From Arsenal to the Ball God

At the edge of the field, all the members of the Arsenal coaching staff clearly captured Ma’el’s recent performance, and they quickly showed expressions of amazement.

”Him?”

Philip immediately turned his head to look at Wenger, wanting to see what reaction was on the latter’s face. ”His power and speed, are they stronger than we imagined?”

Wenger’s eyebrows furrowed, but there was obvious excitement and surprise on his face, even his speech speed increased significantly, ”Our eyes do not deceive us, it must be so.”

Philip turned back to watch Ma’el on the field, sighing, ”Moreover, speed and power weren’t even his strongest points in the Championship League last season, why did they suddenly become so strong?

”Is it just extra training?”

In a daze, he recalled the first time Wenger mentioned Ma’el’s extra training, and how he had objected.

Football is about talent... rigorous training cannot solve the problem, practicing like this is useless.

Now it seems that everyone has to believe in the effect of extra training, at least believe in the effect of extra training on Ma’el.

”Who knows?”

Wenger did not delve into this issue, a few glimmers appeared on his face, ”I only know that the one who returned to the team is an even more remarkable player.”

He remembered how a while ago he wanted to transform Ma’el into an all-around forward, standing in the central position.

Perhaps... this is not the optimal solution to use Ma’el?

He has a very strong physical confrontation, incredible speed, first-rate crossing, and cutting and shooting ability.

A bigger space, a wider range of activity on the wing, seems to be the stage most suitable for him to bring a splendid performance?

”Philip.”

Wenger had a new idea, his eyes still carried a few sparks, his expression was full of hope for the future. As long as it was related to football and enhancing Arsenal’s strength, he would be like this.

”I want to play a 4-3-3 formation.”

He said it very seriously, very firmly, ”I want him to play in his old position on the wing, but closer to the center, so that he can take advantage of his strengths and also play the role of an advancing forward during counterattacks, killing two birds with one stone.

”He has this ability, he definitely does, I am sure!”

Philip listened to his tone of voice, feeling his current joy and excitement, and did not respond, but simply revealed a heartfelt smile.

The professor saw hope... he must be very certain now that Ma’el has the ability to change the team.

All his anxiety and worries vanished, and all past sorrows dissipated, leaving only expectations for the future.

”He does not need to come back to defend.”

Wenger said with enthusiasm, finally showing a smile on his face, no longer concealing his fervor, ”We need to have a defensive midfielder standing behind him, responsible for sweeping up.

”Frimpong is a good choice.

”Besides that, we need to regard him as the most important point of attack in the team, giving him a lot of ball control and freedom.

”Rather than fearing he would lose the ball, I am more afraid that his talents would have nowhere to be displayed. I also believe that before he loses the ball and causes the team to concede, he can break open the opponent’s goal!”

Wenger stuffed the training schedule into Philip’s arms, eagerly turned and headed towards the administrative building.

At the end, he left a somewhat casual sentence: ”Philip, today’s training is on you, I want to go write some tactical ideas about him.”

”Wait!”

Philip called out to Wenger, a few mischievous smiles appearing on his face, and he fished a USB drive out of his pocket, ”Mr. Wenger, do you remember your 10-year plan from before?

”At the time, I had a premonition that you might use it, so I backed it up before you deleted it.”

To say he resembled a child waiting for praise might be too much, but to say he was like a middle-aged man waiting for a hug was rather fitting.

”Oh...” Wenger turned his head, but did not take a step back, he smiled, ”Thank you for your kindness, Philip, you’ve always been a meticulous person.

”But now, I don’t need that 10-year plan anymore, I will make a new 10-year plan.”

With that, he shrugged with a smile and turned to cross the shaded coach’s area, walking down the sunlit asphalt road, leaving Philip alone in the wind.

Philip: ”...”

How is it different from what he imagined?

”What did Mr. Wenger go off to do?” an assistant asked, seeing Wenger leave.

Philip sighed, not too disappointed by what had just happened. He raised his eyes to look at Wenger’s back.

His silhouette was very tall, but under the backdrop of the sunshine above appeared remarkably small. But no matter what, when the sun kisses his head and the vitality reappears on this elderly man, he gives off an omnipotent aura.

”He went towards the light.” Philip answered simply, turning his focus back to the field.

Except, the light was there.

......

After a few days of recovery training, Arsenal started various formations and tactical training, with set pieces being frequently mentioned during this phase.

They officially began making final preparations for the new season, as the intense four-line schedule was about to strike!

During this period, Ma’el showed an unprecedented level of dedication, as the tactical style of major teams is often quite complex.

Especially for a team like Arsenal, which leans towards short passes and wall passes, they have many tight designs across front, middle, and back lines.

In everyday training, he could also very clearly feel that Wenger’s emphasis on him was increasing day by day.