Aw, bless you. I feel so lucky to get comments when I write gen.

That was such an emotional match in so many ways, and I wanted to write a little tribute to Puyi, and speculating about a mentoring relationship with Alex to explain the kid's rather extreme reaction to Puyi's injury seemed like it would provide a nice example of how the whole team looks to their captain for guidance, encouragement, and the occasional ass-kicking when needed.

Thanks for your kind words about the pacing and attention to detail! And I hope that I will be back on form... although right now I just don't have the time or mental energy to wrestle the Xavi/Torres epic into submission...