Reincarnated As A Wonderkid-Chapter 565: Tricks.

The board room in Como was small but elegant.

Alex sat at the head of the table. He was wearing a sharp suit.

Opposite him sat the Club President. An older man with a mustache that looked like it had its own postcode.

"Mr. Finch," the President said. "We need to talk about next season."

"We do," Alex nodded.

"First," the President said. "The salary."

Mark, sitting next to Alex in a suit made of shiny blue fabric (he claimed it was 'business chic'), leaned forward.

"We demand pizza!" Mark slammed his fist on the table. "Infinite pizza! And a company car that goes vroom!"

"Mark," Alex sighed. "Please let me handle the negotiations."

The President chuckled. "We can arrange the pizza. But seriously. We are offering you five million euros a year."

Mark gasped. "That is... five million pizzas!"

Alex didn't blink. "Make it seven. And a bonus for winning the league."

"Seven?" The President raised an eyebrow. "You are expensive, Professor."

"Quality costs," Alex said calmly. "I took you from relegation candidates to Champions League contenders. That is value."

"True," the President admitted. "Seven it is. And the bonus?"

"One million for the Scudetto. Two million for the Champions League."

"You think we can win the Champions League?" the President asked, his eyes wide.

"I think we can win everything," Alex said. "If we follow the plan."

"The plan?"

Alex stood up. He walked to the whiteboard.

"The Tactic," Alex announced.

He drew a formation. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

It wasn't 4-4-2. It wasn't 4-3-3.

It was... chaos.

"I call it 'The Liquid Diamond'," Alex said.

He pointed to the defense.

"Three defenders. But they are not static. They rotate. The left center back becomes a midfielder. The right center back becomes a winger."

He pointed to the midfield.

"Four midfielders. A diamond shape. But the diamond spins. The players swap positions every five minutes. It confuses the opposition. They don't know who to mark."

He pointed to the attack.

"Three strikers. But no fixed positions. Saka goes left, then right, then center. Belotti drops deep. Luca runs behind."

The President looked at the board. He looked confused.

"It looks like spaghetti," the President said.

"It is spaghetti," Mark shouted. "Delicious, tactical spaghetti!"

"It is fluid dynamics," Alex corrected. "We don't hold positions. We hold space. If a player leaves a zone, another fills it instantly. It requires perfect chemistry."

"And fitness," the President noted.

"Mark handles fitness," Alex said.

Mark flexed his arm. "I make them run until they cry! Then I give them a hug! And a biscuit!"

"The players love him," Alex added. "Fear and love. The perfect motivators."

The President looked at the board again.

"It is risky," he said. "If the rotation fails, we leave gaps."

"High risk, high reward," Alex said. "We cannot beat Juventus or Inter by playing their game. We have to play a game they don't understand."

"We have to be aliens!" Mark yelled. "Playing space football!"

"Exactly," Alex smiled.

"Okay," the President said. "Seven million. And the Liquid Diamond. But if we lose..."

"We won't lose," Alex said. "I have calculated the variables."

The season began.

Como played the Liquid Diamond.

It was beautiful. It was crazy.

In the first game against AC Milan, they won 4-1.

The Milan defenders were spinning in circles. They didn't know who to tackle.

"It is like trying to catch water!" Leao complained after the game.

The media went wild. THE PROFESSOR INVENTS NEW FOOTBALL.

But it wasn't just tactics. It was management.

One day, Luca came to Alex's office. He looked sad.

"Boss," Luca said. "I am tired. The rotation... it is hard. I have to think too much."

Alex stood up. He walked over to the young player.

"Luca," Alex said. "Do you play video games?"

"Yes," Luca nodded. "FIFA."

"In FIFA, do you just run straight?"

"No. I use combos. Tricks."

"Exactly," Alex said. "The Liquid Diamond is a combo. It is a cheat code. If you learn it, you are unstoppable."

"But my brain hurts," Luca said.

Mark walked in. He was carrying a tray of espresso.

"Brain fuel!" Mark shouted. "Drink this! It is rocket juice!"

Luca drank the espresso. His eyes widened.

"I feel... awake," Luca said.

"See?" Mark grinned. "Problem solved. Now go run laps!"

Luca ran out of the room, energized.

"You are good at this," Alex said to Mark.

"I am a people person," Mark said. "I understand the needs of the youth. Caffeine and validation."

Matchday 15. Como vs Inter Milan. San Siro.

Top of the table clash.

Inter had studied the Liquid Diamond. They had a plan. They parked the bus. Five defenders. Four midfielders. One striker.

They wanted to clog the machine.

For sixty minutes, it worked. 0-0.

Como passed. They rotated. But Inter stood firm.

"They are boring!" Rico shouted from the bench. "They are killing the art!"

Alex stood on the touchline.

He saw the problem. The Diamond was spinning, but it wasn't penetrating.

"Change the variable," Alex whispered.

He called Saka over.

"Bukayo," Alex said. "Stop rotating. Stand still."

"Stand still?" Saka asked. "But the system..."

"Break the system," Alex said. "Stand on the touchline. Do not move. Force them to come to you."

Saka nodded.

The game restarted.

Saka stood on the right wing. He didn't move.

The Inter left back, Dimarco, didn't know what to do. Should he follow Saka? Or stay in the block?

He stayed.

Saka waited.

Alex signaled to Paz in the middle.

Paz hit a long diagonal ball to Saka.

Saka was alone. He had time.

Dimarco rushed out to close him down.

But he was too late. Saka had momentum.

Saka drove past him. He cut inside.

He curled a shot.

Goal.

One zero. Como.

"Anomaly!" Alex shouted. "The static variable!"

Inter panicked. They had to attack. They opened up.

In the eightieth minute, Como scored again. A classic Liquid Diamond move. Four players swapped positions in three seconds. Luca finished it.

Two zero.

The final whistle blew.

Como were top of the league. Seven points clear.

Alex walked into the press conference.

"Mr. Finch," a journalist asked. "Your salary is reported to be seven million euros. Is that true?"

"It is," Alex said.

"Is it worth it?"

Alex looked at the league table on the screen.

"You tell me," Alex smiled. "Do you want a discount manager or a winning manager?"

"And the pizza budget?" another journalist asked. "We heard rumors of a million euros for snacks."

"That is classified," Mark shouted from the back of the room. "Strategic reserves!"

Alex laughed.

He walked out to the bus.

The night air was cold, but he felt warm.

He had built a team. He had built a system.

And he was getting paid to do what he loved.

"Hey Boss," Mark said, sitting next to him.

"Yeah?"

"Seven million is a lot of money."

"It is."

"Can we buy a castle?"

"Why do you want a castle, Mark?"

"To keep the trophies," Mark said. "And to have a moat. I always wanted a moat with robot sharks."

"Maybe next season," Alex said.