From Arsenal to the Ball God

After replenishing his water, he headed to the parking lot to drive his beloved Ferrari, bringing Jose along with him.

Jose has greatly helped him in the past few days, especially with his training in aerial strikes, which all came from Jose’s semi-high crossing.

It truly takes some skill to pull off those passes... Also, however long he practices, Jose has to accompany him for that duration.

”The Champions League group draw has been announced.”

On the way home, Jose looked at his phone and reported the draw’s results to Ma’el, ”Arsenal is in Group F, along with Dortmund, Marseille, and Olympiacos.”

”We are a second-seed team, with Dortmund as the first seed and Marseille as the third.”

”Dortmund and Marseille?” Ma’el looked forward, with anticipation: ”Looks like the race for the Golden Boy Award this year will be decided on the Champions League stage.”

”Isn’t Marseille’s coach Deschamps? That captain of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup.”

”Yes, it is.”

Jose nodded; he usually watches matches frequently and introduced, ”I heard from unofficial sources that he’s going to become the coach for the French National Team, could very well be your future main coach.”

”Haha...” Ma’el chuckled twice, paused, then said, ”But before that, I’ll try to blow out the team he leads.”

Jose laughed along and refocused on his phone, ”After the Champions League draw, this is your match schedule for the month...

”Premier League Round 4 against Swansea on the 10th, Premier League Round 5 against Blackburn Rovers on the 14th, Champions League Round 1 against Dortmund on the 17th.

”English League Cup Round 3 against Shrewsbury on the 21st, Premier League Round 6 against Bolton Wanderers on the 24th, Champions League Round 2 against Olympiacos on the 29th.

”Three Premier League matches, two Champions League matches, one English League Cup match, a heavy workload.”

Ma’el nodded, last season in the Championship, having six matches in one month was an intensive schedule, but in the Premier League, this is actually normal; for most of the season, it’s six matches per month.

This is why Premier League teams need a deep bench; they have more cup matches than teams from other countries...

Teams entering the Champions League are equivalent to playing on four fronts; without good rotation players, they are destined to not win any honors.

”I truly want to play in the Champions League.”

Ma’el’s eyes were full of hopeful longing; he had countless times imagined the Champions League anthem ringing in his ears, witnessing the black and white flags wave in the stadium’s center.

......

On September 10th, it was time for the Premier League Round 4 match, with Arsenal hosting Swansea.

In this match, Wenger basically maintained the starting lineup from the last game... It seemed Walcott’s form was much better than new signing Gervinho’s.

Facing a familiar opponent from last season’s Championship, Ma’el wasn’t holding back in today’s match, going all out.

In the 41st minute of the match, after a full half of deep defending, Swansea suddenly launched an offensive in a counter-attack, with the midfield and forward players collectively charging towards Arsenal’s backfield, pushing the defense up to the midfield line.

”Bam!” As Arteta brilliantly intercepted and stopped their counterattack, Swansea’s backfield instantly became precarious.

”Boom!!”

Brother Ta subsequently delivered a precise long pass, aiming at the left side behind their defense line.

”Dun dun dun!”

Ma’el there accelerated rapidly, quickly overtaking the opposing defenders Lan He’Er and Koerk, confidently stopping the ball to create a one-on-one opportunity.

Facing Wollm’s decisive challenge, he stayed remarkably calm, avoiding the risky direct shot, instead of using shoulder feints to throw off the opponent’s balance.

”Boom!”

After the opponent fell, he pushed the ball to the side and completed the finish with a push shot.

”Yeah.....!!!” The Emirates Stadium was immediately surrounded by cheers; over sixty thousand Arsenal fans erupted with a thunderous roar.

Ma’el excitedly sprinted to the corner flag zone, placed his hands together on one side of his head, and closed his eyes.

A ’Goodnight’ celebration!

It symbolized the hope that Arsenal fans could sleep well and that opponent fans in front of their TVs could turn off the TV and go to sleep.

”Ma’el!”

Arteta excitedly ran up; this was his first assist for Ma’el.

Ma’el gave him a strong high-five, taking a good look at Arteta’s celebratory expression.

For some reason... as long as the other didn’t reveal two rows of stark white teeth, no matter how excited or happy he was, it still gave a stern impression.

Could this be the natural physique of a coach, a god of leadership?

He thought humorously, chuckling again before refocusing on the celebration.

Premier League’s sixth goal!

Almost into double digits!

Also, it eased a bit of the hatred Queens Park Rangers fans had for him... He recently learned that Queens Park lost in the playoff to Swansea, failing to gain promotion.

In the second half, Walcott on the other side received Vermaelen’s long pass, burst into the penalty area, and delivered a powerful angled shot.

Two to zero!

The Professor stood on the sidelines, his chest held high, hands on hips, looking extremely relaxed.

”Click!” A media photographer captured this image of him and used it as the cover photo for this match.

”Arsenal at home effortlessly beats Swansea two to zero! Ma’el scores 1, Walcott scores 1, Arteta is named man of the match!” — The Guardian

........

On the 13th, the day before Premier League Round 5, Ma’el and Mendes arrived at the Puma headquarters in London.

This was a new endorsement prepared by Mendes for him; after countless rounds of negotiations, the contract was finally confirmed.

Basic endorsement fee of 850,000 pounds, with a term of 3+2 years, triggering renewal clauses for automatic extension.