@XellosPY oh hey sure I mightve misread your issue with the story. Just saying I do think it's not that bad.
@Cynic But to me at least, the foreshadowing has been in place all along. There's loads of instances since the start of oshiba dropping back and mizukis initiatives, where tsukishima can latch onto the loose balls if he was playing.
I'm so used to tsukishimas pressing, interceptions and blocks that it feels so empty reading this arc. I think all those chances proved that tsukishima could have given them an extra edge in a lot of the 1v1 contests. And once the tired opposition all set their eyes on mizuki, then tsukishima can really work his magic.
Everything up to this point has set the stage for tsukishima to shine. If author just put him in and they suddenly win people would scream "ASSPULL". They created a scenario where it is absolutely necessary for tsukishima to be on that pitch and successfully do his tsukishima thing.
That being said, the pacing does grind my gears.. Cheers~