Maël was a little confused. Could it be that improving physical skills was harder than improving technical skills? That did make some sense. After all, training physical attributes was a more long-term process and relied more on talent.
Everyone had significant differences due to factors like genetics and postnatal diet and environment.
Now, what Maël needed to consider was whether to allocate time for strength training. He had previously talked about the theory of being a jack of all trades but master of none, 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 one, and it was a crucial skill. He couldn't just sit by and do nothing.
"There are a total of seven trial players in the team right now. Your contracts all expire at the beginning of July."
Coach Hans's voice sounded from beside him. Maël temporarily put away his thoughts and listened to him.
"But you all know that there are only two vacant spots in the team."
Hans walked past where Maël was standing, glanced at him, and said, "Only two people can stay. There will be no favoritism. Everything will be purely based on strength."
Maël knew these words were directed at him. Coach Hans was good to him, but that didn't mean the other party would look at him with biased eyes, especially during the selection process.
This was human nature. He admired people who could separate public and private matters like this.
Because they could balance fairness and personal feelings.
"On June 30th, we have a friendly match against Liverpool U17. I will field all the trial players."
Hans's voice sounded again, "Use your performance to impress me, to impress the coaching staff!"
Maël's eyes moved. Today was June 13th. He still had seventeen days to intensify his training and improve his skills.
If he could raise his Long Shot to lv3 before then and score one or two goals in the youth team match, he would make a splash.
By then, let alone staying, it was even possible to be noticed by other professional teams and seek a loan.
He was dreaming of stepping onto the professional field, and as he thought about it, he started thinking about how to allocate his training time.
He should start with himself and try his best to increase his chances.
There were still seventeen days.
In other words, as long as he increased his Long Shot proficiency by 20 points every day, he would definitely be able to raise his shooting to lv3 before the match.
The base proficiency for Strength was a bit higher. If he increased it by a little over 10 points every day, he could reach lv2 before then.
Perhaps, it was worth developing on both fronts?
"If I participate in the youth team match with a lv3 Long Shot and lv2 Strength, it shouldn't be difficult to stand out."
Maël made his decision, stopped thinking, and focused on the current strength training.
Because he had overdrawn his body in the past two days, he felt a bit strained during training.
But this wouldn't make him slow down the intensity of his extra training. Only when a person was on the edge of their limit was their improvement the fastest.
He believed the Proficiency Panel followed the same principle.
After the training ended, he brought up the Strength Proficiency Panel again.
Skill: Strength lv1
Proficiency Progress: (133/300)
Effect: You...
He had been training for about an hour when the panel appeared. It seemed that just the last half hour of effort had increased it by another 4 points! The improvement speed was faster than he had imagined.
No more worries. Every evening after finishing shooting training, he would come to the gym and grind!
About 2 miles from the gym, there was a building full of red Gunner elements.
This was the First Team's Administrative Building, where the staff and coaching staff worked. It also served as the First Team's canteen, meeting rooms, physiotherapy rooms, etc.
Compared to other places within the base, this place was more like another world. People came and went, it was very lively, and everyone who entered and exited seemed to have an extraordinary demeanor.
Suddenly, everyone in the building put down what they were doing and looked towards the entrance.
A tall old man with graying temples walked in from there. Elegance and sharpness coexisted in him. His steps were fast, as if he was in a hurry.
The moment you saw him in person, you would absolutely believe that this person would stand out wherever he went, as if he was born to attract attention.
"Mr. Wenger."
"Good afternoon, Coach Wenger."
Many people greeted him. He just nodded in response and then quickly walked towards his office.
An assistant coach quickly followed him. He sensed that something bad must have happened, and the Professor was in a bad mood.
Pushing the door open and entering, the assistant coach heard the sound of a lighter clicking. Wenger lit a cigarette.
This seemed to have become an important way for him to relieve stress. Whenever he had something on his mind, he would light one cigarette after another until he started coughing.
"Phillis."
Wenger saw him come in, stared at him seriously, and asked earnestly, "If I were to leave Arsenal, would you come with me?"
"Me?"
Phillis was stunned for a moment, then nodded blankly, "I would, sir, but..."
"But that's impossible, isn't it?"
Wenger took over the conversation, smiled wryly, and took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Everyone thinks it's impossible for me to leave the team. Even I can't really think of any way to leave the team."
"After all, it's been over ten years."
He seemed to be mocking himself slightly, raising an eyebrow, and after a moment of hesitation, began to confide, "There's still no investment in the summer window. We have to be self-sufficient."
It was clear that his comment about leaving Arsenal was a joke; he was just angry.
"Is Old Kroenke really that heartless?"
Phillis frowned, finding it hard to believe. "Then why did he buy Arsenal? To add a football team to his sports empire?"
"He wants to acquire all of Arsenal's shares, specifically the 30% held by Usmanov."
Wenger had clearly had countless in-depth discussions with Kroenke and knew the reason well. "But the latter also wants to invest fully. The two have been in a stalemate."
He got up and walked to the window, smoking a cigarette with one hand and picking up binoculars with the other to observe the Colney Training Base.
When he was under pressure, he always liked to look into the distance, to see the vibrant faces of the youth team. It gave him more motivation.
"They've both decided to invest fully, afraid that investing would cause the other party's share price to increase?"
Phillis seemed to understand something and sighed. "But when these people are fighting at the top, why can't they think about you?
"Why do they need you when they need bank loans, but abandon you and the club at a time like this? Is this Arsenal theirs, or yours?!"
Wenger shook his head. He focused his gaze on one spot, observing intently without turning his head.
After a long time, he put down the binoculars. "There's an interesting kid there."
"What?"
Phillis was caught off guard by the speed of Wenger's change in thought process. Weren't they just talking about Kroenke? "Yesterday was the weekend, and I saw him spend almost the entire day on the training ground."
Wenger walked back to his desk and chuckled softly. "Early training just finished today, and he's already doing extra training there. He's very diligent, pushing himself to exhaustion multiple times."
"Training like that isn't very good, is it?"
Phillis added, then shook his head. "Besides, football is very dependent on talent. Hard training doesn't have much to do with improving ability."
"I just said he's interesting, and I'm curious how long he can keep it up."
Wenger lit another cigarette, his expression slowly turning serious. "Next, let's talk about the team. It's time to bring up a few players from the youth team and recall a few players who are out on loan.
"This season, the depth of the team's bench can only rely on our own people."
Phillis lowered his head, his expression heavy.
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