Soccer: I became Bruno Fernandes.

Chapter 292: Intuition

Bruno noticed that Immobile was again tightly marked by Flamini, preventing him from organizing attacks. This wasn't good. In the final stage of the match, Immobile was crucial to their tactics. If Flamini could shut him down, Arsenal would have a clear path to dominate Udinese. Bruno decided he needed to push forward and draw Flamini's attention to himself, relieving the pressure on Immobile.

With this in mind, the next time Bruno received the ball, he didn't pass it. Instead, he decided to take it forward himself. Facing Özil's defense, Bruno swiftly moved the ball to his left and accelerated past him. Özil's defense was mostly for show, as the German rarely defended seriously, leaving the real defensive duties to Flamini and Coquelin behind him.

Bruno easily bypassed Özil and charged forward. Flamini, surprised that Bruno came to him instead of the other way around, hesitated but eventually decided to close in on him.

As Flamini approached, Bruno used the outside of his foot to pass the ball to Immobile, who had come back to support him. After the pass, Bruno moved to a different position, planning to link up with Immobile. Flamini, seeing the ball, turned back towards Immobile.

Immobile, aware that Flamini was closing in, used his heel to flick the ball back to Bruno, who had changed positions. Receiving the ball again, Bruno took advantage of the brief defensive lapse and suddenly shot from outside the penalty area. The ball whistled past but missed the goal.

"Bruno shoots—! It's wide... What a pity!" This was Bruno's first shot of the match. Until then, he had been playing behind the scenes, passing to his teammates. The Arsenal players didn't expect Bruno to shoot from distance, resulting in a defensive lapse.

Flamini quickly realized the problem: Udinese had more than one playmaker. Bruno was one, and Immobile could also step up to organize the attack when needed, as he could play as an attacking midfielder. This complicated things for Flamini, who was Arsenal's only defensive midfielder.

While Flamini was still contemplating what to do, Udinese launched another attack. This time, after Bruno passed to Immobile, he didn't push forward because he saw that Arsenal's defense was well-organized. Instead, he stayed in his position, moving laterally and letting Immobile handle the ball.

Immobile, not seeing a safe forward pass, tried to send the ball to Di Natale upfront, but Coquelin intercepted it halfway. Immobile's pass was too obvious, and Di Natale's run was too straightforward, underestimating Coquelin's defensive skills.

Coquelin intercepted the ball and passed it to Özil. Seeing Özil with the ball, Ramsey naturally began sprinting forward to support. With Flamini's presence, Ramsey had moved to the left wing, while Sánchez shifted to the right wing, turning Arsenal's formation into a 4-2-3-1.

Even though Arsenal's previous goal came from Walcott's side, Bruno decided to continue defending Ramsey. During attacks, Bruno still needed to fulfill his defensive duties.

Özil, marked by Badu, quickly passed the ball to the advancing Ramsey. Ramsey, who had been highly active, drew Udinese's defensive focus to his side. To balance the defense, Bruno needed to shut down Ramsey's flank, preventing him from causing further trouble.

When Ramsey received the ball, he didn't slow down. He intended to use his dribbling skills to bypass Bruno. However, Bruno didn't give him the chance to accelerate. As soon as Ramsey received the ball, Bruno charged in and knocked him off balance, sending Ramsey out of bounds.

Ramsey fell hard, clutching his hip, clearly in pain. Limping, he angrily appealed to the referee for a yellow card against Bruno, but the referee ignored him. Bruno, unfazed, took advantage of the dead ball situation to talk to Immobile.

"I'll draw Arsenal's attention to myself, and you handle organizing the attack. Don't just blindly pass forward; control the pace. That last pass to Antonio wasn't good..." Bruno used body language to emphasize his points. "If there's no better forward pass, just switch the ball back or to the sides. I'll be behind you."

Immobile nodded, "Got it."

Satisfied, Bruno turned back to his position.

Arsenal's free kick, taken by Özil, was too close to the sideline for a direct shot and was instead crossed into the box. Bruno, again showing his aerial prowess, headed the ball clear. Despite being only 1.83 meters tall, Bruno's judgment of the ball's trajectory and his exceptional jumping ability made him a formidable presence in aerial duels.

However, this clearance fell to Sánchez outside the box, who took a shot. The ball deflected off someone in the penalty area, narrowly missing the goal.

"That was close! The deflection completely wrong-footed goalkeeper Karnezis but luckily went wide..."

Sánchez, frustrated with his limited impact on the game, remained upfront, ready to press for a quick recovery of possession. Time was running out, and Arsenal needed to press high to create chances.

Karnezis launched a long ball to the front, avoiding the short pass to Bruno, who signaled for the ball near the center circle. Bruno, facing Flamini in an aerial duel, managed to flick the ball backward with a slight touch, finding Immobile, despite Flamini's aggressive challenge.

The referee played the advantage, and Bruno, not staying down, quickly got up to join the attack.

Immobile, with his back to goal and Coquelin closing in, found it hard to turn. Fortunately, he saw Bruno quickly approaching and passed the ball back to him. Bruno immediately relayed it to Immobile, now facing forward, ready to create.

Just then, Bruno had a sudden gut feeling: Keep running forward, into the box! Trusting his intuition, he assessed the situation. Di Natale was the lone striker in the box. Immobile was on the right, facing Monreal. Widmer was moving centrally, looking to exploit the half-space, while Adnan also moved into the box.

If Immobile crossed, they could have multiple attacking points. But what if he didn't cross?

(End of Chapter)

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