered and developed, eventually becoming qualified professional players.

David Carter never received professional training, yet he has impressive scoring ability—why?

What does he rely on to score goals?

Why is he able to score so many goals?

Eric Grant became deeply interested in this substitute.

...

While Eric Grant was puzzled about David Carter in various ways, on the field, Matthew Reed was still regretting missing a golden opportunity. After calming down from his shot, he realized he shouldn’t have shot immediately after trapping the ball, because there was a great open space at that moment, with no blue team players around. He had enough time to control the ball, adjust, or even dribble forward a bit to find a better chance to shoot...

But unfortunately, in that split second, only one thought flashed through his mind: shoot.

What he’s thinking about now never even crossed his mind at the time.

Thinking of this, he also realized who gave him that opportunity, so he turned to look at David Carter and gave him a thumbs-up.

This is the most basic etiquette on the football field: when a teammate gives you a good pass, you should show your gratitude.

Besides, in a match like this, it’s really not easy for someone to be willing to pass and create such a scoring chance for a teammate, so you should be even more grateful. If you don’t thank others, maybe next time they won’t pass to you.

Matthew Reed isn’t stupid; he knows that as a striker, he relies heavily on passes from his teammates.

...

David Carter proved his ability with his actual performance and gained the recognition of his teammates—especially with Matthew Reed’s thumbs-up, which everyone saw. If even Matthew Reed praised David Carter, what reason would anyone else have to object?

After the match resumed, whenever the red team had the ball, more and more players tended to pass it to David Carter.

David Carter no longer had to shout “pass me the ball” every time after making a pass, worried that the ball would never come back to him...

And as he kept distributing the ball in midfield, everyone gradually noticed that the red team was actually starting to gain the upper hand!

Some people didn’t understand why. Many of David Carter’s passes looked quite ordinary—not like that earlier through ball that sliced straight through the opponent’s defense—so why was the red team’s performance steadily improving?

But to those who understood, every pass from David Carter was worth studying.

Sitting in the stands, Eric Grant’s eyes grew brighter and brighter—what he thought would just be a formality might actually turn out to be a treasure hunt...

...

As the red team gradually gained the upper hand, their attacks increased, and with David Carter’s passing, the red team players got far more opportunities than when they were each playing for themselves.

They weren’t fools; they naturally understood the importance of teamwork. It’s just that before, no one wanted to humble themselves to play the supporting role for others.

Now that David Carter was willing to do it, they were happy to cooperate with him.

Eventually, they even started besieging the blue team.

But after the blue team was forced to shrink their defense, it became difficult for the red team to score, as there were hardly any good scoring chances left.

After all, David Carter was just a temporary midfielder. Although he had performed well before, he still lacked experience in the midfield position. When facing a packed defense, apart from passing the ball back and forth, he didn’t have many good ideas.

The game reached a stalemate, dragging from the first half into the second, with the score still 0:0—no one had managed to score.

However, sitting in the stands, Eric Grant didn’t find the match boring just because there were no goals. In his view, the game had only now returned to normal...

And all of this was because of that person named David Carter.

Most of the time, Eric Grant’s gaze was fixed on David Carter.

He observed him closely, not missing a single detail.

He noticed that before every time David Carter received the ball, he would turn his head back and forth—clearly, he was surveying his surroundings, not even neglecting the blind spots behind him.