From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Level 2 Crossing and Level 2 Bicycle Kick!

The cross is out!

Ma’el took a long breath, monotonously crossing for an hour, finally grinding out the skill level panel for crossing.

As said in the utility section, for a winger, crossing is absolutely a crucial skill.

A winger who can’t cross is like walking with one leg crippled.

Once you get the ball, the opponent knows you’re either going to cut inside or pass back, making it easy to defend.

Even Robben, known worldwide for his cutting inside and shooting, has a remarkable crossing ability, occasionally feinting a run to the byline to confuse the defender.

The key point is that the defender still has to follow because if Robben truly gets a chance to make a pass, breaking through their defense is not difficult.

This is also one reason why Robben’s success rate of cutting inside is high.

Defenders can’t let up on either side, sometimes hesitating or getting nervous, and Robben has already cut inside and shot.

”I aim to upgrade my crossing to Level 3 before the season starts, on par with my long shot.”

Ma’el made a plan, dreaming of the future, ”By then, even in the Championship, I won’t be afraid.”

Take the opportunity to score myself, if there’s no timing, stand by the side and make a pass, offering some functionality to the team.

In retrospect, earning a chance to play shouldn’t be difficult.

Gradually adapt to the Championship League, then compete for the main position, once in the starting lineup, try to achieve some statistics, establishing a name and value at Sheffield United.

The world is eager to hear the stories of young talents.

Although Ma’el isn’t in a hurry, knowing the road needs to be taken step by step, he still hopes he can take steps a bit quicker.

”Let’s continue.”

Without thinking much, Ma’el walked to Gilbert’s side, ”Let’s go one-on-one, crossing can be practiced next time.”

He wanted to grind out the dribbling technique he had planned earlier, after acquiring a breakthrough skill, there was no rush to grind a new skill for the time being.

After all, once they are upgraded to Level 3, including power to Level 3 as well.

He could undergo some physical practice on coordination and speed, making himself more composed on the wing.

”Let’s go.”

With a newfound understanding, Gilbert was already convinced of Ma’el’s training methods, lowering his stance in front of Ma’el, ”I’m not good at defense, it’s my weak point.

”You can use me for practice, and I can learn tackling from you.”

Ma’el hesitated a bit, understanding through shooting and passing category training that each major skill has many sub-skills.

Like shooting, it doesn’t just include long-range power shots with the instep, but also aerial strikes, headers, and curved ball dipping shots, the same goes for passing.

Dribbling techniques, too, are not just dribbling.

This may be the skill with the most subcategories, given the many ways to get past an opponent.

So how should he choose?

Common ones include step-over moves, Marseille turns, bicycles, McCarthy spins, and rainbow flicks... first considering them based on his position.

As a winger, the two most common one-on-one scenarios are breaking to the byline and cutting inside.

The ones best suited for these are... probably the step-over move and the bicycle kick, skills like the Marseille turn are not as useful to him.

Narrowing down the choices, Ma’el considered them based on flair.

Then the answer was undoubtedly the bicycle kick!

”Thump thump...!”

Kicking the ball forward with the soles of his feet, Ma’el charged at Gilbert, left leg circling the ball first, followed by the right leg circling...

”Snap!”

Gilbert stretched out a foot, cleanly intercepting the ball from under him.

Ma’el suddenly lost his balance, stumbling awkwardly a few steps and almost falling, before retrieving the ball again, facing Gilbert with bicycles.

And so, he was intercepted time after time, making mistakes time after time.

Sweat on his face gradually accumulated, dripping down drop by drop, with some falling into his eyes, making him very uncomfortable.

Gilbert couldn’t stand it anymore, advising, ”Why don’t you switch to another move?

”Your bicycles are quite clumsy, even Mr. Wenger could probably intercept them with one foot.

”Add some variety, and I’ll actually find it difficult to defend; defense is my weak spot.”

Ma’el waved his hand, restarting his bicycle training, constantly varying the number of bicycle moves, hoping not to bore Gilbert too much.

Another twenty minutes passed with Gilbert mechanically intercepting the ball again and again, this time truly confused without understanding, unable to grasp anything from it.

”Snap!”

Until he once again intercepted Ma’el, whereupon Ma’el stopped, wiped the sweat, and lay down on the ground.

Gilbert sat beside, rubbing his chin, a man given to thought.

After a long while, he suddenly looked up: ”Is it physical training?”

Ma’el: ”...”

[Skill: Bicycle Kick Level 1]

[Skill Level: (43/100)]

[Utility: As an attacking player, mastering dribbling and feinting is essential. You have started practicing the bicycle kick diligently, but with minimal progress, you long for the day of upgrading.]

......

In the following days, the two continuously shuttled between their residence and training base, gradually becoming familiar with everything around.

Sheffield City is an industrial town, still retaining many buildings and factories from the last century, walking through its streets evokes a vintage feel.

Yet it’s also famed as a university town, with new faces from all over the world bringing a surge of vitality, making it appear lively and dynamic.

It could even be crowned with the title of a city of sports.

The names of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday are renowned throughout European football.

Slowly, Ma’el adapted to this place, his adaptability always being strong, coupled with Gilbert’s companionship preventing any feelings of loneliness.

Taking advantage of the team assembly day still being distant, the two spent every day soaking in the first-team training grounds at Sheffield, practicing on extremely high-quality grass.

Jorson frequently accompanied them, he seemed quite unoccupied lately, probably due to no tasks from the club side.

July 8, two days away from the assembly day.

At the first-team training ground of Sheffield United.

After a cross-ball, a strange feeling suddenly surged into Ma’el’s right ankle and leg, causing him to involuntarily tighten his instep, squeezing his knees together.

[Skill: Curved Cross Level 2]

[Skill Level: (1/300)]

[Utility: After long practice, you gradually discover how to add a curve to your crosses, occasionally delivering high-quality curved crosses when opposition is not fierce and observation is ample!]

”Bang! Bang...!”

Ma’el didn’t idly rest, nor did he muse over anything, immediately picking up the football and taking several shots.

Being just the two of them practicing, it perfectly satisfied the conditions of the opposition being light and observation ample, all these cross-shots drew precise banana shapes landing in front of Gilbert’s forehead.

Gilbert didn’t even have to move much to powerfully head the ball into the goal.

”What’s the quality of these shots...?”

Gilbert felt a bit bewildered, as someone who trains with Ma’el daily, he was acutely aware of Ma’el’s crossing level, ”Did you suddenly grasp something new? Wasn’t it the same when you were doing bicycles the other day and suddenly got better?”

”Not at all, it’s just that you judged right and headed well.” Ma’el waved off, quite humble.

Due to the high initial skill level of the bicycle kick, he had already reached Level 2 two days earlier.

And now, after reaching Level 2 in crossing today, his abilities underwent another significant boost.

Calculating, now he has acquired quite a number of skills... Violent Bombing Level 3, Vigorous Lv2, Curved Cross Lv2, Continuous Bicycle Kick Lv2!

”If everything gets to Level 3, it should be enough to initially establish myself in the Championship.”

Once again, Ma’el lay down on the soft grass, he liked it very much, feeling the soft grass beside his cheek, dazedly staring at the blue sky.

In a place where he didn’t notice, Gilbert repeatedly felt the bump of his forehead by raising his eyebrows, then jumped a few times, feeling his own jumping ability.

Finally spreading his hands, looking at them, utterly perplexed, ”Do I have the potential to be an aerial ace?”