golden blonde¹

final preparations

elena notices the small details. she was always one to call out others for their mistakes on the pitch.

what she doesn't notice is how much she changes, how much her play style changes when she starts playing for arsenal.

mid september 2022
the next morning, they haven't got training on the pitch. honestly it seems for the best, many of the girls look a little tired. probably because of the dinner they had the night before.

they have a film session, lia tells elena that it's mostly just the coaches telling them what to fix on the pitch and how they're going to approach their opponents. she says it's never a big deal, they're usually in and out within an hour.

as usual, elena arrives early, the film room is empty. she takes a seat towards the back even though there are seats available in the front. she pulls out her notepad, hoping to learn more about brighton's play style.

slowly, one by one or in groups, her teammates file in filling the seats.

elena turns when she feels a tap on her shoulder.

"you didn't get to try out our cookies." leah smiles as she holds out the box of peanut butter cookies from yesterday, offering them to the spaniard.

"lo siento, i had to go home." elena takes one of the cookies. she takes a bite as leah waits for her opinion.

"so? what do you think, they taste good?" elena nods.

"of course it tastes good, i helped make them." the younger girl jokes.

leah shakes her head chuckling, leaving the cookies on the table behind elena and taking a seat towards the front.

elena is so in focus during the film session that she doesn't notice the body sitting next to her a few minutes in. she turns to see lotte wubben-moy occupying the seat.

"so are you big on this film stuff?" she whispers as jonas talks about brighton's attacking formation.

elena scribbles on her notepad before replying to lotte. "yes, i like to be prepared."

"anything you'd like to add back there?" a staff member asks pausing his presentation. elena feels like a deer caught in headlights.

nervously, she responds, "in every clip i've seen when this team is scored on, they are outnumbered at the back, yet they don't place themselves in a 5-back until after they get scored on. it's odd, if we get more bodies forward, we are sure to overwhelm them." elena ignores the confused faces of her teammates that look back at her.

she continues to ramble on. "of course, putting themselves into a five back will limit their attack. so our 8, if we choose to play a traditional 4-4-3 can be more actively involved in the attack instead of being an extra piece on defense. basically, we just have to score quickly and put pressure right from the get go."

everyone remains silent and elena is now the one confused.

"why does no one say anything?" she whispers.

"you just spoke a language no one here understands." lotte whispers back. elena shrinks back in her chair, burying her heads between her legs.

"oh i'll just kill myself now." the girl whispers visibly embarrassed.

"don't be unreasonable, i'll just translate what you said. it's alright little one." lia replies speaking up.

elena barely lifts her head to see lia walk towards the whiteboard at the front.

lia starts speaking in english, and in all honesty, elena understands very little of what the swiss says through her accent. she does notice how she moves the magnets around and basically sums up elena's ideas.