Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 71 The Clements’ surprise plan! Maher’s transformation! [45]

"Have you booked the ticket?"

In Aix, southern France, as Clement pushed open the door and walked into his home, his wife Betty immediately came to greet him, a little nervous: "Are there a lot of people at Christmas?"

Today is the weekend, and the three children are at home. When they see their father come back, they look at him expectantly.

Especially Ava, she jumped off the sofa and threw herself into Clemont's arms, "I don't want to spend the holiday at home, I want to watch my brother play football!"

Clemont felt everyone's concerned gazes and wanted to keep it a secret, but the joy on his face betrayed him.

"It's booked. We'll leave on the 23rd and arrive in Sheffield that evening."

He still couldn't help but share the good news with his family, "We can go to the scene to watch Maher play football."

The holiday finally arrived, and they finally had time to put their shelved plans back on schedule and take a trip to the UK!

This is no small matter for this ordinary family.
What's more, as Maher's relatives, they still feel an unreal sense of separation when they watch their nephew, whom they haven't seen for a year, enjoying the treatment of a star on TV every week.

They won't feel at ease unless they see it with their own eyes and experience it on the spot.

It's a strange feeling. Perhaps until today, they have not fully accepted this huge change in their nephew's identity.

"Yeah!"

Ava raised her hands and jumped for joy. At her age, she was too young to be reserved and just expressed whatever she wanted to say directly.

Clermont's wife Betty also showed joy on her face. She had lived in the south of France for almost her entire life. The farthest place she had been to was Lille, and she had never been abroad.

Not to mention my eldest sister and second brother, who have never even been to Paris.

"We didn't tell Maher."

Betty was a delicate woman. Her experience of raising four children had shaped her character. Even when she was happy, she would still be worried: "Will it cause trouble for him? Should I tell him?"

"No."

Clemont rejected the proposal. He smiled expectantly and said, "We're going to give him a surprise and suddenly appear in front of him after the game!"

Betty thought about it, thinking of how lonely her nephew was when he spent Christmas alone and his surprised expression when he saw his family.

She smiled knowingly and approved the proposal, "That's fine."

"It's just that there should be a lot of people watching football games on Christmas Day."

The eldest daughter of the family expressed her considerations at this time. Her feelings were actually the same as Ava's, but she didn't show it too obviously. "If we don't tell him, what if we can't even book a ticket?"

During this period, the online ticket purchasing process had not yet been launched, and most tickets had to be purchased by queuing up at designated locations.

Her worries were not without reason. The Boxing Day battle on Christmas must be the craziest game in the first half of the league. Tickets for such games are usually hard to come by.

"give it to me."

After thinking about it, Clemont was actually quite uncertain, but he didn't discourage everyone. "I'll go and queue up early, I'll definitely be able to buy it."

No one was chatting, as if they were overwhelmed by excitement. They hurried back to their rooms to pack their things, some taking toys, some taking clothes.

But, what day is it?
"All right."

Finally, it was Clemont who interrupted them and took out a bank card: “This is the more than 10,000 euros that Maher sent back in succession. They are all in this card. I have always used it as emergency money and rarely use it.

"Today, I'm going to take out 2000 yuan and buy everyone some new brand clothes so that we can look our best when we go see him."

The family was stunned, and then showed different reactions.

"Long live my brother!"

Ava raised her arm and, seeing her father's eager gaze, added, "Long live Dad too!"

"Ha ha."

Clemont smiled and patted her head. He looked at Betty, who was beside him, looking happy but shy. "I know you want to say you don't need it again, but there's no room for negotiation this time. Let's go now."

"I'll put on my shoes!" The eldest sister turned and rushed into the room. It was obvious that buying new clothes was very tempting to her.

The second brother didn't move, but the anticipation on his face could no longer be suppressed.

On December 12, Maher boarded a bus from the entrance of his hotel in Norwich City and headed for Norwich's home ground, Carrow Road.

The 21st round of the Championship is about to begin, and their opponent is Norwich, a strong team currently ranked second in the league!

Maher responded calmly. While sitting in the car, he opened his Facebook and browsed the messages from fans.

Somehow, he seemed to have been hit by a huge wave of traffic from the BBC recently. Many people who said they watched the BBC programs followed him and left crazy comments under his posts.

The number of fans is also increasing at a rate of 10,000 to 20,000 per day, and is almost approaching 150,000.

This feeling is quite good. Now his invitations to backstage activities are paid between 20000 and 30000 pounds.

"When will you get half a million pounds for just posting a message?"

He still remembered the news he had read in his previous life and had high expectations for this matter, but now it seemed to him that this was no different from picking up money.

With the idea of ​​maintaining the fan community, he took a few photos wearing a training suit, revealing the team logo and the water bottle issued by the team.

Of course, the most important thing is his handsome face, which almost occupies 80% of the screen.

—"To Norwich!"

He added the text, clicked post, and kept refreshing the page waiting for comments praising him.

As it was just before the game, many fans noticed his post at the first time, and the number of comments quickly exceeded dozens.

"Post fewer selfies, and the players should post more game photos and posters, and more videos of them playing football."

“Why is it all face?”

"Is there any video of the training? I want to see how Sheffield United trains and what the atmosphere is like in the team?"

"Cut out some highlights of the goals."

"Mael, look at other players. None of them posts selfies like you do. You should change your bad habit."

"." As soon as Maher opened the comment section, he was severely criticized. He clicked out in frustration and put his phone down.

"For football players with a lot of male fans, the comment section looks like this."

He sighed, and slowly focused his attention on the game that was about to begin, not thinking about anything else.

"Ward! He just ended his suspension and returned to the court. Facing Russell's defense, he chose to go to the bottom! !
"Sweeping across the goal! Evans shot! It hit goalkeeper Rudy, and there was a follow-up shot!!
"Beautiful!! Maher scored with a follow-up shot! He seemed to have an amazing sense of smell in front of the goal. He rushed to the front of the goal the moment Evans shot, ready for the follow-up shot!
"Sheffield United leads 1-0!"

"."

"Loughton pulled Jackson down in the penalty area! A penalty kick was given to Norwich, a great chance to score!
"Sheffield United's defensive actions were a bit exaggerated, and they have experienced this situation more than once. We should try to avoid this situation.

"Hoolahan stood on the penalty spot! A high-quality penalty with a right-foot shot! He chose to shoot towards the top right corner of the goal, which was a risky shooting angle, but he did it!

"No goalkeeper can save this kind of penalty unless he predicts the line in advance!"

"."

"Corner kick opportunity! Jackson kicks the ball to the middle! Volley shot!! Multidimensional...!!
"The ball went in again! Norwich's control was too strong. They had besieged Sheffield United for five or six minutes! After three consecutive corner kicks, they scored another goal!
"Two to one! The first half of the game is almost over, and Norwich returns to the locker room with a lead!"

"."

"Hulahan fell in the penalty area. Quinn was not calm! Lowton had already given the opponent a penalty in the first half, but he still rashly stretched out his foot and tripped Hulahan!
"Was the referee going to blow the whistle? He did, leaving Sheffield United no face! Norwich got the second penalty of the game!

“Once again Hoolahan stood in front of the penalty spot, but unlike last time, this time he created the penalty himself!!

"No suspense, Hoolahan scored twice and Norwich leads 3-1!!"

"."

"The fourth one! It was Hoolahan again. He broke through Calve and shot from a small angle. The ball passed under Robert's crotch and rolled into the net!!

"Hat trick, Hoolahan completed his first hat trick of the season! Four to one! Sheffield United has no hope of a comeback!"

"."

"Bolodanovic! Headed the ball! The ball goes in! Sheffield United ties the score to 2-4!
"An assist from Ward! He is in very good shape after the suspension. It seems that he has been holding it back for a long time! However, this can only be regarded as a face-saving goal. There is no time!"

At Carrow Road, after the injury time was over, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

Norwich, who has stronger overall strength, achieved a crucial victory at their home ground.

"Oh!"

"Ha ha!"

Their players hugged and high-fived in groups to celebrate getting three points against the top six teams in the league, which was crucial for them to stay in the promotion zone.

Sheffield United suffered their first defeat in December. It was a relatively complete defeat. There was no regret, no controversy, only lack of skills.

After shaking hands with the opposing coach, Gary Speed ​​stood there with his hands on his hips, looking at the gloomy sky, with an unhappy look on his face.

It’s not that he can’t accept defeat. He has experienced this feeling at least hundreds of times in his playing career.

However, at such a critical period, he was afraid that such a defeat would undermine the confidence of the core players in the team.

This is what he is worried about, especially Maher. He is afraid that he will lose hope of promotion and leave the team.

After encouraging the players in the locker room, he called Maher to the post-match press conference, actually wanting to say something alone on the way.

“Norwich are very strong.”

Gary Speed ​​started first. He smiled bitterly and said, "They should be at the level of a Premier League relegation team. Even if there is a gap, it is very small."

"I see."

Mael nodded calmly. Victory and defeat are common in the military. Apart from feeling disappointed, he had no other thoughts.

He scored one goal today, which is definitely a satisfactory performance.

On the other hand, after feeling the pressure brought to him by Norwich players through their overall strength, the feeling of euphoria in his heart disappeared.

In the past, he couldn't help but feel that he was superior to other teams in the Championship, but there was nothing he could do about it because the gorgeous statistics were there.

He always felt that all honors were within reach and he could easily win them as long as he made a little effort.

This idea has disappeared today.

There are also difficult teams in the Championship. Even Norwich is so strong, so you can imagine how difficult it is for Queens Park Rangers, who are at the top of the standings.

There are other strong teams that have tactical styles that restrain them.

If you want to achieve significant team honors and maintain your personal performance, you have a long way to go.

But it’s not a bad thing.

People need challenges and motivation. If they live in a comfortable environment, they will definitely not grow quickly.

Maher is always good at looking at the bright side of things; he must be an optimistic person.

"If we strengthen our defense in the winter window, we still have a good chance."

Gary Speed ​​observed Maher's expression and felt a little cautious, "They are the second best defensive team in the league and concede very few goals, but we still scored 2 goals.

"This means that our offensive line is still fine and is at the top four level."

Maher nodded in approval. He vaguely guessed what Gary Speed ​​wanted to say, and took the initiative to say, “Mr. Speed ​​may be a little sensitive, but I don’t care about the gains and losses of a game.

"Of course, this doesn't mean I won't give my all in the game, as long as I'm on the court I'll fight to win.

He smiled and said, "I just figured it out. I still have a long career ahead of me. I can't regard each game as a separate sequence, but should focus more on the entire season.

"Players rely on the team as a whole. The team's victory is far more than a single victory, and the same applies to failure.

"This is just a small setback in the season. We may encounter it many times. What I hope is that we can achieve ultimate success."

Gary Speed's walking body suddenly trembled. He tilted his head to look at Mahel, and an indescribable feeling of excitement rose in his heart.

ps: There will be one more update today (I will update it after watching the game), and there will be more updates soon if 1 monthly tickets are given! I hope everyone will support me!

(End of this chapter)