From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Beep! Beep! Beep——!”

Finally, when the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, the score was fixed at 2-0, with Arsenal easily defeating Boca Juniors.

”Can I swap jerseys with you?”

Back in the players’ tunnel, Ma’el suddenly heard a voice speaking in somewhat imperfect English next to him. He turned his head in surprise and saw a young face.

Someone wanted to swap jerseys with him?

Is this... Paredes?

Ma’el wasn’t sure until he reached for Paredes’ jersey and saw the name on the back, which put his mind at ease.

”I watched the match two days ago.”

Paredes, with a youthful face, grinned warmly and said, ”You’re amazing, man. You’re just a year older than me, but it might take me ten years to catch up to your performance.”

”Thank you.” Ma’el graciously accepted the compliment, took off his own jersey, and handed it to Paredes.

”Good luck!” Paredes, full of excitement as he received the jersey, said, ”I’ll keep an eye on your performance at Arsenal. I hope to see you in Europe soon.”

”Good luck.” Ma’el fist-bumped him in encouragement. After speaking, he turned to take one last look at the grand Beijing Workers’ Stadium and the lovely Chinese fans.

It was time to say goodbye. He hoped that the next time he returned here, it would be with even greater success.

Next, he set his sights on the new Premier League season!

......

That night, Ma’el flew back to London with the team, exhausted. Once home, he slept for nearly 20 hours straight.

After waking up, he was burdened by jet lag, taking a day off without any training.

”I heard you did well.”

Since moving in with Ma’el, Safina’s clothing style had become increasingly relaxed. That day, she came out in a black V-neck loungewear set, paired with a fishtail skirt highlighting her curvaceous body.

While pouring skimmed yogurt for Ma’el, she asked, ”Scored two goals?”

”And also two assists.” Ma’el yawned, feeling a bit drowsy.

Safina handed the yogurt to Ma’el and sat beside him, asking, ”Do you know the Premier League Golden Boot odds list?”

”No idea.”

While drinking, Ma’el turned to look at her, puzzled, and said, ”Why, are you planning to bet on me? I’ll say this first; winning isn’t guaranteed.”

He didn’t bother thinking about betting, as all his and his family’s bank accounts were under the supervision of The English FA.

Even wagering on his own victory to boost motivation was off-limits... Once discovered, the suspension period was indefinite.

Newcastle United’s Tonali later became a good example of this. He originally bore the expectations of fans worldwide, only to be suddenly banned for a long period, wasting crucial development time.

”Haha...” Safina laughed, covering her mouth, and shook her head, ”Do you have any recommendations? Van Persie? Rooney?”

”Let me think.”

Ma’el started to ponder. As a player, he had some unique insights on this matter.

But after thinking back and forth and pondering his situation... he could only state his honest opinion, ”If you really want to bet, I suggest you bet on me, just a little.”

”Because if you bet on others and I end up competing for the Golden Boot with them, I wouldn’t want to press forward under your resentful gaze, carrying that burden.”

The two looked at each other, laughing, with Safina knowing that Ma’el was joking with that last sentence. Her initial motive for asking was actually to bet a bit on Ma’el and give her employer a little motivation.

”I’ve decided to bet 3k each with Harry.”

Safina said with a smile, ”Just betting a week’s salary, no risk, and bearable. If it actually hits, it’ll be quite a windfall.”

”I suspect you’re trying to put pressure on me.” Ma’el reclined on the sofa, raising an eyebrow, ”But it’s also motivation. I’ll work hard.”

”It won’t affect you, right?”

”3k won’t.”

........

The next day, Ma’el continued training with Davis and Jose, focusing on physical and personal technique training, marking the last chance for rapid improvement before the season started.

Once the season started, he’d have to ease his training load significantly, focusing more energy on the team’s schedule.

In these few days remaining, Ma’el furiously practiced his foot frequency, increasing the duration of speed training in both skill and physical training sessions.

In the match against Bayern, he realized that his ball control ability didn’t give him any advantage when facing top teams.

He couldn’t always use explosive runs to break through opponents’ defenses... whether it’s a team that parks the bus or plays tactical offense-defense battles, every style of opponent is different, not every team is as aggressive as Bayern.

On August 12th, with only two days left before the Premier League opener, Ma’el’s focused speed practice achieved an upgrade.

[Additional Skill: Rhythm lv3]

[Skill Level: (1/1500)]

[Utility: After slowly mastering extremely high foot frequency, you start to pursue changes in dribbling rhythm. You’ve gradually found a sense of rhythm above ball control, but you’re still some distance away from changing ’rhythm’ at will.]

Rhythm!

”Then, the next level, should it be Variation and Direction Change?”

Excitement surged in Ma’el’s heart as he guessed at the lv4 ability.

Having slowly mastered the basics of speed, the additional skill has given him a certain sense of ball control rhythm. Progressively, the next step should be variation?

At that time, it would purely be an increase in breakthrough ability?

”Keep practicing!”

Ma’el solidified his resolve, opened the skill level panel, and checked the progress level of other skills being practiced.

[Skill: Power Side Foot lv3]

[Skill Level: (1712/2000)]

[Skill: Ball Control lv3]

[Skill Level: (731/2000)]

[Skill: Endurance lv3]

[Skill Level: (439/2000)]

”Power Side Foot should reach lv4 by the end of the month.”

Ma’el did a simple calculation of the training speed after the season starts and came up with an estimate. By then, his arsenal at lv4 level would be considered highly abundant.

Summarizing his current abilities.

Heavy Cannon Strike lv4, Curved Trajectory Guidance lv4, Curved Blade lv4, Foot Arch Arc lv4, Divine Power lv4, Rapid Charge lv4, Coordination lv4, Judging the Situation lv3, Power Side Foot lv3, Endurance lv3, Ball Control lv3, Rhythm lv3, Single Bicycle Maneuver lv3, Step and Shoulder Drop lv3!

Soon, he would take all these painstakingly practiced abilities to the Premier League stage!!

......

ps: Fueled by passion, I’ve written until now, asking for monthly votes.