From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Clap, clap, clap...!”

The team captain, Van Persie, was also clapping to boost morale. He didn’t want to give up, ”Come on, guys! Just do what you’re supposed to do, no one is to blame for that goal, we need to strengthen our offense.”

”Keep trying, we’ll definitely get good opportunities in the front!”

Gradually, more Arsenal players started to motivate each other. They placed the ball on the center circle arc, waiting for the game to restart.

...

After the kickoff, Wenger’s expression visibly tensed as he stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed.

A few days later, they were playing the second leg against Udinese, followed by a much tougher match against Manchester United. The team faced significant pressure this month.

If they couldn’t earn points in this match, then against Manchester United, it would be hard to achieve a good result... By the end of this month, they might only have 3 points, ranking over ten places on the leaderboard.

”Philip.”

After 60 minutes into the match, he waved to Philip, ”Get Walcott and Arshavin to warm up, give the latter more warm-up time, I’ll switch him in at the 80th minute.”

He knew that Ma’el and Gervinho had been tracking back a lot today, consuming a lot of energy, so it was necessary to prepare the substitutions early.

”Alright.” Philip nodded, went to the bench, and called the two to the warm-up area.

”Give it another go...” Wenger cast his eyes on Ma’el’s back, hoping he could still create some opportunities for the team before being subbed out.

Prior to this, even he hadn’t realized how much this team needed his impact.

...

As time ticked away, Arsenal started to launch an all-out offensive, while Liverpool chose to pull back and wait for a safer counterattack strategy.

”Bang, bang, bang...”

Ma’el entered the offensive play in the positional battle, facing more and more defensive players.

It wasn’t just Martin Kelly, who was marking him directly, but also Kagura providing backup, along with Lucas and Henderson coming from the midfield.

His various strengths were mainly used during this offensive period to maintain possession for the team, with few chances for cutting in and shooting or crossing.

With his current capabilities, shaking off the defense of three or four players forcibly was nearly impossible.

The opponents weren’t foolish either; they wouldn’t always give him space to dribble, as they were well-prepared against it.

But he wasn’t in a hurry and stabilized his mindset, knowing that capturing one or two chances might create a good scoring opportunity.

”Bang!”

In the 71st minute of the match, Ramsey circled twice in the midfield, then passed the ball to Frimpong, who in turn passed it smoothly to Ma’el.

Ma’el wasn’t under much pressure when receiving the ball this time, only Martin Kelly was by his side.

The opposing defensive midfielder, Lucas, had gone forward to mark Frimpong, and it would take three to four seconds for him to rush back.

He sensed this was a good opportunity and dribbled the ball at high speed towards Martin Kelly. This defender was at a disadvantage in the confrontation with him and needed help from teammates to hold his ground.

This time, he wasn’t going to give him the chance to wait for his teammates to help; he was going to go straight for it!

Ma’el dribbled the ball nearby, intentionally keeping it a bit far from his body to give the illusion that Kelly had a chance to tackle it.

At the moment Martin Kelly stretched his foot, he shifted his weight forward swiftly and poked the ball past Kelly with his toes.

Then, to save time, he pushed off the ground with his bent left leg to start explosively.

”Thump, thump, thump...” With the added coordination, this start didn’t leave him feeling stumbled or off-balance, and his body performed as he expected.

He quickly bypassed Martin Kelly, who turned around awkwardly and swore, ”Shit....!”

When Ma’el reached the ball, center-back Kagura had already rushed over. The opponent was about the same height but much weaker physically.

He had been marking Ramsey’s forward run earlier, which made him a bit late to get back, being one of the reasons why Ma’el dared to go for it boldly.

The two rushed towards the ball together, and seeing Ma’el’s burst of energy, Kagura’s facial expression became visibly worried, knowing that he couldn’t avoid a direct confrontation this time.

”Bang!” A hard sound rang, and Kagura’s body fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string, unable to withstand the impact.

The breakthrough succeeded!

Ma’el seized the opportunity, breaking Kagura’s cover for Martin Kelly!

This famous Sky Sports commentator later in his career had already lost his defensive position!

”He’s unstoppable!!”

On the commentary stand, Reinke stood up, watching Ma’el’s back expectantly, ”Martin Kelly can’t catch up with his speed! Kagura can’t withstand his strong physique!”

”These two defenders didn’t meet Dalglish’s expectations; they’ve been overshadowed by Ma’el throughout the match!”

”What will Ma’el do now? There are many defenders in the center, and Lucas and Martin Kelly are still chasing back; he needs to pass the ball quickly!”

In the middle, Van Persie had moved in front of Agger and signaled forward, wanting a high ball.

Ma’el judged that it was indeed difficult to pass the ball from his position, so he switched to his right foot and quickly lofted a delicately curved ball over Henderson, who was retreating to the near post, towards Van Persie.

”That’s it!”

Van Persie’s eyes lit up, focusing intently on the incoming ball. He slipped past Agger to reach the ball, his movement very elusive.

This was one of his strengths; he often appeared in the box in ways unexpected by defenders, scoring from unexpected positions.