From Arsenal to the Ball God-Chapter 64 - 3: Double 10 Milestone! High Efficiency! [3/5]

Chapter 64: Chapter 3: Double 10 Milestone! High Efficiency! [3/5]

"London."

Gilbert agreed, his eyes also filled with longing. Counting the days, they had been out exploring for five months.

Even though it wasn’t their true hometown, they still felt a sense of homesickness, always feeling that they belonged there.

On one hand, they came from there and achieved what they have today thanks to the platform there.

On the other hand, it’s a truly large club, with the best players in European football, the best coaches, the highest attention, and magnificent stadiums.

Longing for there, wanting to stay and play, is human nature.

"I miss the food at the Korni Base."

Gilbert reminisced with a touch of sadness, starting from taste, "The youth team’s canteen was better; the professional team’s food is too healthy, tasteless."

"Why so sentimental every day?"

Ma’el patted him and mocked, "Living like a star in the Championship, having professional league matches every week, just be content."

"Content indeed."

Gilbert suddenly burst into laughter, full of surprise, "Like before, I just feel everything’s too fast, so fast there’s no time to react and accept it."

He picked up a football and threw it like a throw-in action, "I’ve scored 3 goals and 1 assist, something I didn’t dare to dream of before coming here.

"Not to mention you, 9 goals, 10 assists! Every time I see your stats, I feel a sense of daze, sometimes bewilderment, sometimes confusion, wanting to ask, is this the Ma’el I know?"

"Ma’el." Gilbert calmed down with deep feelings, "When we came, we had nothing, at most you had a few pairs of cleats."

"We still have nothing now."

Ma’el sat up, responding, "People only remember champions, remember miracles, not someone scoring 9 goals and 10 assists in the 10-11 Championship season.

"The road is still long, just walk it, we are still far behind."

The two rarely shared such a heartfelt conversation, and went together to the canteen for a meal. On the way, Ma’el pondered about future training plans.

Once all these skills reach Level 3, the only additional practice left is Crossing, and that’s definitely not enough.

"Dipping Shot needs to keep practicing." He confirmed this thought in his mind; currently, he can’t limit his vision to the Championship League anymore, he needs to look ahead.

A Level 3 Dipping Shot, beating the Championship is no problem, but beating the Premier League might be tough.

Since there’s time, don’t stop, keep grinding until it reaches Level 4, bringing it to the same standard as the Long Shot!

As for the others... consider Arsenal’s tactical system, train a skill that can be used in the future.

And speaking of Arsenal, anyone would first think of the beautiful passing plays, beautiful football, which requires very high passing abilities.

"Short Pass."

Ma’el knew what he needed to train; he currently had only one passing ability. Training Short Pass would make the overall skills more balanced.

One cannot underestimate this ability; passing is the foundation of team operation, and Short Pass is undoubtedly the most frequently used passing technique!

From short distances of three to five meters to surgical passes spanning two lines of defense, this ability is indispensable!

...

After the meal, Ma’el took a walk nearby, rested, and then went to the training field to continually practice short passes using the inside of his foot against the wall.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

This was training every player had done countless times since they were young, something fairly basic, nothing difficult about it.

However, this time, the skills panel didn’t appear for a long time.

The more Ma’el practiced, the more puzzled he felt. Luckily, passing training wasn’t tiring; he just had to endure the monotony and keep kicking.

Finally, before it got dark, having passed to the point of numbness, he finally saw a few lines of deep black text appear in front of him.

[Skill: Inside-of-the-Foot Pass Level 2]

[Skill Level: (151/300)]

[Utility: You’ve basically mastered the essentials of short passing. The quality of your passes isn’t bad, but there’s still a way to go before you can deliver extremely fast and precise short passes.]

Ma’el paused slightly, confirming several times if he had seen it wrong, "Level 2?"

As soon as Short Pass appeared, the basic level was directly Level 2... Is it because of his improved basic qualities?

"No."

He soon realized, and the confusion gradually dissipated, "It’s because this body itself already had Level 2 Passing, which explains why the panel appeared so slowly."

Indeed, short passing ability, as a basic skill, if the original owner had none, there would be no need to play football.

Thinking of this, he also remembered the Physical Ability panel that hadn’t appeared.

Physical Ability, like Power, can be somewhat trained in daily practice. Though he trained additionally every day, it still hadn’t appeared.

Occasionally thinking about it, he thought the Skill Level panel was only evaluating cardio, not considering the muscle endurance slowly growing.

Now in retrospect, it might already have a Level 2 rating, causing the panel to appear slower!

"No rush on this."

Ma’el calmed his mind, since Physical Ability can be trained naturally and subtly, he would wait for it to appear on the panel naturally.

For now, it’s important to first train Crossing, Dipping Shot, and Short Pass to Level 4 to fully prepare for entering the Premier League!

...

On November 21, the 18th round of the Championship League kicked off at Bramall Lane Stadium, where Sheffield United hosted Crystal Palace.

In this round of the league, Garrispeed fielded the full main lineup, determined to vent the frustration of two consecutive draws at home.

The main lineup, rested for one match, showcased an extremely aggressive approach from the start, consistently launching threatening attacks on Crystal Palace’s half.

"Bang."

In the 6th minute of the game, Mael received a pass in an open position on the left flank, seizing a perfect opportunity to showcase himself.

"Zaha! Get back! Get back!"

The Crystal Palace manager stood at the sidelines, gesturing and shouting. Now everyone knows the threat Mael poses with the ball, and it seems they’ve made specific arrangements for him.

For example, sending out an equally young 18-year-old winger to use his youthful advantage to track back deeply and double-team Mael during defense.

A youthful-looking Zaha gritted his teeth, swinging his arms vigorously, giving it all he had to chase back.

It no longer had anything to do with showcasing himself.

Originally, as an 18-year-old player in the Championship, he lived daily in an atmosphere of praise and expectation, proud of his talent, believing his future was bright.

Who knew, with Mael’s appearance, he single-handedly raised the bar for evaluating young Championship players’ talents.

The praises disappeared, so did the expectations. People simply felt, Mael, before 19 in just half a season, contributed to scoring. While Zaha, barely scoring 5 goals, was told to step aside.

Chase back!

Not just for the team, but also to restore his pride... Zaha’s steps quickened, and soon he was right behind Mael.

However, as if anticipating it, Mael didn’t take the ball towards the flank’s trap but suddenly cut inside.

"Bang."

Using the outside of his right foot, he kicked the ball forcefully towards the center, slipping it between the two of them, and immediately followed up.

Zaha avoided a collision with Mael on the first step, confident that with his speed, he could catch up with Mael on the second.

"Mine!"

He shouted to boost his morale, accelerating after Mael, only to find he couldn’t keep up!

Mael’s initial strides were exceptionally fast, not to mention intercepting the ball, he might not even manage to reach him in time.

It was embarrassing!

Zaha’s face turned red instantly, though it wasn’t noticeable to others.

Just before Mael’s shot, following the logic of starting something and seeing it through, he made up for his claim of ’mine’ by shouting, "Hey!!"

He hoped to use his voice to affect Mael’s shot, while also implying that his initial ’mine’ wasn’t about taking the ball, just a scare tactic.

It was rather endearing.

"Bang!!"

In the middle of the penalty area, Mael executed a smooth dipping shot. Luckily, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper was focused, diving to tip the ball off the line with his fingertips.

He clenched his fist in regret, waiting for the next opportunity.

On his way back, he saw the bewildered Zaha next to him, walking with feigned seriousness, looking quite amusing.

London’s Wonderboy?

In his early days... this field must give him some solid special training.

Time ticked by, and the first goal was scored in the 39th minute of the first half.

"Bang!"

Sheffield United’s backline launched the ball, arching over the heads of Crystal Palace’s central defenders, falling behind them.

Evans surged forward like a phantom, controlling the ball seamlessly to form a one-on-one.

"Bang!" His one-on-one was very stable, and as the goalkeeper approached, he chipped the ball over the goalkeeper’s head into the goal.

One to zero!

Sheffield United took the lead at their home ground!

"Yeah.....!" Over twenty thousand home fans stood and cheered, applause echoing throughout the stadium.

Evans reached the sideline but hadn’t thought of a celebration, ultimately just high-fiving a few teammates, exchanging words of congratulation.

After the kickoff resumed, everyone got into their best form, and the match gradually turned into a heated battle.

In the 43rd minute, Mael once again had a one-on-one opportunity with opponent defender Klein, a familiar scene, a familiar routine.

Klein kept retreating to delay, while Zaha was working tirelessly to catch up from the front.

As halftime approached, they increasingly felt Mael’s speed advantage and simultaneously raised his threat level in their minds, also having some complaints toward their coach.

Why didn’t they mention before the match that this kid also had speed?

At this point, Mael executed a dazzling bicycle kick, occasionally interspersing two-step overs, disorienting Klein and quickly causing him to lose balance and surrender.

"Bang!"

As Klein extended his leg, Mael once again nudged the ball towards the center, swinging his arm to unleash a curve after creating an angle.

This time, he carried a momentum of unwavering determination!

The soccer traced a banana-like path, seemingly destined to go out of bounds but at the final moment, it turned back, curving into the goal.

This time, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper had no chance, watching helplessly as the ball went in, closing his eyes and tilting his head in resignation.

"Yeah.....!!" The crowd erupted into an even more intense cheer than before. Such a stunning cut-in shot warranted them shouting at the top of their lungs in support.

Moreover, after this goal, a new milestone moment arrived!

They all remembered, Mael had already achieved 9 goals and 10 assists in the league. With this, he hit double digits!

"Oh....!" On the field, Mael cheered as he dashed towards the corner flag area, opting for no special celebration, simply finding a camera and waving his ten fingers repeatedly.

Through this celebration, he commemorated his first career achievement of double digits!

If one word could describe his Championship journey, it would be efficiency!