Chapter Three: Number Ten for the Bottom Club

But your sprint speed was only twenty-six kilometers per hour.” “And?” “Your brain and your legs don't look as if they belong to the same person.” She did not wait for an answer. On Sunday, 213 spectators came to the Saint-Denis ground. Their opponents, third-placed Montreuil Union, paid each player's weekly wage more than Saint-Denis spent on training allowances for the whole squad. Lin sat on the bench. Beneath his coat, the tablet vibrated every few minutes. Vega's connection window was short, and he managed only three broken clues: a breakfast truck at the complex bore the logo Northern Air Catering; church bells sounded every day at four; since the substitute passed his Paris medical, Vega's training load had doubled.