From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 318: Chapter 98: Deschamps’ 180-Degree Turn! Into the English League Cup Quarterfinals! Acquiring [Football Record] (Part 3)

”Haha...!” The whole family laughed together, and the atmosphere was very warm.

In the evening, Ma’el chatted with his uncle and aunt for a while and then went back to the house he used to live in and spent the night there.

He wouldn’t say it’s more comfortable than sleeping in his mansion... but returning to this ’long-lost’ place that always held his thoughts, it really felt different.

He seemed to see his past self, making him accept his current body and identity even more, gradually feeling more complete.

The next day, before leaving.

Ma’el felt a bit reluctant as he hugged his uncle and aunt, and he envisioned, ”I told you about the plan for the Hall of Honors yesterday. When I win more championships and can set up a display cabinet, I’ll bring you over.”

”Alright.” Clément, not knowing what to say, smiled with a glowing face, ”I look forward to that day.”

”Good luck.”

Betty patted him on the shoulder, feeling slightly emotional as she sensed her nephew was leaving, ”Don’t overwork yourself.”

Ma’el waved at them and got into a business car arranged by the club, leaving Aix.

...

On October 26th, the second to last match of the month kicked off, with Arsenal hosting Bolton Wanderers at home.

This was a 1/8 final of the English League Cup, with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals of this season’s League Cup.

Due to the continuous back-to-back matches every three days, most players were feeling the strain. Wenger opted for a full rotation lineup for this match.

Shamakh, Benayoun, and Arshavin formed the three forwards, with the midfield line being Coquelin, Chamberlain, Frimpong, and Nikolaos Yennaris.

The defenders were Squillaci, the recently recovered Vermaelen, and Mikel, with Fabianski as the goalkeeper.

Ma’el and other core players sat on the bench on standby, slightly disappointed, worried that they might lose to Bolton Wanderers in this match.

It’s not that he has some obsession, dreaming of winning every match this month... mainly because he previously expressed his desire to challenge for the championship on this front.

Bolton Wanderers are not a weak team; they are a relegation-level team in the Premier League, with some strength.

They probably guessed in advance that Arsenal would field a rotated lineup and chose to mostly play their main players... clearly wanting to see how far they could go on this line, hoping for a miracle.

”Boom!”

In the 47th minute of the second half, as expected, the opponent’s midfielder Muamba headed the ball in for a goal.

Ma’el glanced at Wenger to see if he had any intention of making substitutions, finding him calmly standing on the sidelines.

He wasn’t angry at Wenger; it was normal for the coach’s ideas to differ from his in some areas. He and Wenger were already quite compatible.

Wenger’s idea was probably to focus entirely on the Premier League and FA Cup, advancing as much as possible in the Champions League, and for the English League Cup... just playing casually, seeing how far they could go.

Based on past seasons’ results and the bench’s depth, having such an idea was actually quite bold of Wenger.

But Ma’el might be even bolder, or rather, he hadn’t yet experienced the grueling schedule of a top team’s second half of the season, so his perspective was limited.

”Boom boom boom...”

Not long after the restart, Arshavin suddenly burst in from the left flank at high speed, initially seeming like a not-so-threatening flank attack.

But somehow, he suddenly cut into the penalty area from the baseline, reaching a dangerous position.

”Oh?” Ma’el stood up from the bench, earlier than other coaches.

Then, upon seeing Arshavin’s sharp shot hit the near post and go in, he jumped up before everyone else, ”Yeah...!”

One-one!

He ran across from Wenger to the edge of the field to celebrate, as if he were the manager of Arsenal.

Wenger looked at him with slightly surprised eyes before raising his hands high to celebrate the goal as well.

Three minutes later, Nikolaos Yennaris’ low shot from outside the penalty area forced a spill from the goalkeeper, and Benayoun followed up to score.

”Beautiful!”

Ma’el was a bit more restrained this time, but his face still showed amazement.

Two-one!

They actually turned it around!

Yennaris’ shot... if he remembered correctly, he was part of the earliest batch of players naturalized for the national team.

Now it seemed he still had a lot of talent and energy; if he stayed disciplined and continued to play in Europe, he might have hope.

”Their strength is surprising.” Ma’el remarked to Van Persie beside him, and he nodded lightly, looking at him with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

”Ma’el.” Van Persie finally couldn’t help but ask, ”You have thoughts about the English League Cup too?”

”Don’t you all?”

Ma’el asked him back, thinking their bonus contracts shouldn’t be much different, didn’t Van Persie want to earn a bit more?

”Well, yes.” Van Persie bit his lower lip and said after some thought, ”But thinking about it, the schedule for the Premier League and FA Cup is tiring enough for us, and we have to play well in the Champions League too.

”If there’s another one, it might be a bit exhausting, right? It’s really tough.”

He laughed, ”We’re not that six-time winner Barça, whose playing style naturally reduces injury and fatigue risks, and their bench depth is exceptionally strong.”

”I certainly don’t think that far.” Ma’el looked at the field, not knowing how to explain to Van Persie, he tried another angle, ”If we reach the last 8, do you think the professor will go all out for the championship?”

”Hard to say.” Van Persie shook his head and then said, ”But if we reach the semi-finals, no matter who it is, we’ll definitely give it a go.”

Ma’el didn’t continue the conversation with him, watched the field with slight nervousness, and continued until the match ended.

”Beep! Beep! Beep——!”

Upon hearing the three long whistles from the referee, he stood up excitedly, swung his fists, and smiled as he high-fived every player in the rotated lineup.