Saturday, August 26, 2023
Old Trafford, Manchester
Pre-Match
The chant from the Stretford End leaked through the dressing room walls in a low rolling rhythm, and Demien sat with his elbows on his knees while the sound pressed against the concrete, because this time his shirt hung above the bench seat to his left rather than across the room on the substitute pegs.
His boots were already double-knotted and his shin pads sat tight against the sock tape, and Casemiro beside him rolled his neck slowly from one shoulder to the other while his eyes stayed half-closed in the stillness he carried before every match. Across the room Bruno bounced on the balls of his feet near the tactics board, jabbing a finger toward the Forest shape printed on it while he spoke to Mount in three-word bursts that nobody else needed to hear.
Ten Hag walked the length of the room once before he stopped in front of Demien, and he kept his voice low enough that it didn't carry past the two of them.
