Football: Starting from the Ronaldinho template

Chapter 341 The International Champions Cup in the New Season

"It is understood that Arsenal will increase Qin Ming's compensation within the FFP framework by paying him in various forms, not just a fixed salary."

"Firstly, his weekly wage is £50, which is a full £29 more than Pogba's £21 weekly wage in second place."

"Secondly, the signing bonus was not disclosed, but it should be a very large sum, which will be paid over the contract period to reduce annual book costs."

“Bonuses linked to performance and achievement are not included in FFP. They are only included in the annual expenditure after the target is achieved. Arsenal offers a Ballon d'Or of €500 million, Premier League Player of the Season of €200 million, Champions League Player of the Season of €300 million, as well as Premier League Golden Boot, European Golden Boot, and team honors bonuses.”

According to The Sun, Qin Ming's pre-tax income last season, excluding endorsements, reached £2340 million.

"But you should know that most of Qin Ming's income actually comes from endorsement brands such as Volkswagen and Puma, so I think he has already entered the top five highest-paid athletes in the world."

"Alright, the 2017 International Champions Cup China match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich is officially starting."

Zhan Jun explained.

Shanghai Stadium.

Crowds of people.

The International Champions Cup in China features five teams: Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich.

And the first match will naturally be played by Arsenal.

Currently, the number of Arsenal fans in China has risen from second only to Manchester United to first place.

That is, in just two short years.

Arsenal made no attempt to hide their tactical change, instead fielding their full starting lineup to test the waters against Bayern Munich.

The camera is focused on the sidelines of the court.

Ancelotti chewed his gum; over the years, his masseter muscles had grown considerably.

Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title last season, but everyone knows that the Bundesliga is practically Bayern's home turf. Apart from Wolfsburg two years ago, no one can threaten them.

Dortmund can't do that now either.

But Ancelotti knew in his heart that his ultimate goal in coming to Bayern was the Champions League.

We brought James Rodriguez on loan from Real Madrid this summer. I wonder how it will turn out.
On the pitch, Ribery received the ball on the side, his scar on his face menacing, and repeatedly probed Roberto.

"A beautiful straight-line jump!"

"Arsenal's new lineup is not yet well-coordinated, and there are obvious gaps between the defensive midfielders and the backline, which Ribery has exploited!"

"Lewandowski!"

Lewandowski was unable to replicate his nine-minute five-goal miracle against Wolfsburg.

But he remains one of the best center forwards in football.

With his back to Mertesacker, he suddenly passed the ball to his left rear.

"careful!"

Van Dijk's eyes quickly locked onto Müller, who appeared as if by magic.

But someone was faster than him. Kante's small figure got close, causing Müller to lose control of the ball and have to stop abruptly to pass it back to James Rodriguez.

The Colombian prodigy who once shone brightly on the world stage did not achieve ideal results at Real Madrid.

His form has declined significantly as a result. The classic attacking midfielder has long since disappeared from the scene. Sanchez's thick thigh blocked James Rodriguez's side, and Kanté, who was pressing forward, won the ball back.

"Arsenal's midfield coordination remains excellent!"

"Sanchez is definitely more comfortable on the left wing than on the right, and he's also more proactive!"

"Let's move!"

Amidst great anticipation, the football rolled to Qin Ming's feet.

A bolt of black lightning struck swiftly.

Alaba, known as the Austrian Liu Xing, is a versatile player in the midfield and defense.

Snapped!
Facing the aggressive Alaba, Qin Ming suddenly swung his right foot.

The football slid along an exaggerated trajectory in the blink of an eye.

But he soon realized that this approach was not fast enough, and sure enough, Tolisso took the opportunity to get closer from the side.

It looked like it was about to touch the football.

Almost instinctively, Qin Ming stopped the ball, turned to the side, and faced away from Tolisso.

The powerful impact caused the tough, dark-skinned French midfielder to grunt.

At this moment, Bayern's two defensive midfielders were completely contained, with Dembele and Sanchez appearing like sharp blades stabbing diagonally into their heart of the team.

"Catch the ball!"

Qin Ming, leaning against Tolisso, executed a perfect arc with the outside of his foot.

Dembele was incredibly excited; he never received this kind of treatment at Dortmund.

Aubameyang is a ball-hogging player.

Reus was unable to pass the ball to himself cleanly and decisively when surrounded by multiple defenders.

He, along with Guerrero and Durm, were often used as bait.

Dembele, thinking Aubameyang was being too selfish, ignored Morata's frantic calls for the ball and charged into the penalty area to go one-on-one with Süle.

The Bayern Munich center-back is 1.95 meters tall and weighs 97 kilograms.

Dembele looked smaller standing in front of him.

But Süle is not an aircraft carrier; on the contrary, his fastest 100-meter time is under eleven seconds, making him one of only two players in the Bayern Munich team to achieve this, along with Kingsley Coman.

Although he was a beat slow to turn around, he caught up with Dembele.

"Pretty!"

"Süle is quite familiar with Dembele; the two have faced each other before in the German Cup!"

"A side impact caused Dembele to lose control of the ball and it went out of bounds!"

Dembele looked a little embarrassed after conceding the goal, and gave Morata a forced smile, but Morata still didn't react.

Although he was Qin Ming's most important support, he was also the one at the very top.

Dembele, are you disrespecting me by playing like that?
It's not that they're bullying the team; it's that Arsenal's core tactic is to prioritize making the best choice.

Dembele's choice just now was clearly not the best one.

Of course, if Dembele could get past Süle and score, Morata would never have done that.

If it were Qin Ming instead, Morata wouldn't say anything.

Dembele is no good.

There might be a lot of troublemakers at Dortmund, like Aubameyang, which leads to a poor atmosphere.

However, Arsenal is different.

Everyone is working together towards the same goal; even if you spend 100 million pounds to buy you, they can still keep you on the bench.

Dembele's last bit of hope vanished.

Qin Ming didn't say anything; if Dembele passed the ball, Morata would pass it back.

He will have a brief shooting opportunity just outside the penalty area.

Neuer suffered another fracture in his left metatarsal bone during training a few days ago, and underwent surgery this morning after a final examination.

The surgery was very successful.

Neuer suffered an injury to his left foot, which required the implantation of a pad.

However, he will also miss all games this year, which is known as "season-ending injury".

Bayern's starting goalkeeper today is Ulreich.

Qin Ming was quite confident, because he had scored quite a few goals against Ulreich when Wolfsburg played against Stuttgart.

"Sorry, I should have passed the ball."

Dembele lowered his head.

Sanchez watched from the sidelines with a half-smile. Back then, he was even more of a troublemaker than Dembele, only wanting to be the team's core player.

So he jumped from Barcelona to Arsenal.

As a result, less than a month later, he was impressed by Qin Ming's skills and obediently went to play as a right winger.

However, young people, with their pride and arrogance, should be able to persevere longer.

The game continued, and the first twenty minutes were quite uneventful as both teams searched for their rhythm and worked out new tactics.

"Arsenal's passing and possession are getting smoother and smoother!"

"Replacing right-back Roberto with Bellerin seems to be a good choice. Although he reduces Arsenal's attacking intensity on the right, his more comprehensive technical characteristics strengthen the defense!"

"It will also make Arsenal's squad more balanced!"

Bayern's midfield defense wasn't particularly strong; Ribery, James Rodriguez, and Müller struggled to disrupt Arsenal's passing game. Alaba was left to cover for them everywhere.

In the 31st minute of the match, Fabinho seized an opportunity and made a through pass to Qin Ming, who had made a run into space.

In a one-on-one situation against Tolisso, Qin Ming immediately executed a series of changes of direction.

The Frenchman felt as if his knees were creaking and howling.

On the third attempt, he couldn't keep up, giving up space to rush forward on the right. Qin Ming didn't hold back and accelerated for a burst of speed.

Gasps of surprise erupted from the Shanghai stadium.

The impact of this is completely different from what you see on TV.

"Alvaro!"

Qin Ming passed the ball to Morata with his right foot, who was positioned with his back to goal and skillfully dribbled to the side and back.

Süle wanted to turn around.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

Dembele was also very fast, but he didn't have a good grasp of the rhythm. Qin Ming, on the other hand, seized the moment when he leaned to the right.

Can't keep up.

All he could see was Qin Ming dart past him, catch up with the ball, and swing his right leg.

boom!
A dull thud suddenly came from the penalty area, and the football whistled towards the goal.

Ulreich makes a side dive while maintaining high concentration.

The angle was too tricky; I couldn't reach it.

Before he even landed, the ball had already gone into the net, changing the score.

1-0! ! !

"Great goal! The quadruple-winning duo is truly in sync, their combination breaking through Bayern's defense and scoring the opening goal in the 32nd minute!"

"Simple passing and cutting, yet it has a kind of beauty!"

"Perhaps only Arsenal and Barcelona can do that!"

Zhan Jun said excitedly.

I usually watch national team matches in China, and the gap between Qin Ming and his teammates is too big, so there's not much team entertainment value.

Arsenal is different.

The fluidity of their passing, their positioning awareness, and their seamless teamwork were simply breathtaking.

Arsenal fans at a Shanghai stadium spontaneously created a wave.

Qin Ming was surrounded by his teammates, celebrating the goal together.

"Bayern seems a bit weak?"

Qin Ming stroked his chin, feeling that when he was at Wolfsburg, the pressure of playing against Bayern Munich was immense. He and De Bruyne had to give it their all to snatch the Bundesliga title from Bayern.

This is not just because I and my teammates are stronger.

The camera panned to the sidelines, where Ancelotti was frowning.

In the world of football, any change in personnel will offend veteran players and is most likely to cause locker room conflicts.

He is now facing this situation.

Robben, Ribery, Müller, Boateng, and Hummels.

He has only taken down two players so far, and hasn't even changed the 4-2-3-1 formation yet, and this defensive problem has already emerged.

What to do next?
He had a headache.

On the other side, Wenger and Pat Rice were all smiles, very satisfied with the performance of the new lineup.

Aside from Dembele not quite fitting into the system.

However, this was within Wenger's expectations, as Dembele is not like Roberto, who has received systematic training in passing and control.

The game starts again.

For teams, the International Champions Cup is more like a warm-up or experiment before the start of the season, so they can be very bold in making substitutions.

It wasn't as serious as a real competition.

The players won't be playing as hard as they would in the Champions League final.

Qin Ming was very considerate of his compatriots' feelings, knowing what they wanted to see, so he didn't hesitate to try to break through.

He simply discovered that after acquiring Zidane's talent, his ball control became more consistent than before.

Tolisso and Alaba tried their best but couldn't steal the ball.

Instead, being held back exposed a weakness, allowing Sanchez to receive the ball on the left flank, cut inside, and score.

Arsenal extended their lead before halftime.

During halftime, Wenger called Saka into the locker room. He had brought several youth academy players with him for this year's Champions League, so that they could gain experience in a major tournament.

Saka sat awkwardly on the edge.

To be honest, he never imagined that at the age of 16, he would be able to play alongside Arsenal's first team.

Although it may just be some insignificant bits of wasted time.

"take it easy."

Qin Ming patted Saka on the shoulder.

Saka nodded with his lips pressed tightly together, then suddenly remembered Qin Ming's background. He joined Wolfsburg before he was even 17 years old and scored twice in his Bundesliga debut.

He broke the Europa League all-time goal record at the age of 18.

He broke the Premier League goal record at the age of 19.

He broke the Champions League goal record at the age of 20.

When September comes this year, Qin Ming will be exactly 21 years old.

Thinking about it this way, Saka felt much more at ease. After all, he could join the first team right now.

That was only the first step in catching up with Qin Ming.

What's there to be nervous about?
Wenger's post-match analysis was very thorough, completely different from his analysis of the actual match.

The early part of each season is often an opportunity to widen the gap, but the later part is when the champion is truly decided.

But Wenger had an unspoken impulse in his heart.

That is to win the undefeated trophy again and have those 38 letters engraved on the wall.

Therefore, Arsenal's transfer activity is still ongoing, with them continuously searching for suitable substitute players to strengthen their bench depth.

The second half of the game will begin.

Arsenal's tactics have changed significantly, and Dembele has become increasingly aggressive in his play.

He sensed a threat from Saka.

Back when Qin Ming was at Wolfsburg, Perisic was injured and rested for a month. When he came back, he found that his position had suddenly disappeared.

He can only be pushed to the right wing like Sanchez.

Dembele certainly doesn't want to become a regular on the bench one day.

"We saw 16-year-old Saka on the field, but it's a pity this wasn't an official match, otherwise Saka could have broken Fabregas' record of 16 years and 177 days as the youngest player to appear on the field!"

"Mr. Dembele, worth 90 million pounds, has been substituted!"

"By the way, we haven't heard much about the £90 million man lately, even though it was very popular the season before last. It's probably because £90 million can't match Qin Ming's ability!"

Zhan Jun laughed.

Saka's performance after coming on was mediocre, but what impressed Qin Ming was that Saka didn't show any stage fright.

Good psychological quality.

Until the 67th minute of the match, Qin Ming seized on Tolisso's clearance error and started performing a series of stepovers with the ball.

It made the big guy Süle dizzy.

He may be fast, but his footwork is not fast at all.

As Qin Ming closed in, he finally couldn't resist making a tackle to steal the ball, but Qin Ming countered by flicking the ball in the opposite direction, creating space and shooting without hesitation.

Bayern's goal has been breached again.

In the four matches in China, Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and AC Milan, and drew with Inter Milan, ultimately winning the championship based on their points advantage.

After that, they will face the European Super Cup final.

Their opponent is Manchester United, who have had a poor league performance and barely won the Europa League.

(End of this chapter)