Sunday, October 30, 2022

Demien's Apartment, Bergamo

11:47 PM

The night after the Inter match didn't turn into celebration.

Demien unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside while the quiet settled around him immediately, and the television in the living room was off and the space felt empty because Sophia had driven back to Milan hours earlier.

He dropped his bag near the couch and pulled out his phone while walking toward the kitchen to grab water, and the screen lit up with notifications he'd been ignoring since leaving the stadium—messages from teammates, texts from Marco congratulating him on the performance, Instagram mentions climbing past three hundred.

He opened Twitter first because that's where the immediate reaction always lived.

Italian broadcast clips were already looping—his second goal from three different angles, the assist to Malinovskyi shown in slow motion with tactical lines overlaid, a compilation of his first-half touches with statistics displayed at the bottom showing pass completion and duels won.

The commentary was in Italian but the tone was clear even without translation—praise for the first half dominance, concern about the late collapse, analysis of how Atalanta had nearly thrown away a comfortable lead.

He scrolled further and found English accounts starting to circulate shorter clips—ten-second videos of individual moments rather than full sequences—and the commentary beneath them was slower to praise but quicker to speculate about what it meant for his profile.

@PremierLeagueDaily: Demien Walter putting in another MOTM performance. 18 years old. Playing like this in Serie A. Southgate was watching.

@TacticalAnalysis_: Two goals, one assist, complete midfield control for 60 minutes. This is what elite creative output looks like at any level.

@EnglandFans_Official: If Southgate doesn't call him up after tonight, what's the point of scouting?

His name wasn't everywhere yet, but it was appearing in the right places—accounts that mattered, voices that influenced opinion, spaces where scouts and coaches paid attention.

Demien scrolled past it without engaging and locked his phone.

He drank his water standing at the kitchen counter while exhaustion settled into his bones, and by the time he finished the glass his eyelids felt heavy and his body demanded rest more than his mind wanted to process the match.

He showered quickly, set his alarm for eight AM, and climbed into bed while the apartment stayed dark and quiet around him.

There was a midweek game coming.

Sleep came within minutes.

***

Monday, October 31, 2022

Centro Bortolotti Training Complex

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Monday was recovery.

The training ground was quieter than usual when Demien arrived at quarter to ten, and the main pitch was empty while most of the squad remained inside the training center going through post-match protocols that prioritized rest over intensity.

Inside the recovery room, starters from yesterday's match moved through stations—ice baths set to exactly four degrees Celsius where players sat for ten-minute intervals, massage tables where physios worked on tight muscles and sore joints, stationary bikes for light cardiovascular work that kept blood flowing without stressing depleted systems.

Demien spent fifteen minutes in the ice bath with Koopmeiners and De Roon, and the cold bit into his legs while his breath came short and controlled, and when the timer went off all three climbed out simultaneously and moved to the next station.

At eleven-thirty, one of the assistant coaches found him near the massage tables and gestured toward the analysis room.

"Analysts want you for thirty minutes," the coach said. "Video review."

Demien nodded and followed him down the corridor to a small room with a large television mounted on the wall and three chairs arranged in front of it, and two analysts were already inside with laptops open and footage queued.

"Sit," the first analyst said while pointing at the center chair. "We're looking at Inter. Not the goals. The moments where control slipped."

The video played and showed sequences from the second half—Demien on the bench, Atalanta's circulation slowing without him controlling the space between lines, Inter's press becoming more effective as gaps opened that hadn't existed in the first forty-five minutes.

The analysts didn't linger on praise.

"Here," the first analyst said while pausing the video at the sixty-fourth minute. "Koopmeiners receives in the same area you'd been operating all first half. But look at his body position—he's facing backward because Zapata's movement doesn't create the same passing angle you would have."

The second analyst added context.

"Your positioning pulls defenders in ways that create space for others. When you came off, that dynamic disappeared and the circulation became predictable."

They reviewed three more sequences—each showing tactical breakdowns that stemmed from the substitution—and the tone stayed instructional rather than critical because the point wasn't blaming anyone but understanding how individual presence affected collective function.

The session ended at twelve-fifteen, and Demien left knowing more about his role than he'd understood before watching the footage.

By twelve-thirty training concluded for the day, and the system notification appeared as he walked toward the locker room.

「TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE」

「Quality: Recovery」

「REWARD: +10 TP」

「Current Balance: 50 TP | 102 SP | 179 MP」

He dismissed it without ceremony and headed home.

At the main entrance, three journalists stood near the parking area with cameras and notepads, and when Demien emerged one of them called out.

"Demien, are you starting Wednesday against Monza?"

He kept walking while shaking his head once.

"No comments today. Thank you."

They didn't follow, and he was in his car and driving away before any follow-up questions could be asked.

He left knowing he wouldn't start on Wednesday, and he understood why—rotation before Juventus on Sunday, managing workload across three matches in eight days, protecting an eighteen-year-old body from overuse.

It made sense.

***

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Centro Bortolotti Training Complex

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

By Tuesday the focus shifted completely to Monza.

The tone around the club changed from Sunday's post-match relief to professional preparation for a fixture that carried different dangers than Inter had presented, and conversations in the locker room before training reflected the shift.

"Trap game," Hateboer said while lacing his boots. "Everyone's already thinking about Juventus."

"That's how you lose points," De Roon replied. "Monza sits deep, waits for mistakes. We get impatient and force things, they counter once and steal a draw."

Training was sharper than Monday's recovery session but shorter than a typical preparation day, and Gasperini organized the squad into patterns built around breaking compact defensive blocks through quick side-to-side circulation that forced defenders to shift laterally until gaps appeared.

Demien trained fully but his workload was managed—he participated in possession drills and small-sided games but sat out the eleven-versus-eleven scrimmage that closed the session—and the coaching staff's intent was clear about preserving his legs for later in the week.

Near the perimeter fence where media were allowed to observe from distance, four journalists watched while taking notes, and when training ended one of them spoke into his phone recording a voice memo.

"Rotation is coming for Monza. Walter trained but wasn't in the starting group for the full scrimmage. Juventus is already in their minds."

The system notification appeared as players walked toward the locker room.

「TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE」

「Quality: Tactical」

「REWARD: +10 TP」

「Current Balance: 60 TP | 102 SP | 179 MP」

***

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo

Atalanta vs Monza

6:30 PM - Pre-Match

Matchday against Monza felt different from Sunday's atmosphere.

The stadium wasn't buzzing when Demien arrived two hours before kickoff—just steady noise from early fans filing through the gates—and the energy carried workmanlike focus rather than anticipation of a showcase fixture.

In the dressing room, the starting lineup was posted and Demien's name wasn't on it, and he'd known since Tuesday that rotation was coming so the absence didn't register as disappointment.

He changed into his substitute's kit—black shorts and the training top with number 28—and moved through his pre-match routine while the starters prepared with more intensity.

7:45 PM - First Half

Atalanta dominated possession from the opening whistle but struggled to find rhythm against Monza's organized defensive block, and the visitors sat deep with two banks of four that compressed space centrally and forced Atalanta wide where crosses could be defended more easily.

Demien watched from the bench while the first half dragged—Atalanta's circulation was patient but lacked the penetration that creates clear chances, and Monza's physicality disrupted the tempo whenever Atalanta players tried to accelerate through midfield.

The halftime whistle blew with the score still 0-0.

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