Football: Starting from the Ronaldinho template

Chapter 287 The Significance of the Captain's Armband! League Progresses, EFL Cup!

Arsenal, having returned to London from Monaco, have won three consecutive Champions League group stage matches, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach, Atlético Madrid, and Monaco.

The Gunners have been ecstatic these past few days, standing tall in English football.

Some have even claimed on social media that Arsenal's goal this season is not only the league title, but also the Champions League title.

Other fans did not agree, but no one thought it was too exaggerated.

Arsenal's squad is indeed very solid. The signings this season, Kante, Van Dijk, and Morata, have integrated into the team in the shortest possible time and have already performed well.

Moreover, Arsenal's star player, Qin Ming, has silenced those doubters with his performance in the new season.

"People are still debating whether Messi or Ronaldo will win the Ballon d'Or, but no one has noticed that a young man who has just turned twenty is posing an increasing threat to their positions!"

"As the most commercialized and competitive league in world football, the Premier League is remarkable. Arsenal's performance is truly remarkable, and they seem to have broken the curse of a poor start in the spring!"

"But as the most prestigious cup competition, the Champions League is full of unexpected events and surprises. Arsenal still has a lot of work to do if they want to make history and lift the trophy!"

Sky Sports editor-in-chief Ronas stated this in his personal column.

At the Kearney training facility, Qin Ming pressed the remote control, turned off the TV, and stretched.

"There's something we need to be careful about when we play Middlesbrough tomorrow."

Since he had just played against Monaco yesterday, he hadn't had time to learn about Middlesbrough, and he was unlikely to play anyway, so he just asked casually.

"The newly promoted team this season."

Sanchez said.

"Qin, how are you feeling? Are you able to go on tomorrow?"

At that moment, Wenger suddenly walked in from outside. His coaching staff discussed the situation and found that Sanchez, Cazorla, Kanté, Morata and others were all a bit tired.

Then Gustavo should be paired with Elneny in the defensive midfield position.

It seems alright from this perspective, but if Qin Ming doesn't play either, then the offense will be too weak.

"I feel fine, there shouldn't be any problems."

Qin Ming is doing well during his recent training and stretching sessions.

"Okay, then let's focus on the first half and try to establish an advantage as soon as possible."

Wenger nodded, greeted Pat Rice, and went back to discuss tactical details; they still had a lot of preparation to do.

2016 10 Month 22 Day.

Emirates Stadium.

Qin Ming glanced back at his teammate; Giroud had clearly used too much hair gel, making it shine brilliantly in the sunlight.

Gustavo seemed quite excited as well.

The substitutes don't play much usually. Although they have a clear understanding of their roles, as the saying goes, "People strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill."

Nobody wants to sit on the bench forever.

However, this role is indispensable, and Gustavo is indeed on the older side.

"Luis, are you planning to go to the Chinese Super League next season to earn more money for your retirement?"

Before the match started, Qin Ming smiled at his old teammates.

"They really pay a lot. I heard that Oscar's salary is all going to Messi?"

Gustavo didn't hide anything, "And since that's your hometown, I'm sure I'll do very well."

"Let's work harder this season and win more honors."

Qin Ming patted Gustavo on the shoulder.

The camera pans down from his face to his upper arm, where an armband is tied.

That's right.

With Cazorla and Mertesacker both absent today, he, as the team's third captain, finally got to wear the armband.

to be frank.

Qin Ming was still a little unaccustomed to it, because it represented a change in identity.

I!
我们!

You can no longer think about yourself; you have to think about the whole team.

But pressure is always accompanied by excitement.

"Arsenal!!!"

Qin Ming raised his left arm this time, which was different from his usual habit.

He suddenly remembered what had happened a few tens of minutes earlier.

When the professor placed the captain's armband in his palm, he subconsciously checked whether his attire was neat and tidy.

Then the professor took the armband back and personally put it on his left arm.

Don't be nervous the first time.

The professor left him a message and then gave him the locker room.

Qin Ming had given a lot of pre-match pep talks, but this was his first time as captain. Fortunately, he did not disappoint and performed well in the end.

But as he walked into the players' tunnel, ready to take his place.

"Captain, your position is at the front, I'll leave this spot for you."

Bellerin, however, pushed him to the front row.

Cech stood behind him and whispered, "The most subtle thing about wearing the armband is that it doesn't suddenly make you stronger, but it makes you unable to play just for yourself anymore."

Qin Ming pursed his lips and nodded.

Then, for the first time as captain, he guessed the side against the opponent and suddenly realized that he needed to communicate with the referee on behalf of the whole team.

This is also a novel feeling.

"come on!!!"

His teammates behind him responded in unison.

Beep! ! !
The match began with the whistle blowing, and Arsenal, playing at home, were very proactive despite not fielding their full-strength squad.

"They've killed them over there! Don't go any further, relay this message!"

Qin Ming is now paying more attention to the team as he has when he played football before.

It's often said that the captain is the second coach on the field, and that's absolutely true. He needs to constantly observe the situation and decide whether to maintain the rhythm, motivate his teammates, or negotiate with the referee.

Arsenal players are no strangers to this.

Previously, Wenger had been gradually relinquishing command from Cazorla and placing it on Qin Ming's shoulders.

"Move forward!"

In the 12th minute of the match, Qin Ming faced off against Downing, the former Liverpool midfielder.

Snapped!
An exaggerated bull's tail was swung out.

Tang Ning, who is already 30 years old, is not good at defense. He was directly faked out and lost his balance. By the time he tried to adjust and follow up on the defense, Qin Ming was already far away.

Ramsey, who had been urged by Qin Ming earlier, happened to run to an open space.

"Arsenal's attacking passing and movement!"

"Pretty!"

"Ramsey asked Giroud to redo it; the turret is already built!"

Amid the expectant gazes of Paul Dutton and 50,000 fans, Qin Ming took his stance and powerfully struck the middle of the ball with the instep of his right foot.

boom!
The shot, of extremely high quality, left a blur.

Middlesbrough's goalkeeper, Valdes, was promoted from Barcelona's youth team to the first team, in the same generation as Messi, Fabregas, and others.

He later joined Manchester United.

Unfortunately, his skills were mediocre and he had very few appearances, which led him to Middlesbrough.

"Have it!"

"Arsenal, with a partially rotated squad, seemed undeterred in their attacking prowess, taking an early lead!"

"Qin Ming played with ease in midfield, and he also scored his 13th league goal!"

After scoring, Qin Ming crossed his arms like a DJ in a nightclub, signaling the fans to turn the music up louder.

The gunmen on the field immediately unleashed a massive, crashing red wave. (At the sidelines of the stadium.)

Wenger looked at Qin Ming with satisfaction, who had gained a great following.

In his view, Arsenal's captain's armband is far more than just a piece of cloth; it is a spiritual totem that carries the club's century-long history.

Adams defined the captaincy with whiskey and iron-fisted defense, while Vieira continued the tradition of "authoritative presence without anger" with his midfield dominance.

What they have in common: they intimidate their opponents before the battle even begins.

Following this, Arsenal began to favor artists who "speak with their feet" for the captain's armband, such as Henry and Fabregas.

But Wenger always emphasized that the captain must be able to keep the locker room in check.

Do you remember what Keown said?

Wenger asked casually.

"I was the captain in the 70s, he was the captain in the 80s, and he even plagiarized me!"

Pat Rice raised an eyebrow, then said seriously, "Anyone who has worn this armband will have a kind of obsession etched into their bones. You can lose the game, but you can never lose the pride of the Gunners."

"You didn't plagiarize this too, did you? I remember your technical skills were quite ordinary, where's the obsession?"

Wenger laughed.

"How could I not be paranoid? I had pericarditis back then, but I still played for so many years."

Pat Rice proudly raised his chin.

Even though his playing style was unremarkable and lacked memorable moments.

But unsung heroes are heroes too.

Moreover, he believed he was worthy of the armband and a qualified gunman.

The game is still going on.

Fifteen minutes had passed since the first goal.

Qin Ming combined with Gibbs on the wing, dribbled past several defenders, and then crossed with his left foot to find Giroud at the far post of the penalty area.

The French heartthrob hasn't been a starter for so long, and his competitive form is indeed not as good as last season.

The header hit a defender and bounced out. Ramsey saw the ball rolling towards him and instinctively took a shot.

boom!
The Middlesbrough penalty area resembled a three-dimensional pinball.

Qin Ming had just run over from the wing when the football bounced a few times before landing right in front of him.

He wasn't as reckless as Ramsey.

He made a fake shot, deceiving Ayala into making a sliding tackle, and goalkeeper Valdes also dived to the side.

That's when he finally kicked me.

"In the 30th minute of the match, Arsenal extended their lead, with Qin Ming scoring his second goal!"

"It seems that the match against Monaco two days ago did not affect his form!"

After scoring, Qin Ming saw the professor's gesture, indicating that they could slow down the pace.

Otherwise, some players who played the full game just two days ago might have stamina issues in the second half.

"The game is getting a bit boring!"

"Arsenal's possession continued to rise, but their attacking pace dropped significantly!"

"Middlesbrough can't mount the same level of pressing as Liverpool or Dortmund!"

Arsenal are playing more and more relaxed!

After halftime, the second half of the game will begin.

Bellerin seized the opportunity on the counter-attack, assisting Giroud to score a goal, making it 3-0 for Arsenal against Middlesbrough.

The score remained unchanged until the final whistle.

"Let's go, let's go thank the audience!"

After shaking hands with the opponents and the referee, Qin Ming tugged at his captain's armband and led his teammates toward the north stand.

Walking on the green field.

Qin Ming recalled today's match and silently thought to himself, "My opponents will assume that I am their spiritual leader and will test my emotional stability with more intense physical confrontations or trash talk."

If I don't perform well enough, will it affect my teammates' mentality?
It's probably true.

Then I need to learn to be more calm and stop arbitrarily arbitrarily blaming others.

After all, there is a risk of being caught by the referee.

Of course, this doesn't mean he's going to play dumb. A team captain doesn't have to be the strongest, but he has to be the most aggressive.

Otherwise, it will prove that saying true.

A raging soldier, and a raging nest.

"Yeah!!!" The fans in the North Stand raised their hands and responded with enthusiastic applause.

In fact, many old-school fans believe that: "Born to be a Gunner, die to be a Gunner."

They don't really agree with joining halfway through a project.

But Qin Ming was an exception. They looked at the young man wearing the captain's armband, who seemed to have shed his immaturity, and their minds were filled with all sorts of thoughts.

Those were goals of art.

It was also when the team was behind that he had that unwavering face.

After his teammates had all left the court, Qin Ming stood at the tunnel exit, checked everything one last time, and then turned to leave.

The first to enter, the last to leave.

This is also the captain's responsibility.

Post-match press conference.

"Qin, you played a perfect game in your first match as captain. What are your thoughts on that?"

A reporter from The Guardian asked.

"Why are you all focused on the armband? We played a good game, that's the point."

Qin Ming admires heroism, but he dislikes the media for placing all the glory on himself.

His teammates are equally commendable.

Wenger smiled knowingly upon hearing this, thinking to himself that Qin Ming was clearly young, but his mentality was very mature.

A team can have a core player, but they should share the glory.

Otherwise, it will not unite.

"Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen showed off a helmet signed by you in an interview during the upcoming U.S. Grand Prix tomorrow. What would you like to say to him?"

The Sun reporter doesn't follow the game.

"Of course, he is the youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history, and I am the youngest hat-trick player in the top five European leagues. We are both geniuses."

As Qin Ming said this, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes, "And geniuses should shine all over the world. I hope he can achieve good results."

The Sun: In the 2016 US Grand Prix at Austin, Verstappen qualified fourth, 0.8 seconds behind pole-sitter Hamilton! However, he retired on lap 28 of the race due to a gearbox failure, marking his third retirement since joining Red Bull Racing!
"Damn! Renault's power units are unreliable. Either the turbocharger fails, or the MGU-K malfunctions, and today there's a problem with the energy recovery system's linkage."

Qin Ming was getting a little angry just looking at it.

If it's a matter of personal ability, then losing is just losing.

After watching the match, Qin Ming sent Verstappen a few messages to comfort him.

Max: [I'm fine! Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi are still to come, I'm sure I'll win a stage!]

Seeing Verstappen so confident, Qin Ming felt relieved.

2015 10 Month 26 Day.

The EFL Cup Round of 16 matches kicked off at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal, having recovered, opted for some rotation, while also giving several young players, such as Perez and Saka, more playing time.

Congratulations to Arsenal for defeating Reading 2-0 and advancing to the EFL Cup quarterfinals!

"Young player Saka performed well on the wing in this match, scoring a goal with a left-footed curling shot!"

"Why does this flicking technique look so familiar?!"

(End of this chapter)