From Arsenal to the Ball God

August 29th, Ma’el began planning his new training regimen, with a focus on continual adjustments.

After three rounds in the Premier League, he was clearer about what he needed, and which abilities could elevate his combat power to a higher level.

First, in terms of his current abilities... his physique, shooting, and passing had all reached a very high level, making him capable of contributing data on the Premier League stage.

Against any team’s opposing full-back, no matter how formidable, he had the ability to create trouble for them.

It was just a difference between sixty-forty, seventy-thirty, or even eighty-twenty... depending on the characteristics of himself and the opponent, and the state of play.

”But somewhat monotonous.”

This was Ma’el’s current thought, whether in passing or shooting, he only had two abilities.

Although both were remarkably strong individually... the Premier League teams’ defensive midfield is extremely tight, and with mindful defense, opportunities to use these abilities were limited per match.

Especially with shooting, having about 3-4 chances per match was already pretty good.

This was understandable, historically, those renowned heavy strikers found it challenging to score more than 5 long shots in a top-level season.

Most wingers, even with excellent inside cutting and dipping shot abilities, struggled to score more than 5 similar goals in a season.

Modern football continuously advances, and the defensive systems of football become more exquisite, suppressing the exertion of powerful individual characteristics to some extent.

Even though Ma’el had a beast-like physique, with an impending super ball control ability, capable of creating more opportunities in matches, surpassing top heavy strikers and inside-cut wingers in goals scored.

But that’s not enough!

His goal is not just 20 goals a season, not even 30, he wants to compete for the best!

Therefore, he clearly needed stronger capabilities, the ability to score 50 goals or more in a season across all competitions!

At this time, he needed to become more comprehensive... striving to have shooting and passing opportunities in various scenarios.

”Aerial Strike.”

He recalled the ability of Van Persie, the Dutch God Striker in the team, which was a very elegant and graceful ability and could be applied in many scenarios.

Out of Van Persie’s 30 goals per season, at least 5-6 were purely aerial strikes, and another 4-5 skimmed the aerial range.

It was evident that this ability was quite applicable in match scenarios, providing ample opportunities and scenes for use.

Ma’el had the experience; when Gervinho and Walcott crossed from the other side, if Van Persie missed, he couldn’t do much.

Whether heading or aerial, neither could be executed... wasting quite a few goals.

Moreover, many times standing outside the box for the second ball, the defender’s header or foot arch clearing mostly resulted in half-high balls.

He could only choose to control the ball and then take a heavy strike, as direct aerial mostly soared into the stands.

Even if sometimes he managed to control and score, more often than not, by the time he controlled the ball, the defender would have snatched it away.

If he mastered an aerial, he’d have more choices in those situations.

That’s what I’ll practice!

He decided it was an extremely important ability, and honing it would boost his goal efficiency once more!

”Outside Foot Strike.”

He quickly remembered a classic shooting ability, represented by Portuguese star Quaresma, and also possessed by Carlos and later Modric.

Outside foot shooting, it seemed a redundant method.

But that was because it was challenging to master, with many stars having common coordination and burst... lacking power in their twist and strike using the outside foot.

Once mastered, it could produce effects similar to an inside cutting Dipping Shot... and seamlessly executed, even with a defender present, it could curve around their body suddenly.

Catch them off guard, attack surprisingly!

That was how Ma’el liked it, and it frustrated goalkeepers and defenders the most.

”Moreover, I inherently have the pace for going wide and curling with the corresponding foot.”

These were already two abilities enough to trouble defenders, and if his opposite foot could consistently strike outside foot arcs, he’d be even harder to fathom.

Letting him go wide won’t do, letting him cut inside won’t work... even if many defenders block these two options, he could just initiate foot outside curve to the far corner right there!

By then, he would have all the shooting options in winger cut-ins!

”Just these two.”

Ma’el wasn’t greedy; he’d proceed step by step, with still numerous abilities under practice, looking to train other skills once more easily managed.

There was still much to practice; the outside world often called him the New Henry, New Ronaldo, but he didn’t see it that way.

He was carving a path untrodden by any star!

Undoubtedly, when he truly becomes a superstar and demonstrates phenomenal performance in world-class football, his titles will be stripped away.

He’d bear only one title—Ma’el!

This would become a new reference for young players similar to him.

[Skill: Ball Control Level 3]

[Skill Level: (1293/2000)]

[Skill: Judging the Situation Level 3]

[Skill Level: (1612/2000)]

[Skill: Endurance Level 3]