"Bang, bang, bang!!"
December 4th, after finishing the club's internal training, Maël stayed on the training ground to continue practicing hard, drenched in sweat.
As his strength grew and his influence in the football world increased, his time became increasingly scarce.
Or rather, with a very full schedule, and in a state of great mental and material satisfaction, his days always seemed to pass quickly, like a fleeting moment. Often, he would forget to check his schedule, and when he looked again, several days had passed without him realizing it.
But one thing remained unchanged: daily training!
He had long been very clear that this was the foundation of his career, and he had also understood early on that as his wealth and status grew stronger, it would become increasingly difficult to continue training and adhere to his foundation.
When he was down and out, he had no other concerns and almost nothing to lose, so sticking to training was the only way for him to change his fate and fulfill his ideals. He had to persevere.
Later, when he played in the EFL Championship, the Premier League, and received a high salary, there were actually more temptations.
A young man in his prime, at the peak of his physical condition, with money he couldn't spend in the short term, and a certain amount of fame and social status, would find it difficult to remain hidden from the world.
But at that time, he could still firmly believe that since he had such a good opportunity, he should strive towards the top and not relax. He had to continue to persevere!
With this pursuit, he managed to overcome that easily lost early stage.
Later, he achieved top-level statistics in the Premier League, won the European Cup championship, and became recognized as one of the top three in the world.
Temptations and difficulties intensified, and the sacrifices and pain required to resist them also increased rapidly! Many people would completely lose their way at this time, either indulging in pleasure or becoming complacent in the praise and flattery of the world, stagnating, and then slowly regressing and declining.
Now, he had achieved unprecedented and unmatched data in the Premier League, reaching data close to Messi's best year, and becoming a hot candidate for the Ballon d'Or... Everything changed again, and an extremely bewitching voice echoed in his mind every day: "Enough, it's enough, just keep playing like this. Even if you don't get the Ballon d'Or this year, you'll get it next year. Win at least five before you retire."
"You don't need to work hard anymore. Just maintain the status quo. You've already done your best in the previous two years. Now it's time to enjoy it!"
"You had pursuits at every time node in the past, but now you've become the best. You don't need to pursue anything else!"
It can be said that Maël, who trains every day with these voices in his head, sometimes really doubts the meaning of his hard work.
Is he comforting himself? Or has he become accustomed to this kind of life and is unwilling to take the step towards another kind of life? Is it possible that as long as he lets go of some things, he can live extremely comfortably now and still get everything? But in the end, he is unwilling to let go, unwilling to let himself break away from this kind of life! It's not that he doesn't want to take that step, but that he has a higher pursuit—to be the best in history, the undisputed best in history! Perhaps sometimes he feels that if he maintains his current state and plays well, with a little luck, it is very possible to reach the best in history by the age of 30, and it may not even be a difficult task.
But he just doesn't want to follow the routine, doesn't want a life that he can see the end of at a glance, and doesn't want to stagnate every year!
Having maintained a very fast rate of progress for many years, he can't stop. He has long trained his body and mind into a high-speed machine, constantly pursuing the limits!
"Perhaps, more than becoming the best in history, what I want to see is how old I will be when I become the best in history."
Maël analyzed himself in his heart, "Or in other words, how quickly can I become the best in history, and what will my peak state be?"
So, train!
Don't stop! Keep grinding! He has said the concept of Football God countless times. These two words are just a summary. Until now, he may truly understand what he wants.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The sound of the ball being touched kept ringing. Maël shielded himself from all information, focused on his feet, and practiced his Fancy Footwork.
At around 4:30 that afternoon, his legs and brain changed again, and another skill broke through!
[Additional Skill: Fancy Footwork lv4]
[Effect: After mastering all the Fancy Footwork, you realize that you have only learned a little bit of many skills, so you continue to work hard until today. All Fancy Footwork have truly been mastered. Even if it is not unique, it is top-notch!]
Fancy Footwork has broken through! "Hoo."
Maël exhaled deeply, feeling both refreshed and relieved, not to mention the joy and sense of accomplishment.
After adding 'Ball Control' and 'Volley' to his training schedule, he had somewhat neglected the training of this lv3 additional skill.
There was no helping it, after all, the other skills he was practicing were all in the lv4-lv5 range, while this one was only lv3-lv4.
Humans are instinctively inclined to do things that significantly improve themselves, and neglect things that don't seem like the best choice.
Fortunately, he still understood what Fancy Footwork meant to him, and every day he overcame his 'greed', taking about 10-20% of his time to practice this skill.
Today it finally leveled up!
This was the source of his refreshment, as for his relief, that was another matter—after today, all lv3 skills had finally been removed from his training queue, and Dribbling had finally met the requirements, achieving dual lv4!
That was enough!
From today onwards, all he would practice was lv4 Sprint, lv4 Godly Strength, as well as Volley Blast lv4, and Perfect First Touch lv4!
[Skill: Sprint lv4]
[Proficiency: (4505/5000)]
[Skill: Godly Strength lv4]
[Proficiency: (3782/5000)]
[Skill: Volley Blast lv4]
[Proficiency: (989/2000)]
[Skill: Perfect First Touch lv4]
[Proficiency: (931/2000)]
Looking at the proficiency of the lv4 skills he was practicing, Maël realized that Sprint was truly only one step away from its final upgrade.
With only 500 proficiency points left, he would have an lv5 skill with 5000 proficiency points! This would be his first skill with 5000 proficiency points. If a skill with 2000 proficiency points was lv5, then he would rather consider this kind of skill as lv5.5! Without a doubt, this would bring him a transformative change, allowing him to have a greater improvement! Exiting the skill panel, Maël walked towards home, and after returning, he ate the nutritious meal prepared by Safina.
While eating, he couldn't help but think of two comprehensive skills, Shooting and Passing. Yes, these two abilities that he had pursued several times without success, were still on his mind.
He thought that once Sprint and Godly Strength were both lv5, the remaining upgrades from lv4 to lv5 for most skills would be considered supplementary abilities.
They weren't that necessary, but practicing them could still give him greater strength and better performance.
The only ones that were somewhat important were Dribbling lv4 and Fancy Footwork lv4, which were a symbol of his ball-handling ability reaching its maximum level, and he would have to focus on practicing them at that time.
And when all of these were well-practiced, then he wouldn't be far from his true limit.
If there was anything else lacking, it would be the comprehensive ability of Shooting and Passing, such as Chip Shot, Stab Shot, Side-Foot Shot, Heel Shot, etc., and Passing, etc.
For him to practice these abilities individually would undoubtedly be a waste of time.
He really wanted to have a comprehensive skill like Fancy Footwork and Frequency, and also a comprehensive additional skill, to solve the problem once and for all! But he didn't know if it was because the two abilities of 'Shooting' and 'Passing' were a larger comprehensive category than 'Frequency' and 'Fancy Footwork', he could never grind out these two skills.
Actually, he could understand this, after all, stopping, passing, dribbling, and shooting, shooting and passing already encompassed 2 skills, even as a supplement, it was normal for them to be more difficult to practice than Frequency and a certain type of skill.
But when would they appear?
Maël was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he didn't want his past efforts to be wasted, and on the other hand, he was afraid that he would never be able to practice these two abilities, and in the end, he would have put in even more effort.
"Try again?"
Perhaps it was a belief and power in the dark that guided him, he gradually had this idea, and acted on it shortly after eating.
Two hours later, he lay on the bed after finishing his extra training and taking a shower.
Everything was as before.
However, that feeling became stronger and stronger again, as if something was waiting for him ahead.
He strengthened his idea, these two skills cannot be abandoned, and he still has to continue practicing them in the future.
When he has practiced them to the point of mastery, perhaps, he won't need other new skills, mastering the existing ones will be enough! On December 5th, Arsenal ushered in the last game of the Champions League group stage this season.
Since the main players had just finished the 15th round of the Premier League three days ago, and Arsenal had already been eliminated from the Champions League early, Mr. Wenger sent a substitute lineup to play against Olympiacos in this game.
Coincidentally, after Arsenal qualified from the Champions League group stage last season, they also used a substitute lineup against Olympiacos, who are known as the home tyrants.
They lost that game. There was no way around it. This Greek Super League team has a devilish home stadium that makes countless giants tremble. Playing there, the Olympiacos players are fearless.
New season, new atmosphere. Arsenal, who have strengthened their first-team lineup and the depth of their bench, are very much looking forward to completing their revenge this season and entering the top 16 with an undefeated record in the group stage! Mr. Wenger said in the locker room before the game that he hoped the rotated players would show themselves and bring pressure to the first team, and he would give excellent rotated players more time and opportunities in future games.
"Beep!"
The game kicked off at 7:30 that night, and Maël was on the bench, watching the performance of the rotated lineup.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Walcott's sudden Cut Inside created chaos in the Olympiacos defense. Many people pounced on this England international, thus opening up the space in front of the penalty area.
"Boom boom!"
Then Walcott made a horizontal pass to the arc of the penalty area, and Rosický, who followed up, scored with a Side-Foot Shot into the far corner, giving Arsenal a 1-0 lead.
"Clap clap clap!"
Maël applauded, seeing that his teammates on the bench also had this level of skill, he was naturally very happy and had more confidence in the team.
The changes this season are really big. In fact, Rosický and Walcott were considered players between the main force and the main rotation last season, but unexpectedly, they have rarely played this season and have hardly partnered with him.
However, Maël's happiness ultimately did not last until bedtime tonight.
In the 84th minute and the 90+1 minute of the second half, Olympiacos' Maniatis and Mitroglou successively scored two goals, reversing the score.
Mr. Wenger's face instantly sank. When he wanted to make another substitution adjustment, it was already too late.
"Beep! Beep! Beep——!"
Soon after, three long whistles sounded, and Arsenal's first defeat of the season came.
Even though this defeat would not affect anything, the Arsenal players and coaching staff, who were used to winning, still boarded the flight back to London with disappointment on their faces.
Maël sat in the back row of the plane. Although he didn't have any obsessive-compulsive disorder, the taste of defeat he experienced on the bench this season still made him look regretful.
It seems that smooth sailing only exists in fairy tales. In reality, there will always be unexpected blows, even if you feel that you have made all the preparations and have the confidence to overcome everything.
The only good thing is that this defeat did not affect the 58-game unbeaten streak. "It's good to lose a game, so you can know this feeling again and take it as a warning."
After getting off the plane, Mr. Wenger gave a brief speech, "I hope all the players remember today, don't be discouraged but don't think it doesn't matter, the more it is the end, the more you have to calm down."
Maël also said a few simple words, "There are still many opportunities later, let's try to win them back."
"Just like Mr. Wenger said, this defeat reminds us of the feeling of shame. I hope everyone thinks about the game last season where we lost to Milan in the round of 16, and plays well in the subsequent knockout rounds.
"Qualifying as the top of the group for two consecutive years is a good thing, but this year we need some breakthroughs."
After finishing these tasks, he returned home to rest, but before going to sleep, he couldn't help but think about how those rotation players, who saw this game as an opportunity to showcase their skills, would sleep tonight.
Football, ah, football, always brings everything to people with victory, and ruthlessly destroys some things with defeat.
December 7th, one day before the Premier League Round 16 match against West Brom.
Maël didn't prepare for any high-intensity activities, just practiced Shooting and passing skills on the training ground, hoping to get lucky.
"Buzz"
At 3 p.m. that day, his whole body suddenly trembled, and he had an extremely clear feeling in his brain, as if he suddenly understood many things.
Even though he was a little uncertain at first, he quickly beamed with joy, knowing that this was probably a very important day for him recently! The long-awaited skill should be here!
[Skill: Shooting lv1]
[Proficiency: (152/300)]
[Effect: After having many specialized Shooting abilities, you gradually realize that a few particularly strong highlights are not enough. In the game, there are countless scenarios that require you to be more comprehensive, so you start to fill in the gaps, but the current results are minimal.]
[Additional skill: Shooting Technique lv1]
[Proficiency: (241/1500)]
[Effect: In the process of filling in the gaps, you begin to find the feeling of Shooting. This is not only the feeling of Shooting with your feet, but also includes the nose for goal, quick reaction decision-making Shooting footwork, etc. This ability can be collectively referred to as Shooting Technique!]
[Note: The emergence of Shooting and Shooting Technique stems from your training in multiple Shooting skills for more than 2 years, and from your own Shooting proficiency.]
[Note: The already trained single strong Shooting skills are not within the scope of this training, so they cannot be improved by comprehensive skills, but only by strengthening individual skills. This new ability only supplements small categories.]
It's here!
Comprehensive Shooting!
Maël closed his eyes and looked up, with an unspeakable feeling in his heart, as if his soul had suddenly traveled through time to become the Prime Minister, and after several failed Northern Expeditions, he finally succeeded once.
One thing he was very clear about was that from now on, besides training and improving himself, he no longer had to look for new things, and he didn't have to hesitate about how to choose the next skill.
Follow all the paths that have been explored now, and move forward firmly, success is just around the corner!
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