From Arsenal to the Ball God

Ma’el felt somewhat relieved and began to follow his lead, officially commencing the Fancy Dribbling training.

Jose watched his footwork attentively throughout the process, analyzing the reasons behind each success and failure, and explaining the techniques.

”Your feet are a bit stiff, which shouldn’t be the case. Your Coordination and Ball Sense are quite good.

”You need to get used to a feeling of relaxation... Freestyle Football is closely linked to Samba football, and Samba is all about freedom, passion, and exuberance; it’s a form of football art.”

”...”

”I must mention the importance of focus in this process; you need to be fully immersed to reach a new level.

”Skill proficiency is merely technique; to truly master Fancy Dribbling, a crucial aspect is mental practice... Focus on feeling the football becoming one with your body, allowing it to go wherever your control desires.

”Every part of your body can touch the ball, not just the front of your foot or the instep — also the outside foot, knee, shoulder, any part of your body.

”You need to combine them like crafting sentences, and everyone will have their style — so will you.”

”.....”

”Okay, these are some abstract concepts that I think need to be grasped. You also need to master many basic Fancy Dribbling moves, and I’ll teach you some.”

”.....”

As the Fancy Dribbling training ended and the Header training began, Jose took out the camera to film, preparing to use the previous comparison method again to correct the improper Header movements of Ma’el.

Of course, he also knows some basic knowledge and can provide some live experiences.

”Hunch your shoulders and tuck in your abdomen, use the explosive power from your waist and core, not your neck, as that won’t provide any Power.

”You need to pay attention to the timing of your jump and the timing and position of the contact, which will affect the accuracy of your header.

”These don’t have much more to elaborate on; I think the rest is just the transition from unfamiliarity to proficiency... I’ll send you daily training Observation reports, and you can adjust based on the header posture of top strikers.”

Ma’el continuously absorbed the information sent by Jose and kept training.

Unfortunately, the first day’s training didn’t result in a Skill Level panel; his header and Fancy Dribbling abilities weren’t at Level 1, or they weren’t simply classified as technical abilities.

He wasn’t disappointed because once the first step is made, there will always be the opportunity to improve gradually.

He opened the Skill Level panel and observed the improvement in other Skills... This month’s schedule was tight, and combined with the national team match day, the Skills improvement rate wasn’t fast.

However, progress was steady, with considerable gains, all moving forward.

[Skill: Violent Bombing Level 4]

[Proficiency: (241/2000)]

[Skill: Aerial Strike Level 3]

[Proficiency: (692/800)]

[Skill: Outside Foot Arc Level 3]

[Proficiency: (678/800)]

[Skill: Endurance Level 3]

[Proficiency: (1824/2000)]

[Skill: Rhythm Level 3]

[Proficiency: (1311/1500)]

”All close to leveling up.”

Seeing four Skills approaching the upgrade line, he smiled slightly, imagining what progress and overall strength he would have in the second half.

Once these Level 3 Shooting, Endurance, and Rhythm Skills reach Level 4, he can set them aside for a while.

He can then focus more on upgrading Long Shot Level 5 and practicing the new Skills of Fancy Dribbling and Header!

”At that time, Speed needs to be added to the physical training.”

He made this decision wanting to see what strength Level 5 Speed would offer, and if the training program is all technical training, it might be unreasonable.

Keep pushing forward!

Aim to become the Ball God!

...

On December 3, Arsenal visited Wigan Athletic, officially starting the last month of the first half of the season.

Their schedule this month didn’t decrease compared to before; in fact, it increased by one match... which is normal as the Christmas heavy schedule approaches, followed closely by the equally packed January.

After today’s match against Wigan, they will play the last round of the Champions League group stage away at Olympiacos’ formidable home stadium on the 7th.

Next up.

On the 10th, the Premier League 15th round against Everton, the 19th for the 16th round against Aston Villa, the 22nd for the 17th round against Manchester City, the 27th for the 18th round against Wolves, and the 31st for the 19th round against Sheffield United.

These are five consecutive Premier League matches!

Arsenal will complete the first cycle of this Premier League season and end the first half of the season.

It can be said that this month is crucial; maintaining position in the standings amid such a dense schedule is the key to competing for the championship at the end of the season!

Historically, numerous teams have fallen out of the championship race in this month, even if they held significant advantages earlier.

And everything starts with this early month’s match against Wigan Athletic.

”Beep!”

In this match, Ma’el was sitting on the bench, spectating. He and Arteta and Koscielny, the three main players, had run through the whole match against Manchester City in the English League Cup.

Other main players were given ample rest and could play this match in their full state.

Given that they already possessed good fighting power and the opponent was the bottom-ranked Wigan Athletic in the standings... Wenger allowed him and the other two who played the whole match previously to rest and conserve energy for the devilish five straight matches later this month.

The progress of this match was also particularly smooth; Arsenal controlled the game right from the beginning.

In the first twenty minutes, they created two perfect chances, however, Walcott failed to seize them — he can sometimes be a bit unpredictable.