From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Bang!”

Ma’el slapped himself, wondering what kind of random thoughts he was having. Had practicing his skills driven him crazy?

People need to relax more often, otherwise they might go insane.

He switched his thoughts to other things. While practicing long shots, if other skills level up and exit the training section, he would add header ability and fancy dribbling.

Headering is to patch up weaknesses, no need to say more... As for fancy dribbling, it’s a skill he planned to train alongside ball control.

In the future, as his abilities gradually rise, he’d need to consider his gracefulness; he can’t always be the muscle-bound guy.

He wants to be Brother Xiaosha, to play cool, to play showy!

By then, he wonders if he would be— a football elf, but a muscle freak.

Ma’el couldn’t help but purse his lips to stifle a laugh; he couldn’t imagine what that scene would look like.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Jose watched Ma’el amuse himself, while feeling both amazed at his rich spiritual realm and asking, ”Considering what Deschamps said at the end of the last press conference, do you think he’ll take the position quickly?”

”Haha...” Ma’el found the thought funny but shook his head: ”Not necessarily, I don’t know him well.”

”What about Blanco?”

Jose cared quite a bit about Ma’el’s national team career, always thinking it was an important arena. ”You frequently talk with him, will he invite you this month?”

”I think it’s possible.”

Ma’el nodded slightly and speculated, ”If he’s stepping down soon, the French Football Federation might give him a last-minute task to quickly recruit me to familiarize me with the team.”

Jose nodded, gazing ahead, and paused for a while before saying, ”Sometimes when I think about it, it’s quite fascinating. Do you know that the sense of disconnect we experience around you is heavier than for others.

”For others, the disconnect is mostly about being ’18’ years old and having ’top-notch skills.’

”Have you ever thought that we not only have this sense of disconnect, but we also see a side of you in your life and training.”

Ma’el watched a car cutting in front, honked several times, and laughed: ”Is training all about rapid improvement? What about in life?”

Jose didn’t turn his head, hesitated for a long time without speaking, as if it was difficult to express.

”Can’t say it, right.” Ma’el jokingly said to him, ”I should be quite normal in life, nothing special.”

”No.” Jose thought it over, turned to look at Ma’el, and said, ”Sometimes you show a very lonely side, one I’ve never seen in anyone else.

”Let alone in a star under 20 years old who is already famous in European Football.”

Ma’el’s heart suddenly trembled, but he laughed dryly, saying, ”How come I don’t feel it? Jose, sometimes not liking to talk doesn’t mean I’m lonely.”

Jose shook his head, giving examples: ”Loneliness isn’t about not talking, staring out the window alone, or liking to be different.

”You’re not like that; on the contrary, you love to talk. Sometimes you make conversation even when there’s nothing to say, fearing sudden cold silences... perhaps that’s why people joke that your jokes are sometimes awkward?

”Have you thought about how afraid you are of being alone? Besides sleeping, you never go upstairs.

”Or rather, why you insisted on having therapists and coaches live in your home? And your former friend Gilbert?”

Ma’el kept driving forward but forgot to press the accelerator, causing the car to slowly decelerate.

”Is your focus merely due to your discipline?” Jose increasingly engaged, sometimes people chat like this, ”Could there be a second reason, that you can’t stop.”

He emphasized ’can’t stop,’ as if stressing that he wasn’t merely speaking literally.

”Alright.” Ma’el smiled at him, saying, ”Don’t become a philosopher, be a good skills coach, I really need you.”

”Go to some parties.”

Jose didn’t stop, finally suggesting: ”Or find someone to share your bed, that would be true companionship.”

....

November 2nd, just 4 days after the last match, the second round of the Champions League arrived.

A new match month was inaugurated... Arsenal hosted, facing Marseille, who recently made a mishap.

With 9 points after 3 rounds, 5 points ahead of Marseille in second place in the group, Wenger rotated nearly half the team for this match, perhaps considering the face of old friend Deschamps.

Ma’el sat on the bench watching the match, alongside Van Persie, exclaiming: ”Mertesacker is in great physical condition; he rotates rarely.”

”Yeah.” Van Persie also nodded with a smile: ”Position and playing style are part of the reason too.”

Ma’el saw Mertesacker head away a threatening ball, saying: ”With him around, it’s not easy for Marseille to take this match easily.”

As he expected, after a fairly calm first half, the teams entered halftime with a zero-to-zero score.

Deschamps was furious, shouting in the locker room... The noise even reached the Arsenal locker room, so Wenger had to close their locker room door tightly.

Listening to the noise from over there, Ma’el pondered, realizing that both coaches he recently encountered had relatively mild temperaments.

If he collaborates with Deschamps in the future, it might indeed be a different experience.

However, he wasn’t worried. With his current abilities, he might not always manage stable contributions, but at least he’d meet each coach’s requirements.