Friday's training match was a disaster. The players were flat, uninspired, going through the motions like they were fulfilling an obligation rather than pursuing excellence. The pressing was disjointed, the transitions were sloppy, and the communication was nonexistent.

It was like all the work we'd done, all the hours of analysis and drilling and coaching, had evaporated overnight. Connor showed up with no apology, no explanation, just joined the warm-up like nothing had happened, but he was a ghost on the pitch, barely moving, barely trying.

I tried to coach through it, but my voice was hoarse, my mind foggy, my body running on fumes. I was making mistakes calling Jake "James," telling Reece to press when I meant to tell him to drop, and contradicting myself mid-instruction. The players looked confused, frustrated, lost. And I couldn't help them because I was just as lost as they were.

When the whistle blew to end the session, I didn't have the energy to debrief them. I just sent them home with a wave of my hand and stood on the touchline, staring at the empty pitch, wondering how it had all gone so wrong so quickly.

Saturday morning, Emma arrived, and the moment I opened the door to my flat, her smile faded. "Jesus, Danny. You look terrible."

"Thanks," I said, trying for humor but landing somewhere closer to exhaustion. "You look great too."

She stepped inside, dropped her bag, and put her hands on her hips in that way that meant I was about to get a lecture. "When was the last time you slept? Properly, I mean. Not passing out on the couch for three hours."

"I've been busy."

"You've been killing yourself." She walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and stared at the contents or lack thereof. A block of cheese that might have been white or might have been moldy. Two energy drinks. Something that might have been a sandwich last week but was now a science experiment. "Danny, what are you doing?"

"Working."

"You're not working. You're self-destructing." She turned to face me, and I saw something in her eyes that made my chest tighten. Not anger. Worry. Real, genuine worry. "Sit down. Tell me what's going on."

So I did. I sat on my couch the same couch where I'd spent the last five nights falling asleep with my laptop on my chest and I told her everything. About the week, about trying to coach every player and analyze every session and fix every mistake.

About Gary's words. About Connor walking out. About feeling like I was failing despite working harder than I ever had in my life.

Emma listened, her expression shifting from concern to frustration to something softer, something that looked like understanding. When I finished, she was quiet for a long moment, just looking at me like she was trying to figure out how to say something I didn't want to hear.

"You know what your problem is?" she said finally.

"Enlighten me."

"You think asking for help makes you weak. You've been doing everything yourself for so long at the convenience store, at Moss Side, in your whole bloody life since your dad died that you don't know how to let people in. You don't know how to trust that other people can carry some of the weight. But Danny, you're not at Moss Side anymore. You're at a Premier League club. They have resources. They want to help you. But you have to let them."

"What if I ask for help and they think I can't handle it?"

"What if you don't ask for help and you actually can't handle it?" She leaned forward, her voice gentle but firm. "You're not a one-man army anymore. You don't have to be. And honestly? You shouldn't be. Even Klopp has a coaching staff. Even Guardiola has specialists. Why do you think you're supposed to do it all alone?"

I didn't have an answer.

Or maybe I did, but it was too painful to say out loud. Because admitting I needed help felt like admitting I wasn't good enough, that I didn't deserve to be here, that everyone who'd ever doubted me every coach who'd overlooked me, every scout who'd passed me by, every voice in my head that said I was just a County League manager playing dress-up at a Premier League club was right.

"You're brilliant, Danny," Emma continued, and her voice cracked just slightly, just enough that I knew she meant it. "But you're also stubborn and proud and a bit of an idiot sometimes. You've proven you can do the job. Now prove you're smart enough to build a team around you."

We spent the rest of the weekend together, and Emma did what Emma always did she forced me back to being human. She made me sleep, made me eat proper meals that didn't come from a takeaway bag, made me step away from the laptop and the system and the endless spiral of analysis and planning.

We walked through a park, the summer sun warm on our faces, and for a few hours I wasn't a coach or a manager or a man trying to prove himself. I was just Danny, with Emma, and it was exactly what I needed.

Sunday evening, as she packed her bag to catch the train back to Manchester, she turned to me with that look that meant she was about to make me promise something. "Promise me you'll talk to Gary. Promise me you'll ask for help."

"I promise."

She kissed me, and I tasted salt tears, though I wasn't sure if they were hers or mine. "Good. Because I didn't come all the way to London just to watch you work yourself to death."

After she left, I sat on the couch in the quiet of my flat, the London skyline glittering through the window like a million tiny promises. The system, which had been mercifully silent all weekend, flickered back to life with a single notification that felt almost gentle, almost understanding.

[SYSTEM] Week 2 Complete. Progress: Significant tactical improvement. Warning: Unsustainable workload detected. Recommendation: Build a coaching staff to support long-term development.

I stared at the notification for a long moment, then smiled a tired, genuine smile that felt like the first real emotion I'd allowed myself all week. "Alright," I said aloud to the empty room. "Message received."

Monday morning, I would talk to Gary. I would ask for help. I would admit that I couldn't do this alone, that I wasn't supposed to do this alone, that trying to be everything to everyone was a recipe for failure. I would build a team not because I was weak, but because I was smart enough to know that even the best managers in the world didn't do it alone.

I picked up my phone and texted Gary before I could talk myself out of it. "Can we meet Monday morning? I want to talk about building a coaching staff."

His reply came almost immediately, like he'd been waiting for it. "Absolutely. 9am. My office. Proud of you, Danny."

I set the phone down and leaned back on the couch, feeling the weight of the week the exhaustion, the mistakes, the lessons learned the hard way settle into something that felt almost like peace. The system flickered one more time.

[SYSTEM] Decision made: Build coaching team. Quest unlocked: Assemble Your Staff. Reward: Enhanced team development capabilities. Staff synergy bonuses. Increased probability of player progression.

I smiled again, this time with something that felt like hope. The second week was over. And I'd learned the most important lesson of my career so far, the one that no amount of data or analysis or tactical brilliance could have taught me.

I didn't have to be a machine. I just had to be a manager. And managers, the good ones anyway, knew when to ask for help.

***

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