February 17th, at the training base.
Maël had just finished a match, and one of his abilities had been enhanced.
[Skill: Weak Foot lv2]
[Proficiency: (1/800)]
[Effect: After a period of training, your left foot has gained some ability, occasionally capable of performing at a decent level, but the preparation time for technical movements is still relatively long!]
"The naming sense is really terrible."
He looked at the panel name of Weak Foot lv2 and complained. But thankfully, this name clearly conveyed his current strength.
In other words, his weak foot had gone from being rebellious and untamed to being somewhat feeble?
Maël's excitement was justified. Because he had lacked left-foot ability, he had suffered quite a few setbacks on the field, which made him feel a strong sense of frustration towards his useless leg.
Fortunately, he had it now! "I need to increase the training intensity for my weak foot."
Maël adjusted his training ratio, wanting to level up this ability to lv3 as soon as possible.
Presumably, by then, even if he couldn't unleash world-class shots like he could with his right foot, at least his crosses from the byline would have a certain degree of accuracy.
During this period, he had actually been more inclined towards short pass training, wanting to quickly acquire his fourth lv4 skill.
But now it seemed better to be more balanced and improve everything simultaneously.
[Skill: Instep Pass lv3]
[Proficiency: (599/800)]
[Skill: Explosion lv3]
[Proficiency: (348/2000)]
[Skill: Stamina lv2]
[Proficiency: (415/800)]
Maël glanced at the proficiency of his other skills. Clearly, the Instep Pass would be the first to level up.
Next, it would probably be his Weak Foot to lv3.
The progress of Explosion was slow, perhaps he would need to focus on it for a period of time in the future to strengthen it properly.
On the way back, he saw more than a dozen messages from Mendes on his phone. He opened them and scrolled through them from top to bottom.
Mendes told him that the contracts had been negotiated, and the total amount for both contracts had reached £650,000, which was £150,000 higher than expected.
The Sheffield United local business was very eager to sign him, and after Mendes used some negotiation tactics, they immediately agreed to increase the endorsement fee by £150,000.
"Not bad."
Maël smiled. This way, after deducting taxes, he would have an income of around £331,000.
This was equivalent to the bonus he would receive for scoring 10 goals for the club, which was a very attractive source of external wealth for him at the moment.
He replied to Mendes, hoping to complete the official signing after this month's dense schedule.
An endorsement of this magnitude would definitely involve more than just signing his name. It would inevitably involve shooting covers and recording videos, and he would also need to do regular personal promotion.
As for this month, Maël definitely couldn't spare the time. The dense schedule left him overwhelmed.
"Play well!" He cheered himself on, focusing all his attention on the league schedule, following the timetable day after day.
February 17th, EFL Championship Round 32.
Sheffield United traveled to Crystal Palace's home stadium to face this old rival.
Zaha was benched for this match. Perhaps his poor performance against Maël in the previous match had caused our London Zaha King to lose the coach's trust.
"Bologanovic! He's finally back on the field for this match, but I heard that Janu Hans will need about another week to recover from his injury."
"Alright, Evans kicks off from the center circle, the first half begins."
...
"A powerful shot! Blocked by the defender, there's a second chance, a push shot!! Off the post! So unlucky, the ball is cleared to the wing, Maël is receiving the ball now.
"He's in a free position, Crystal Palace defenders might not have time to block him! A cross! "Beautiful! Bologanovic scores on his return! A powerful header! Finally, we see this combination again! Sheffield United fans must miss this scene!"
...
"The first half ends, Sheffield United's possession rate has been around 50%, not high, but the number of threatening attacks is better than Crystal Palace's.
"I think Crystal Palace's advantage is still in the wing attacks, it's too difficult to penetrate the opponent's defense through the middle.
"However, after buying Bertrand and Kyle Walker, Sheffield United's wing defense has been significantly enhanced, Crystal Palace may not be able to break through, which may be why the coach insists on going through the middle!"
...
"A quick one-touch pass on the left! Maël crosses the ball, defender Dean heads the ball out, Quinn receives the ball outside! "Without stopping the ball, a direct volley!! Wow! A worldie!! Another worldie!! "Two-nil!! Quinn helps the team extend their lead with a wonderful volley! "Before, because of Maël, I always felt that this Sheffield United team had the temperament of a long-shot team, and after discovering Janu Hans's explosive shooting ability, I was even more convinced of this.
"Until today, when Quinn scored again with a long shot, I can finally say this out loud, Sheffield Heavy Artillery Team!"
On the field, Maël, who doesn't have any stats, ran towards Quinn, who was trembling and shouting, and was sincerely happy for him.
He doesn't necessarily have a great game every time, so he hopes that when he occasionally slumps, his teammates can stand up and help the team win! But... averaging more than 1 goal per game, and still maintaining this efficiency, how can he be considered slumping?
Even if his stats were split up and put on two people, those two would be given the title of highly efficient.
"Sheffield United easily defeats Crystal Palace two-nil! Bologanovic scores on his return, Quinn's worldie seals the victory for the team!" - Sky Sports EFL Championship Column
February 21st, Brisbane Road Stadium.
Arsenal's FA Cup fifth-round match against EFL League One team Leyton Orient kicks off here, and Arsenal basically sends out their full main lineup for this round.
Wenger values the FA Cup quite a bit. Rumor has it that he has faced dismissal crises at Arsenal many times, but each time he can win an FA Cup title to save his position.
The FA Cup is therefore jokingly called the "thermos cup" (bǎowēn bēi) (thermos cup) by fans.
But the actual situation should be somewhat different. Arsenal's management probably wouldn't dare to let Wenger leave easily. Everyone knows what he means to this team.
"Bang!!"
In the 89th minute of the match, Leyton Orient unleashed their second shot of the entire game during a counterattack.
And this shot actually went through goalkeeper Almunia's hands and smashed into the net! One-one!
"Yeah!!" The home fans erupted, no one thought they could score a goal against Arsenal, and even likely secure a draw.
Wenger frowned and stood on the sidelines, raising his head and closing his eyes, extremely helpless.
He looked at the bench, where Fabregas, Nasri, and the in-form Szczęsny were sitting.
But what's the use of bringing them on at this point? "Beep beep beep!!"
The referee soon blew the whistle to end the match, and the Arsenal players left the field with dark faces, the atmosphere was very depressing.
After shaking hands with the opposing coach, Wenger didn't return to the locker room, but sat alone on the coach's seat, with his head down for a long, long time.
In the FA Cup, a draw will not result in penalties or extra time, but a replay.
At this crucial time, any replay could disrupt their plans, they really might as well have just lost to Leyton Orient.
Anyway, playing like this, there's really no need to continue on this front this season.
Wenger was a little self-deprecating, he sighed, and saw a few people from the opposing coaching staff come over to take a photo with him.
He squeezed out a few smiles, feeling like his exhaustion had reached its peak.
February 23rd, EFL Championship Round 33.
Sheffield United's league match is still away this round. Their schedule this season is mostly two home games and two away games, which is quite balanced.
"Harry Maguire! He's in the starting lineup for the first time today, this is his professional debut, Gareth Speed trusts him very much, just like he trusted Maël back then.
"Speaking of which, Maguire's name is somewhat similar to Maël's, I wonder what their relationship is like in private!"
...
"Maël cuts inside with the ball, this has become another common skill for him in the EFL Championship, he occasionally dribbles the ball towards the center!
"Generally speaking, he has three options, one is to shake off the angle and directly *curved shot* to the far corner, the second is if he doesn't shake off the angle, he will pass the ball horizontally to the midfielders.
"The third is that once he finds a teammate making a run, he will use a through ball to pass the ball to his teammate's feet at an extremely fast Speed.
"This time, it looks like he's going to shoot! A curved shot to the far corner? He faked it, readjusted his leg, this time a shot with the instep of his foot, aimed at the near corner! Goal! Maël scored the first goal of the match, a brilliant feint!"
"After drawing the opposing goalkeeper towards the far corner, he suddenly hammered the ball towards the near post, very clever! The observation was also spot on!"
...
"A scramble in front of the Sheffield goal! Maguire wants to clear the ball out of bounds, a sliding tackle! Didn't get it... tripped Miller! Is Miller going down? No, he regains his balance!
"A push shot! The ball slams into the far corner, one-one!!"
...
"Maguire misjudged the header! Behind him, it's Joe Garner! He easily heads the ball in! Sheffield United made a mistake, Maguire is paying the price for his youth!
"Two-one! Scunthorpe takes the lead!"
"Maguire's face is filled with self-blame, he's about to cry, he really shouldn't have misjudged that header, but he's still young and has plenty of time to correct his mistakes!"
...
"Ched Evans, a ground cross from Maël! He stops the ball in the center of the penalty area, what will he choose?! Oh oh...! A toe poke! A fatal blow! Two-two, they've leveled the score!"
...
"A free kick opportunity on the left, created by Maël himself, he'll take it himself, several defenders have entered the center of the penalty area, they are indispensable high points for the team's set pieces! Maël passes the ball! The landing point is very precise, Maguire! He's very tall and has good jumping ability! He heads the ball in! Three-two, Maguire actually scored this goal! Redemption! He should thank Maël for sending him his first career goal, and at such an important moment!"
...
In the lens, Maguire, like a giant ship, sailed towards Maël in a boisterous manner, ready to crash into him.
Maël originally wanted to catch him with his hands, but after thinking that he might weigh close to 200 jin, he quickly dodged to the side.
"Haha...!" He laughed heartily and triumphantly, when people are in such an emotional climax, all feelings are easily intensified.
The media captured Maguire's astonishment and slight embarrassment, and Maël's wide-mouthed expression. This celebration picture of the come-from-behind score became the post-match cover of the game.
"Laugh happier! You deserve it! Sheffield United wins against Scunthorpe three-two with a game-winning goal! Gareth Speed is falling in love with using young players!" - The Sun main column
"Sheffield United's starting lineup last season had an average age of 29.7 years, the fourth oldest team in the entire EFL Championship, but this season, their starting lineup has an average age of only 24.2 years, the second youngest team!" - BBC statistics column "UhohUhoh!!"
February 28th, Wembley Stadium, the deafening cheers never stopped for a moment, shaking the surrounding squares.
This is a stadium full of history, it hosted the finals of the 1948 and 2012 Olympic Games football, and also witnessed the glory of the England team winning the 1966 World Cup! It is also the final venue for the FA Cup final and the EFL Cup, and is the home stadium of the England national team.
It is recognized as the greatest football stadium in the world, with 90,000 seats, and the historical 'White Horse Final' once saw 240,000 people watching the game in the same venue!
It can be said that in Britain, and even in the whole of Europe, the whole world. All children who play football dream of being able to stand here one day and play a game! Today, the EFL Cup final of this season kicks off here.
The two sides facing each other are Arsenal, whose star player Fabregas has just been absent due to injury, and Birmingham, who broke into here as a dark horse!
In the 83rd minute of the game, the score was tied one-one, and the two sides were playing very anxiously. Birmingham chose to make a substitution, replacing Fahé with Martins.
Six minutes passed, in the 89th minute of the game, a familiar time, a time that had just carried Arsenal's pain.
*"Bang!"*
Martins, who had just come on as a substitute, took advantage of goalkeeper Almunia's parry, quickly stepped forward and pushed the ball into Arsenal's net with the simplest method.
"Yeah!!!" The cheers at the scene had already deviated from the category of cheers, it was more like everyone was deaf, and only at this moment did they regain their hearing, and immediately heard the piercing sound.
Martins slid on his knees on the grass of Wembley Stadium, using four consecutive celebration moves to release his emotions.
"Ah!"
On the Arsenal coaching bench, Wenger leaned back and spread his hands, shaking his head constantly, and finally slowly squatted down.
He rested his elbows on his knees, and his palms half-closed covered his face, unable to believe that the closest championship this season, and probably the only championship he had a chance to fight for, had left him like this.
He was really tired, too tired to speak.
"Beep! Beep! Beep——!"
The referee's whistle sounded afterwards, and the Arsenal players sat on the ground, beating their chests and stamping their feet, regretting endlessly.
Wenger endured the pain, supported his body with his last thought, shook hands with the opposing coach with a numb fake smile, and stood on the sidelines waiting for his disciples to return.
"Upset! Arsenal lost to Birmingham one-two! Losing the EFL Cup title! Some fans said, 'Without Fabregas, this team is nothing'." - Manchester Evening News
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