NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Professor Wenger
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Maël was a bit puzzled. Could it be that improving Physical Skills was more difficult than Technical Skills?
This did make some sense, after all, physical attributes required long-term training and were more dependent on talent.
Everyone had significant differences due to Genetics and Postnatal Diet and Environment.
Now, Maël had to consider whether to allocate time for Strength Training. He had previously mentioned the Theory of Quantity Over Quality, but that was because he only had one skill, and he wasn't sure how to acquire new skills, so he didn't want to waste time trying.
Now he had a crucial skill, and he couldn't just sit idly by.
"There are currently seven Trial Players on the team, and your Contracts all expire in early July."
Coach Hans' voice rang in his ears, and Maël temporarily set aside his thoughts to listen.
"But you all know that there are only two Vacant Positions on the team."
Hans passed by Maël's position, glanced at him, and said, "Only two people can stay, and there will be no Favoritism. Everything will be based on Strength."
Maël knew these words were directed at him. Coach Hans was good to him, but this didn't mean the coach would view him with bias, especially in the selection process.
This was human nature, and he admired people who could distinguish between public and private matters.
Because they could achieve fairness and personal feelings at the same time.
"On June 30th, we have a Friendly Match against Liverpool U17. I will field all the trial players."
Hans' voice sounded again, "Impress me with your performance, impress the coaching staff!"
Maël's eyes lit up. Today was June 13th, so he still had seventeen days to intensify his training and improve his skills.
If he could boost Long Shot to Level 3 before then and score 1 or 2 goals in the Youth Team matches, he could make a stunning debut.
At that point, not only would staying be a certainty, but being scouted by other Professional Teams and securing a Loan deal would also be possible.
He was dreaming of stepping onto the professional stage, and as he thought, he also considered how to allocate his training time.
He decided to start with himself and do everything he could to increase his chances.
He had seventeen days.
In other words, as long as he increased his Long Shot proficiency by 20 points each day, he could definitely boost his shooting to Level 3 before the match.
With a higher base proficiency in strength, increasing it by over 10 points each day would allow him to reach Level 2 before the match.
Perhaps, it was worth pursuing both?
"If I go into the Youth Team match with a Level 3 Long Shot and Level 2 strength, standing out shouldn't be too difficult."
Maël made his decision and focused on his current Strength Training.
Due to the physical strain from the previous two days, he found the training a bit challenging.
But this wouldn't make him slow down his training intensity. People only improve the fastest when they push themselves to their limits.
He believed the Skill Proficiency Panel worked the same way.
When the training ended, he once again brought up the Skill Proficiency Panel for strength.
[Skill: Strength Level 1]
[Proficiency Progress: (133/300)]
[Effect: You.]
He had already trained for about an hour when the panel appeared, and it seemed that just the last half-hour of effort had increased his proficiency by 4 points!
The improvement speed was faster than he had expected.
No more worries. Every evening after finishing his shooting training, he would hit the Gym!
About two miles from the Gym, there was a building filled with Red Gunners Elements.
This was the First Team Administrative Building, where the staff and coaching staff worked. It also housed the Canteen, Meeting Room, Therapy Room, and more for the first team.
Compared to other areas of the base, this place was like another world, bustling with people, and every person who entered or left exuded an air of distinction.
Suddenly, everyone in the building put down their work and turned their gaze to the door.
A tall, silver-haired old man walked in, exuding both elegance and sharpness. His steps were quick, as if he had urgent matters to attend to.
The moment you saw him in person, you would absolutely believe that he would stand out wherever he went, as if he was naturally magnetic.
"Mr. Wenger."
"Good afternoon, Coach Wenger."
Many people greeted him, and he nodded in response before quickly heading to his office.
An assistant coach quickly followed, sensing that something bad had happened and that the professor was in a bad mood.
Pushing the door open, the assistant coach heard the 'click' of a lighter as Wenger lit a cigarette.
This seemed to have become an important way for him to relieve stress. Whenever he had worries, he would light one cigarette after another until he started coughing.
"Philis."
Wenger, seeing him enter, stared at him seriously and asked, "If I were to leave Arsenal, would you follow me?"
"Me?"
Philis was taken aback, then nodded in a daze, "I would, sir, but..."
"But that's impossible, right?"
Wenger continued, chuckling bitterly and taking a deep drag on his cigarette, "Everyone thinks it's impossible for me to leave the team, and even I can't think of any way to leave.
"After all, it's been over a decade."
He seemed to be mocking himself, raising an eyebrow and hesitating before starting to confide, "There's still no investment in the Summer Transfer Window. We have to break even on our own."
Clearly, the talk of leaving Arsenal was a joke; he was just angry.
"Is Old Kroenke really that heartless?"
Philis frowned, incredulous, "Why did he buy Arsenal? To add a football team to his sports empire?"
"He wants to acquire the remaining 30% of Arsenal's shares from Usmanov."
Wenger, who had clearly had numerous deep conversations with Kroenke, knew the reason, "But the latter also wants to invest fully, and the two have been at an impasse."
He stood up and walked to the window, smoking with one hand and picking up a telescope with the other to observe the Colney Training Ground.
When he was under pressure, he always liked to look into the distance, at the energetic faces of the Youth Team, which gave him more motivation.
"They both decided to go all in, afraid that investing would give the other an Equity Premium?"
Philis seemed to understand something and sighed, "But why can't they think about you while they fight at the top?
"Why do they need you for Bank Loans but abandon you and the club when it matters?
"Is this Arsenal theirs or yours?!"
Wenger shook his head, his gaze fixed on a spot, and he didn't turn around.
After a long while, he put down the telescope, "There's an interesting kid over there."
"What?"
Philis was caught off guard by Wenger's sudden change of topic. Weren't they just talking about Kroenke?
"Yesterday was the weekend, and I saw him almost spend the whole day at the training ground."
Wenger walked back to his desk and chuckled, "He just finished the morning training and is already doing extra practice, very diligent, pushing himself to the limit multiple times."
"Training like that isn't good, either."
Philis interjected, then shook his head, "And football is very talent-dependent. Hard work doesn't necessarily correlate with skill improvement."
"I just find him interesting and curious how long he can keep it up."
Wenger lit another cigarette, his expression slowly turning serious, "Now, let's talk about the team. It's time to bring up a few players from the Youth Team and recall some Loaned Players.
"This season, the team's Squad Depth can only rely on our own resources."
Philis lowered his head, his expression heavy.
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