Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 166: Report on the French team! The last update of the value in 11 years! The upgrade of ball control!
On November 11, Maher returned to London and flew to Paris, France, to participate in the first national team training in his life.

He is about to go to a new place and meet a group of new teammates and coaches, so he is still looking forward to it.

He arrived in Paris that afternoon. Naturally, he was not alone on this trip. Harry and Safina also came with him. They were responsible for the massage therapy after daily training.

They took a bus from the airport to the football town of Clairefontaine, where most of the French team's training is conducted.

In addition, Clairefontaine is also home to a world-renowned football academy.

Top players such as Henry, Anelka and Saha all came from here, and it has trained countless talented players for the French team.

Going further back, Mbappe, the future star of the French team, is also one of the famous graduates here.

Maher arrived in Clairefontaine around six in the evening. He said goodbye to his two physiotherapists, walked into this football town with fresh air, and started to find his own residence, which was a dormitory equipped with a five-star hotel.

On the way, he met several players who were staring at him. But unfortunately, he didn't know any of them.

After arriving at the room, he packed up all his daily necessities and made all preparations.

That night, Deschamps organized a meeting, which was also the first time he met with the French players.

Maher arrived at the venue five minutes before the meeting started and found that most of the players were already in their seats. This time he could see everything at a glance and soon saw many familiar faces.

Among them is Nasri, the leader of the French Four Little Swans, a former Arsenal teammate with whom he had met several times.

Nasri turned his head and looked at him, and after staring at each other for a while, he turned his head away.

Maher looked away, nodded slightly to his other teammates, then walked to the back row and sat with Koscielny.

"You walk so fast."

He put the chair down, sat on it and said, "I wanted to ask you to come with me."

The two of them were the only two Arsenal players recruited into the French team in this training camp, so they naturally became the first choice for group warmth.

"I forgot to tell you." Koscielny apologized and smiled, "I thought I would come over last night to train with the Tian family again."

Maher nodded in understanding and didn't say much. He could hear some whispers in the front row.

"18 years old."

"Be careful, Ribery."

"15 goals already in the league this season."

"I heard it's hard to get along with."

Since they spoke in relatively low voices, Maher could only hear bits and pieces, but he still had a preliminary understanding of what the team players thought of him.

With the sound of "pattering" footsteps, Deschamps quickly walked in and sat on the speaking seat upstairs.

He, who had just taken over as the head coach of the French national team, looked extremely capable, with firm steps and a confident and unquestionable look on his face.

Wearing a Les Roosters jersey with a star on the chest, he pulled the microphone towards himself, preparing to say something, and every move he made was full of style.

If Maher hadn't scored 2 goals and 3 assists in 2 games against his team, he might have really been fooled by him.

However, he will not underestimate the Basque man. He is still convinced that he is the best person to lead the French national team because he can control the locker room.

Like the Netherlands, Belgium and other teams, the French team is also a team prone to internal strife and will cause trouble during every major competition.

Whether it is between players and coaches, between players, or between various parties and the Football Association, it is all kinds of weird.

Just over a year ago at the World Cup in South Africa, the team's star player Anelka had a violent argument with the then-coach Domenech, and the former was subsequently expelled from the national team.

After the team was confirmed to be eliminated from the group stage in disgrace, Manchester United star Evra had a big fight with his fitness coach. The French team then went on a collective training strike to protest against the Anelka incident, which caused a sensation.

This is a team full of big-name stars and a team that is difficult to manage.

If you want to coach him well, technical and tactical aspects are really secondary. The head coach must first be able to manage the team!

At this point, Didier Deschamps, the veteran captain who led the French team to win the 98 World Cup, is undoubtedly the best choice.

When he was a player, he was the big brother of the team; when he was a coach, he was the boss of the locker room.

His leadership and the honors he has accumulated make him extremely prestigious, at least in front of French players.

"I don't need to introduce myself in detail. I will only tell you three things today."

Deschamps spoke, his voice was not loud, but everyone listened carefully, "First, you must be aware of the importance of the first training camp after the new head coach takes office.

"I will start from this time to rebuild the French team in my mind. Only those who can help the team can continue to appear here next time.

"With my predecessor Blanco leading the team to the 12 European Championship, our goal is clear: to prepare for this tournament and achieve good results."

He glanced at several people, all of whom had had conflicts with the former coach Blanco.

Including Manchester United star Evra, and the French Four Cygnets Nasri, Menez and Benzema.

There was a warning in Deschamps' eyes, and the meaning was clear: now that the player has been replaced, he should not use the old tricks again.

One of his goals when he took office this time was to complete the transition from the old to the new in the French team.

He will definitely use the four little swans who won the U17 World Cup, and he will try to use them in a good way as he does not want the relationship between the two sides to become strained.

“Secondly, we were originally going to have two friendly matches this time, but unfortunately, the US team cancelled their trip, so we will only play one match against Belgium.

"The match is scheduled for November 11, which is seven days from now. I believe this is enough time for us to get to know each other."

After Deschamps said this, he stood up from his seat, turned on the media projection, took out a tactical pen and stood beside him, “The third point is to talk about my main formation, only one, which will be used for the friendly match in 7 days.

"I won't waste any more words. Just accept my main tactical ideas first, and you will understand the rest gradually."

Maher had been sitting in the audience listening. Deschamps' opening remarks were pretty good. At least every French player looked serious, and no one was slacking off or showing any other emotions.

"The basic formation is four-two-three-one."

Deschamps tapped the screen with a tactical pen, and a 4-2-3-1 tactical board appeared. "From the back to the front, I don't need a goalkeeper with a large control range. I would rather the goalkeeper stand firmly on the goal line to avoid danger.

"The two centre-backs should be the same as you have at the club, one blocking centre-back and one holding centre-back.

"In the full-back position, I usually don't line up two offensive full-backs or two defensive full-backs. I like balance, except for a few individual cases."

After saying this, he pointed his tactical pen at the midfield position, "The configuration of double defensive midfielders, one is responsible for intercepting and sweeping, and the other needs to rotate up and down frequently to increase the number of offensive or defensive players in our area and tend to be all-round.

"Let's talk about the three players in the front court together. First of all, starting from the wing, I need a pure inside forward who can take the ball and attack the opponent's most threatening position directly. This will be the sharpest sword in my hand.

"Whether it's on the left or the right, I need a player like this to add an offensive threat and he will get more ball possession."

After he finished speaking, Maher raised his head slightly. He basically played as a left inside forward in Arsenal.

Although he is still a winger in the official formation, his duties have always been those of an inside forward, and sometimes he would be closer to the center and the penalty area!
It can be said that the inside forward position in the French team is the position he needs to compete for.

His competitors are Ribery from Bayern Munich and Menez, one of the Four Little Swans.

The latter has been frequently injured this season and has been in poor form. As his team member Safina said, Ribery is his only competitor.

He glanced in the direction of Ribery on the right side of the front row. The other man tilted his head back and also glanced at him. Both of them knew it, but neither of them avoided it.

Maher understood that if there was anyone in the French team who could not be his friend, besides Nasri, it was Ribery.

The position of the national team is different from that of the club. There are no generous bonuses and high salaries here. Everyone only fights for important honors.

At this time, the relationship between competitors cannot be harmonious, unless the two are very good friends.

For example, I support 'so and so' who plays in the same position to start because he can bring more to us. This situation will not happen in the national team, especially in European countries where the sense of national honor is not strong.

They fight for themselves, for their own lives!

If you are of average ability, it would be enough if you can just join the team to win important championships.

But for a superstar of Ribery's level, it is impossible for him to accept the identity of a "slacker". He will only pursue winning honors and championships in a core position!

If you can't play, you won't be able to prove yourself on a higher stage and put in a better performance to increase your worth and value.

So why did he come here?
He could have taken his vacation somewhere else instead of wasting his time.

"Dong dong."

Deschamps saw that the atmosphere was a bit heavy, and tapped the tactical board to signal everyone to focus, "In addition to this inside forward, I need a core organizer in the frontcourt. He can be a winger on the other side or a central midfielder.

"He needs to have excellent overall vision and awareness, excellent passing skills, and be one of the important players in the frontcourt.

“If he is a central midfielder, then we can have a pure winger or an inverted winger on the other side.

"If he is a winger, then I will choose the central midfielder position more based on the opponent's defense line."

After saying that, he simply closed the tactical board and said, "I believe you can all find your own position in it. Those who are not suitable for this system are not on the list for this training camp."

Deschamps' face turned serious and he stressed: "Finally, everything about the French team is up to me. No one will help you except the media, not even Le Graet.

"The meeting is over. Training will begin at nine tomorrow morning. Anyone who is late will be kicked out of the training camp."

A series of scattered sounds were heard, and all the players began to leave the field in an orderly manner.

Maher and Koscielny walked a little further back. Neither of them spoke along the way, but were thinking about their position in the national team.

"I am optimistic about you."

Before leaving, Koscielny turned around and looked at Maher seriously, smiling and said: "12 goals in 15 rounds, even if Ribery is worth million, what does it matter? You are better at the moment."

Maher was a little surprised. He and Koscielny did not have a close relationship at Arsenal Club, and he did not expect the other party to say that.

"I'm optimistic about you, too." He patted Koscielny on the shoulder. "Come on, I hope we can fight side by side in the international arena."

Koscielny nodded, observed Maher for a while, and reminded him: "Let me tell you something, if there are Tottenham players or Manchester United players, don't get too close to them."

After Maher heard what he said, the first face that came to his mind was that of Manchester United star Evra.

He originally wanted to ask why, but then he figured it out because he remembered what a famous player said later.

——"I envy the national team now. The players can get along well with each other. This is the best era. But we couldn't do that back then. The club rivals wouldn't talk to each other in the national team."

This should have been said by an English legend, but he has forgotten who it was. But he thinks the French team should be in the same situation.

"I understand."

He nodded. The club still has its position here, and Koscielny was giving a kind reminder.

Starting from the next day, Maher began training with the team. The content of the training was similar to his training at Arsenal at the beginning of the season, and it was almost all technical and tactical training.

On the first day of training, apart from a private conversation with Koscielny, he did not have any private conversations with other players.

The next day, Giroud, the center forward of the French Ligue 1 team Montpellier, took the initiative to talk to him during dinner, "You are the kind of player I envy the most."

Maher could guess the reason, but he still asked politely, "Why?"

"talent."

Giroud pointed to his head and said truthfully: "You are the ones who can play at the age of 17 or 18, while we have to wait until we are 25 or 26 to slowly emerge.

"I'm lucky. There are not many friends who played football with me when I was a kid anymore."

Maher frowned and nodded, he didn't know how to respond to this.

"To be honest, I envy those who go to top clubs." Giroud sniffed and smiled innocently, "I also want attention and a high salary, but I can only play in a mid-table club in Ligue 1."

Maher looked at him and wanted to say yes, maybe we would be teammates soon but he couldn't say it.

At this point, the two of them knew each other. Although they didn't have any private activities, they communicated much more on the training ground.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

During the shooting training on the third day, Maher demonstrated his excellent shooting skills in various aspects, which initially shocked the French players.

"Boom!"

During the strength and explosiveness training on the fourth day, he used his extremely violent speed and power to give many French players a physical lesson.

However, since everyone knew this, no one was too surprised. At most, they were shocked by the change from seeing it on TV to seeing it in real life.

In fact, many people in this team have played against Maher.

For example, Ribery of Bayern Munich, Cabaye of Newcastle United, Valbuena and Mandanda of Marseille, Evra of Manchester United, etc.

It just so happens that he performed very well against these teams, so no one felt that he was being looked down upon.

But not looking down on him doesn't mean they will be friendly to him. Dissatisfaction is still very common.

At the end of the training session that day, Maher ran to the next field for more practice. His ball control was at the final stage of the upgrade, and his behavior caused dissatisfaction among many people.

"Give us some strength?"

Manchester United defender Evra looked at Maher's back and sneered at the person next to him: "Does he think that the club's tactics will also be used in the national team? Will Deschamps use an 18-year-old young man?"

He turned around to seek approval, and saw Nasri standing next to him. He was a little embarrassed and rolled his eyes slightly.

Compared to Arsenal players, he hates Manchester City players more, especially 'former Arsenal' Manchester City players.

Turning to look at Ribery, he felt a little more comfortable, "Really?"

Ribery shook his head as if to nod, but said nothing.

"Be careful of getting beaten." Before leaving, Nasri left a meaningful message, not sure whether he was mocking Evra or Maher.

"Tsk." Evra laughed disdainfully and turned to stare at Nasri's back. "Young people nowadays are too crazy. I think they need to be disciplined."

At night, they held a meeting in the conference room. The game was approaching and the personnel for some positions had been confirmed.

As for the goalkeeper position, Lori from Lyon has basically secured the starting position, followed by Sakho and Koscielny at the center back position. Compared with his predecessor Blanc, Deschamps seems to prefer Koscielny and is willing to give this young man with a mediocre national team resume a chance.

For the full-back position, Manchester United star Evra was the natural choice, and on the other side he chose Lille's Debuchy.

As for the midfield and frontcourt, the only ones who can be confirmed are center forward Benzema and one of the defensive midfielders Matuidi, and the other positions are to be determined.

"Buzz."

Before the meeting started, there was a sudden noise in the locker room, and the players gathered in groups of three or five.

"The transfer price has been updated!"

Soon, everyone knew the news and took out their phones to browse the latest Transfermarkt prices.

Maher was the last person to check. The moment he picked up his phone, he had already seen the congratulatory messages from Peter and Emilia from the Football Record newspaper, as well as from Safina, Harry and others.

4500 million euros!
This is his new value, which is an increase of 1500 million euros compared to last time!

There is no doubt that this is the most dramatic increase in his value so far in his career, and the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League have brought him extremely high attention.

His performance in these two arenas has greatly increased his value, bringing his worth to an astonishing number.

——"Keep going."

Maher responded to each of them, smiling and obviously in a good mood.

From 800 million to 2000 million to 3000 million, and now to 4500 million.

He saw the results of every step he took and saw a value that was very meaningful for reference.

At present, the players' value has not yet increased, so this 4500 million euros is extremely valuable.

If it were placed in the future, I wouldn’t say it would exceed 100 million, but it would definitely be close to 100 million!

“This is the last time this year.”

Koscielny was sitting next to him, still watching the news of Transfermarkt and laughing, "I wonder how much I can do, and how much you can do. Let me see, the first place is Messi with 130m, the second place is Cristiano with 100m, and the third place is
"Sixteenth place, Ma." He suddenly looked up at Mahel, his pupils shrinking slightly, "Mael, 45m?!"

Koscielny opened his mouth wide and exclaimed: "You actually have 4500 million euros? Watfa! Second only to Van Persie in the team, this is the highest price for a player above 90, right?"

His voice was so loud that it quickly attracted many French players to turn their heads over here.

Giroud in the front row asked curiously: "What's wrong?"

"Mael's new transfer value on Transfermarkt is 4500 million euros! Quickly calculate his rank in our team." Koscielny laughed. He was really happy for his teammates and proud that they were both Arsenal players.

4500 million!
This is a sky-high price!
Moreover, the transfer value on Transfermarkt is generally much lower. When Mahel's transfer value on Transfermarkt reaches 4500 million, his transaction price will be above 6000 million euros!
An 18-year-old kid for 6000 million euros, it's like science fiction.

"Oh!" Giroud held his head, also in amazement, and said to Maher: "One of you can buy three of me, haha."

This time everyone heard clearly that Maher's worth was 4500 million, and suddenly, the entire conference room was filled with noise.

It was a very quiet noise. You could hear everyone talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. It was like going back to the end of class when I was a student.

"Benzema has been demoted, he is much lower than Maher."

"What would the Real Madrid superstar think?"

"Haha. He's also a Real Madrid superstar?"

"So, apart from Bayern's Ribery, Maher is the most valuable player in the team?"

“It’s just a youth premium.”

"Don't talk nonsense. I think his statistics this season are worth the price."

"If young players don't count age, what does it count? You don't add a youth premium when you're young."

They chatted at once, without any sign of being superstars from various clubs, mainly because the price was a little too shocking.

If I remember correctly, the 18-year-old Messi and the 18-year-old Ronaldo were worth about 4000 million euros and 2250 million respectively.

Even Neymar, the young Santos player who is being pursued by all of Europe and is recognized as the successor to Samba football, is only worth 3200 million.

Maher, a player who is only in his second season in the professional league this year, is worth 4500 million?

In the front row, Evra saw that his value had dropped by one or two million euros, and then looked at Maher's value, and suddenly felt a little jealous.

However, he just looked livid and didn't show anything openly at this time.

Franck Ribery was staring at his phone at this moment, looking at the name whose net worth was only 4 places lower than his own, a sense of urgency surged in his heart, making it impossible for him to concentrate.

This time he took the initiative to find Evra and asked, "Who do you think Deschamps will use?"

"You." Evra was worried about having no place to vent his anger, so he immediately came over and said, "Don't worry, it must be you. That kid has never experienced a big competition, so he must be a weakling in a big competition."

As if he thought this was unreasonable, he added: "I mean the big game, not the important game."

He almost involved his own team Manchester United, which is a big taboo.

"Quiet."

Deschamps soon approached from outside the door and ended the players' noise.

He didn't say much in the meeting that day. He just emphasized the frequent problems in training and explained the outline and requirements of tomorrow's training.

On the afternoon of November 11, Maher, who had been taking time out to train various skills, finally had the moment to upgrade again.

His ankles, knees, hips, and even some parts of his waist and shoulders all felt light and agile.

It was just a momentary feeling, and then it disappeared immediately, as if it had not existed.

"Bang bang bang!"

However, when Maher fiddled with the football under his feet again, the football seemed to be stuck to his feet. His legs could not help but push, pull, step and jump at a very high frequency, and his body also shook rapidly.
"Papa.!"

His change of direction speed became extremely fast, his control over the football was significantly improved, and his affinity with the football increased again.

He had a feeling that no matter how fast he wanted to dribble or spike the ball, his feet would be able to keep up.

No matter how fast he changes the direction of the ball, the ball will follow him obediently!

lv4 is here!

[Skill: Dribbling lv4]

[Proficiency: (1/5000)]

[Effect: After mastering the ball control, you gradually begin to pursue some large-scale changes of direction, small-scale flexible escape movements, and the ability to dribble past opponents! ]

Dribbling!

Dribble past the opponent!

This symbolizes that his dribbling ability will be greatly improved, and his success rate in dribbling will be greatly increased.

When he only mastered the ball control skills before, his success rate of dribbling was actually not low. It is conceivable that after upgrading "ball control" to "dribbling", what kind of performance he will show on the court.

"Let's speed up."

There was a hint of satisfaction and greed on Maher's face. Once the rhythm of his additional skills was upgraded, his dribbling skills would be infinitely close to those of the dribbling masters.

Maybe not as good as Messi, who is at the historical level of dribbling, or as brilliant as Neymar and Ronaldinho, who have fancy skills.

But it should be comparable to Eden Hazard’s type of dribbling, right?

His speed and physique are even stronger than Burger King, so he must have a more amazing success rate in passing.

"I've been talking about preliminary all-around."

Maher recalled what he had said before and couldn’t help but sigh: “Once the rhythm picks up, the headers and fancy moves will rise, it should be a mid-step all-around, right?

"I really can't imagine what kind of player he will become in his ultimate form with all his skills at level 5."

Without giving it any more thought, he took the football to the equipment room to prepare for tomorrow's training. The day after tomorrow might be his national team debut.

On the evening of November 11th, in the conference room.

Deschamps held the tactical board with a normal look on his face, "Tomorrow we will play against Belgium on the grass field of Clairefontaine. There will be many young players from the youth training camp coming to watch, but there won't be too many media reporters.

"Here are the starting lineups."

After the last words fell, the faces of most players became nervous. Even if everyone will play, starting will definitely represent a different status in Deschamps' heart.

Tomorrow is also Deschamps’ national team debut. The starting lineup he sends out must be what he thinks is the strongest lineup, his future main lineup!

"Goalkeeper Lloris."

When Deschamps read out the first name, his main player Mandanda, who originally still had a little fantasy, was completely discouraged.

"Central defenders Sakho and Koscielny, left back Evra and right back Debuchy."

As soon as he finished speaking, several people looked out excitedly, their eyes lost their luster, and they even unfocused on Deschamps.

"Defensive midfielders, Matuidi and Kabaye."

He continued reading, and Kabaye was the first one to lose his patience. When he heard his own name, he and the people around him laughed and applauded in celebration.

"Central midfielder, Nasri."

When Deschamps read this, the tense atmosphere in the conference room reached its peak.

Maher stared at him intently, as did Ribery on the other side. Including Nasri, Evra and others, they were determining the position of the inside forward.

"Left winger, also known as inside forward."

Deschamps raised his head and scanned the conference room, finally landing on one spot, "Mael."

He said the name that was clear in his mind, without any pressure. He had thought so before taking over the national team.

Just as he told French Football Association President Le Graet, he only believes in his own eyes and his own feelings!
He doesn't care about the value or the accumulation of honors, he only cares about his own judgment of the players.

Then the answer is undoubtedly, Maher from Arsenal has a higher priority than Ribery from Bayern Munich!
"call"

Hearing his name, Maher breathed a sigh of relief. After a week of training, Deschamps deliberately kept a distance from him, making him unsure of his current position in Deschamps' heart.

Now it seems that fortunately, the opponent should still remember the shock he brought to them in those two games!

This old guy has been keeping a distance from him. Does he want him to forget about Qixi?

This is impossible. Even if Deschamps is in high spirits and wins all the honors in the future, he will lean over to the other party's ear and say - do you still remember why you took this position?
Maher was relaxed on his side, thinking about having a baby as soon as they held hands, but it was different on the other side.

The moment he heard the news, Franck Ribery's face turned dark instantly. And it wasn't just an ordinary look of disappointment, but an obvious and deliberate dark look that he wanted others to see.

He slowly tilted his neck and kept looking in Deschamps' direction, with an expression of both disbelief and a bit of questioning.

Nasri and Evra quickly turned to look at him, the former with a smirk on his face and the latter with shock on his face.

What does Deschamps think?

Don’t you care about the old players at all?
They are not worried about whether Ribery can play. But what this means is that the veteran will give way to the rookie.

"Ribery on the right, Benzema at the center."

Deschamps read out the last two names without a pause and put the tactical board down. "The rest of you are on standby and I will make the arrangements."

Of course he noticed the expressions of several veteran team members, he was already used to this.

There is still a long way to go. If someone disobeys him, they have plenty of time to have a good fight.

He asked for all the power from the President of the Football Association, Le Graet. Now the French team can only follow his lead!
centralization!

This is Deschamps's approach to controlling the French national team. He will only give power to a few people who are useful to the team.

Soon, everyone left in silence, and the atmosphere became a little depressing.

Maher was different from them. He came to Deschamps and seemed to have something to ask.

Deschamps looked at him, a little surprised for a moment, and the two of them looked at each other.

"Well." Maher seemed to have difficulty speaking. He paused for a moment before saying, "There are media reporters in the friendly match, right?"

"Yes," Deschamps nodded in response, not understanding what Maher meant. "But after the game starts, you can't record or take photos. My team members are recording the data."

Maher laughed and nodded, "Can I get a media reporter in?"

Deschamps was even more surprised. What kind of request was this? He wanted to ask why, but he held back for the sake of his image. "I can promise you one. Do you want a press pass? Come with me to get it now."

"it is good."

Maher's voice suddenly became more energetic. He followed Deschamps all the way to an assistant coach's office and got a media pass before leaving.

After he left, the assistant coach looked at his back, frowned and asked hesitantly, "What's wrong, Deschamps? Is your most valued player going to transform?"

"Get lost."

Deschamps looked at him and they both laughed foolishly. Privately, their way of getting along with the players was different.

"Are you embarrassed to be in contact with him now?" The assistant coach laughed and then asked, "The guy who beat you 5- in two rounds created goals by himself."

Deschamps' mouth twitched, and he went up to pinch his shoulder. This guy was really talking about things that were not related to him. "If you mention this matter again and awaken other people's memories of this, I will pinch you to death."

As he slowly exerted force with his hands, a series of ghostly howling sounds soon came from the office.

ps: It won't be long, I'll be back to the club soon. I can't stop updating, I said 6k for one chapter, then 7k, now it's around 8k. Please give me a monthly ticket!

(End of this chapter)