Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 157: Unexpected outside instep! Arsenal tops the standings! Maher's layout and acquisition

On November 11, the 16th round of the Premier League kicked off, with Arsenal facing Sunderland at home.

Including the last round against Tottenham, they have a total of four Premier League games to play this month, as well as a Champions League group match and a League Cup round of 4 match.

“Stay undefeated.”

This was the monthly target that Wenger told his players when he spoke in the locker room before the game.

After overcoming this difficult time with Tottenham, they only have one key battle against Chelsea at the end of October. In the remaining four games, the opponents are not difficult.

The game officially started at 5 pm local time at the Emirates Stadium.

Maher did not get a chance to start, but Wenger told him he would bring him on after half-time.

Today Wenger returned to the 4-3-3 formation, rotating a core player on each of the three fronts, preparing to give the substitutes some opportunities.

Maher sat with Ramsey, chatting and watching the game.

Sunderland played relatively proactively and created good threats through several counterattacks. This team is not considered a weak team at the moment and they have been in the middle of the table in recent seasons.

"Oh!"

Fortunately, in the 21st minute of the game, Van Persie received a cross from Gervinho and shot the ball into the net for Arsenal with his instep.

One to zero!

However, the good times did not last long. Ten minutes later, the opponent's midfielder Sebastian had a one-on-one opportunity in a counterattack, dribbled past goalkeeper Szczesny and scored a goal.

One to one!

After this goal, in the 44th minute of the game, Van Persie dribbled into the penalty area and was knocked to the ground by the opponent's defender Wayne Brown.

"Beep!" The referee awarded a penalty kick. Van Persie stood on the penalty spot and shot into the upper right corner, completing his second goal.

After a few rounds of slump, he regained his form in this game and increased his Premier League goals to 8!
Two to one!

This was also the score at the end of the first half. Maher did not go back during the halftime break, but stayed on the field to warm up with Ramsey and Koscielny.

Offensive guard Andre Santos quickly ran out and should also be ready to play in the second half.

"Mr. Wenger is playing with confidence." Koscielny explained while taking a step outside: "Last year, when he was leading 2-1 against a mid-table team, he would never have stepped up his attack.

"He didn't do that at the beginning of the season, but now he dares to do that because he's afraid that the score is not safe and that the opponent will score an inexplicable goal before the end of the game, turning 3 points into 1 point, and he wants to kill the opponent with one blow."

"I have to say." Maher smiled and said, "This is good news for offensive players."

Koscielny raised his eyebrows and didn't say much. The two of them were not close in the team and they just chatted occasionally.

"Beep!" The whistle for the second half was blown. Maher, standing on the left side, found himself being followed by two Sunderland players.

This kind of defense is not the same as the one Walker used to defend him at the beginning of the game, but he didn't even want to care about the ball and just followed him.

He was a little anxious at first. No one likes to have two flies sticking to them that they can't shoo away.

But gradually, after realizing there was no other way, he began to try to use his brain to get rid of these two people.

Various fake runs and sudden stops, bringing them to the middle and then running back into the gap, etc., were all used extensively.

——"If you feel that there are often close defenders around you, it means that you are slowly on the road to becoming a superstar. Get used to it, accept it, and overcome it."

He has forgotten which top star said this, but it obviously makes sense.

He has been moving towards the top position and never stops.

In the 74th minute of the game, Andre Santos’ introduction made a difference as he cut in from behind and received a through ball after Mahel had taken the defender towards the middle.

"Oh!"

The subsequent cross found Van Persie's head accurately, and the latter scored with a header.

Three to one!

General Fan wears a hat!

"Be careful, I'm coming up from behind."

After scoring the goal, Van Persie celebrated with Maher and exclaimed that this was his 9th goal.

Maher shook his head and said nothing, waving his hands to indicate that this was not enough.

Fourteen minutes later, Arteta's long diagonal pass hit the empty space behind Maher's opponent.

"Boom!"

Maher started at high speed, and after lagging behind the opponent's defenders by five or six body lengths, he caught up with the football with the last step, and when he stopped the ball, he dribbled it to a position near the penalty area line.

"Bang!" Two defenders from the opposing team then collided with him, but failed to shake him at all, and he successfully came to the ball.

In this game, he has not yet adapted to the opponent's special care, but relying on his strong personal ability, he can still create this kind of opportunity in the defense!

This ability must be possessed by only a few players, which is why he has such impressive statistics.

"Bang!!!"

He then fired a powerful shot with his right foot, which whizzed past the Sunderland blocker's face and into the far corner of the net.

Long shot into the net!

"Oh!"

Maher came to the sidelines with his clenched fists, waved them a few times, then spread out his hands and stretched his arms behind him, making the motion of a roc spreading its wings and gliding.

He is always trying new celebrations to find the one that suits him best.

"11 goals." Van Persie came over with a look of joy mixed with regret. He said with regret: "It looks like we have to catch up for a while."

“Try for a hat trick,” Maher joked as he high-fived him. “One more hat trick and maybe we’ll catch up.”

Four to one!

This is also the score at the end!
Arsenal finally won their sixth victory of the season and their points exceeded 6 points!
"This type of team will not pose a big threat to us. We will try to recruit players in the winter window to strengthen our defense."

Wenger left a meaningful remark at the post-match press conference, and he seemed really ready to compete for the championship.

On November 11, just four days after the last game, another Premier League game is coming.

They travelled to Stoke City to face this tough team known as the 'Sky City'.

This is a team whose style is closer to that of the Championship teams, but is much stronger than the Championship teams. Their style of play is very simple and straightforward, they are strong in confrontation, and their air defense capabilities are first-class.

In this game, Van Persie, who scored a hat trick in the last round, was rotated and rested, and Shamakh stood at the center position.

Maher started the game, he has always been good at playing this style of team, not only because of his experience in the Championship, but also because of his physical fitness.

Is Sky City powerful?

Can anyone be as strong as him?
"Boom!"

In the 25th minute of the game, Maher rushed up along the left side, broke through Delap, overturned Mark Wilson, and sent a ground ball cross.

However, Shamah's feet were weak at the critical moment and he kicked the ball into the stands.

Considering that he seldom played on the field, Maher was not too discouraged and ran back to his own half.

In the 39th minute of the game, Ramsey found an opportunity to send a through ball, Gervinho rushed in from the right, aimed left and right and blasted the ball into the near corner.

One to zero!

"Beautiful!" Maher clenched his fists secretly. Facing such a mid-to-lower-level team, as long as they take the lead first, it will not be difficult to play.

After the game resumed, he felt the pressure was indeed much less.

Stoke City, which was behind, no longer used a bus defense, and no longer used simple long passes to find their tall player Crouch, but tried to organize an effective attack.

Due to their formation, there are many more short passes.

This gave Arsenal more opportunities. For a moment, Arteta and Alexander Song were secretly gearing up, standing in the middle waiting for the opportunity to steal the ball and counterattack.

"Snapped!"

In the 66th minute of the second half, Alexander Song intercepted the ball from the opponent's midfielder Delap, dribbled forward and passed the ball to Gervinho.

Gervinho cut in towards the middle, and after a few steps he realized that the opportunity was not good, and happened to see Mahel asking for the ball from a far position.

Without any hesitation, he kicked the ball to Mahel and moved it sideways!

When the opposing defensive players are in position, you have to trust those on the team who can solve the problem. It won't work if you just do it yourself.

After passing the ball, Gervinho moved forward to the flank, which is his favorite position.

He saw that Maher had the ball at his feet, and it seemed that he had not figured out what to do with it for a moment, wasting the best time to pass or shoot.

"Ah" he ran back with some disappointment. Unlike Maher, he was responsible for the defense.

If the ball does not create a threat, he will have to chase back to defend.

But at this moment, he suddenly saw Maher standing on his supporting feet, raising his right leg and swinging it around, circling on the football.

Stoke City's defensive players lowered their center of gravity and stared at his feet. For a moment, they didn't know how he was going to deal with it and dared not move.

"Bang!!"

Suddenly, Maher's left foot took a small step to the side, adjusted to a better position, and then he kicked the football with the outside of his right foot.

At the moment of hitting the ball, his right ankle swung violently, and his whole body pressed forward, bursting out with powerful force just on the spot.

The football passed around the body of the Stoke City defender in front of him and went towards the left side of the goal.

Stoke City goalkeeper Begovic didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that Mahel would be able to take the goal kick soon.

By the time he saw the ball spinning violently and moving towards the near corner of the goal, the best time to save the ball was gone.

"嘡啷!"

"Shh!"

The football hit the post and flew into the net, beyond everyone's expectations.

Did the ball go in?

What the hell? !
"WowYeah!!" Every Arsenal fan who traveled abroad had a look of surprise on their face. They did not expect the ball to go in at all, they just stood up and celebrated instinctively when they saw the goal.

"How did you fight?"

"Outside of foot?!"

"That must be it!"

"Ordinary people really don't have this ability."

"Yes, the force wasn't that great, but did you see the arc? The goalkeeper certainly didn't expect it!"

“Scoring goals in consecutive games!!”

Each of them dared to swear that they never had any expectations for this ball and were still in a daze until the goal was scored.

"Boooom!"

But this did not affect Maher in the stands, who shouted excitedly and ran to the edge of the field, sliding on his knees across the grass of the Britannia Stadium.

The first outside-of-the-foot goal!

Premier League 12rd goal!
Steady forward!

"Oh brother!" Gervinho wore goggles today, showing his two rows of white teeth and smiling naively. He also raised his hands slightly to express his surprise: "I really don't know how I assisted, I was ready to go back to defend."

He was really lucky today. He first broke into the penalty area and scored a goal, and then provided an assist.

"Be prepared to win the man of the match."

Maher hugged him and comforted the semi-main player, "Go and run more."

"Hehe, okay." Gervinho still nodded with a silly smile. After running back to his position, he felt a lot better.

17 minutes later, Maher successfully dodged and got rid of the ball under the close defense of the opponent's players, shaking off the Stoke City defender.

"Ah!" Stoke City defender Mark Wilson turned around and tried to grab his arm, but Maher followed Traore's route, so wouldn't he know to put some oil on his body before going on the court?
He had bought all kinds of lubricants before, but he didn't use them because he felt he didn't need them.

But gradually, he often encountered weak teams in the Premier League, and the various persistent attacks from the opposing defenders really made him feel annoyed.

During the half-time break today, he took out the lubricant and applied some on his arms, neck and other parts.

"Swish!" With a smooth touch, Mark Wilson's hand was instantly pulled free and he almost fell to the ground because he used too much force.

He looked at Maher in disbelief; he didn't expect the other party to use such a trick.

He had never felt the touch so clearly before, and he had always thought it was because he was sweating too much.

Now I see that it is oil!
"Oh!"

Maher then bombed the ball towards the back post of the goal at 45 degrees from a position further back on the wing.

Stoke City has a very good air defense capability. But football is not a sport where you drop vertically from the sky and then compete for headers. As long as the pass is accurate, with a large arc and a downward drop, it is possible to hit the target.

After the football flew out from Maher's feet, it drew a beautiful banana shape in the air, with just the right height and speed.

Both of Stoke City's central defenders are very strong and tall, but they really had no idea what to do when the ball was coming. After simply judging where it would land, they knew they couldn't get the ball.

When they looked back, they found that the football was falling at the back point and into Gervinho's defense area.

"Bang!!"

Gervinho headed the ball into the net and the ball went through the goalkeeper's fingers without any suspense.

Stoke City's double central defenders stood there with their hands spread out helplessly. Is this the powerlessness of light armored cavalry facing archers?

What can they say about this ball?
It is said that Gervinho wore sports glasses and used them to hit the ball with more power when heading it?

"Yeah!"

There was jubilation in the expedition fan zone. Gervinho ran towards Maher. After they took a few steps to gather strength, they jumped up at the same time and bumped their chests to celebrate.

Three to zero!
Secure the victory!

"Click, click!" The media on the sidelines took pictures of them bumping chests and put them as the cover picture after the game.

"This is the first time I was named the best player in a single game in my Premier League career. Thank you everyone, and thank you to Maher for the goal and assist. He tied up more defense and created space for me." - Gervinho said at the press conference after the game

"Arsenal surpassed Manchester United on goal difference and officially topped the standings! The battle for the top spot was fierce, with three teams nipping at the heels of each other and no one falling behind!" - London Evening News

"First place: Arsenal 23 points, second place: Manchester United 23 points, third place: Manchester City 23 points, fourth place: Chelsea 20 points." - Premier League standings
On October 10, the day before the third round of the Champions League group stage, Maher took some time out to visit a small and medium-sized newspaper called "Football Record".

He had previously promised a young red-haired female reporter that he would be interviewed by her.

Even though the other party had resigned from Sky Sports and joined a small or medium-sized newspaper, he had already promised it and he still had to keep his word.

What's more, with his current popularity in the entire British football world, as long as an interview is released, no matter who releases it, it will quickly become the headlines of the next day.

He can take this opportunity to let people know him better, gain more fans while reaping the popularity, and at the same time sort out his current thoughts.

Sometimes people may not understand themselves very well. Maher knew this very early on, and sometimes he also needed to slow down and ask himself some questions.

“Emilia.”

The red-haired reporter showed off her memorable braces and stretched out her hand towards Maher. "In Latin, this name means someone who works hard."

"Are you working hard?" Maher looked at her with a smile, a little unconvinced, otherwise why would he leave Sky Sports.

"do not know."

Emilia shook her head and laughed, “But I must be lucky to have received a promise from a star player, and that star player also fulfilled this promise.

"Besides, that star has never accepted an interview with other media before. This is his first time. Haven't you been invited for an interview before?"

“I did.” Maher followed her into the upper floors of an administrative building and replied, “But I pushed it back. When you asked me that day, I was probably in a better mood, so I agreed directly.

"And you were very clever in attracting me with the goal setting method. I also happen to be looking forward to the day when I score 10 goals."

“Hmm.” Emilia, who is very outgoing, raised her eyebrows and asked, “Then why did I contact you only after I scored 12 goals?”

"I'm usually too busy and too tired." Mael explained and followed Emilia to a room.

There was a green curtain in the room, a high stool in the middle, and various lights and cameras everywhere. Many people had already made preparations.

"Mael."

"Hello."

“It’s an honor to have you here.”

When they saw Mahel coming in, they quickly stood up from their seats, walked to Mahel's side, stretched out their hands and lowered their heads, with a very respectful attitude.

Mael shook hands with them one by one, and Emilia followed him and introduced them to him: "This is the boss of the newspaper, this is the editor-in-chief, and this is the media integration editor."

Later, Maher found that everyone in the company had come, more than ten people in total, and it was like a team building event.

Not to mention, being interviewed by a tabloid also has its advantages. You can experience the feeling of being the center of attention.

"and many more."

He suddenly paused, turned around and asked, "Does your newspaper have a valuation?"

Since he was going to give his first interview here and double the value of the newspaper in a short period of time, why didn't he try to acquire the newspaper before that?
It's not that Maher has any urge to have fun or make a fortune. He knows that his focus in the next few years must be football.

But for an athlete who wants to become the best, what's wrong with slowly building up some streaming media and newspapers that focus on football and gaining a certain influence on public opinion?
He could just use this opportunity to make the newspaper famous, and then use his own identity to slowly develop the newspaper in the future instead of being an insider.

Then, when he needed the newspaper to speak for him, he could use it at any time.

Not to mention, this is likely to make him a lot of money.

"what?"

Peter, the newspaper owner, was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He paused the filming task and invited Maher to a room to talk alone.

"This is my father's newspaper. He founded it in 1964 and handed it over to me in 1999."

Peter took the initiative to make a cup of tea for Maher and introduced, “Unfortunately, I didn’t do very well. With the development of streaming media, we gradually lost our living space and couldn’t make any progress in transformation.

"Luckily, Emilia brought you this interview opportunity when she came from Sky Sports, which is an opportunity we value very much. Thank you in advance.

"Do you know how newspapers operate? The traditional way is rare now. Most newspapers have transformed."

Maher shook his head and looked at Peter seriously, listening to him continue his introduction.

"Advertising and subscriptions to paid columns are our two main ways of making money. Of course, there are also endorsements, but they are too far away from us."

Peter took a sip of tea and got to the point. "The bulk of the revenue comes from advertising. We can earn about 40 pounds here every year, and the remaining 15 pounds comes from subscriptions."

"Just breaking even?" Maher guessed. He saw that Peter's company still had more than a dozen employees.

“Almost.” Peter smiled bitterly and shook his head. After thinking for a long time, he said, “If we use the turnover standard, I think the newspaper’s valuation is 200 million pounds. We still have a certain foundation.

"Mr. Maher, do you have any idea of ​​investing? I must be frank, the newspaper has been looking for investors.

"If our investor was a top football player, I wouldn't even dream of that."

"Haha." Maher smiled. He was seldom addressed as "sir" and was a little uncomfortable. "If you accept investment or acquisition, how much stock are you willing to give?"

"Uh." Peter was a little embarrassed. He asked cautiously, "If the valuation is this, how much is Mr. Maher willing to invest?"

"We'll discuss the valuation later." Maher certainly wouldn't agree to it directly. He thought for a moment and said, "I'm willing to invest 70-80%. It depends on whether you're willing or not."

If it's too little, it's unnecessary and there's little control; if all is invested, Peter will become an employee and no one will worry about the work.

For him, 70-80 is the most reasonable range and the range worth trying.

"so much?"

Even though Peter was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he heard Maher say this number.

Being able to casually call out this number means that he must be able to easily take out more than one million pounds. By this calculation, how much money does he have in his pocket?

But he is only 18!
Peter howled in pain in his heart. As a businessman, this must be the first thing he thought of.

Mahel looked at him, not too surprised, as he had seen many similar expressions.

"I'll think about it for a while." Peter swallowed his saliva, took the teacup and went out, apparently to discuss with the core members, "Mr. Maher, please wait a moment."

"Okay."

Maher sat in his seat and smiled, "It seems the interview will have to be postponed."

He was very confident that as long as the other party considered it, it meant that he was definitely interested, and the only thing left was the question of price.

“If the acquisition is successful, Football Record and Instagram may be a good match.”

Inspiration burst out in his mind, and he already had a rough development plan in mind. "If I am included, we can form a pincer attack. All three parties will benefit, and I will get a share of all the benefits."

Acquire this newspaper, make it popular through Instagram, first occupy the blank market here, and then develop along with the development of Instagram.

Then use his own fame and traffic from Instagram to help it grow, and when it has a certain influence, use it to feed back to Instagram and himself.

closed loop!

Whether it is advertising revenue or column income, it will be an important source of extra income for him in the future.

Peter came back quickly, with no expression on his face when he came back. "We are going to discuss..."

"Mr. Peter."

Maher didn't give him a chance to prepare or talk nonsense, and pointed at the watch and said, "The competition is tomorrow, and I have to leave in the afternoon, so I don't have much time.

"So whether you agree or not, just give me a definite answer, and we can discuss the other details."

Peter put the teacup on the table and sat down without any hesitation, "We are willing to sell 78% of the shares. If you are willing to buy it, you will become the largest shareholder and actual controller of this newspaper.

"But we will not accept a valuation below £180m and I hope Mr Maher will accept that."

"I like to do things straightforwardly." Maher stood up, smiled and clapped his hands with him, but of course he didn't promise him anything. "We'll talk about the rest later. I'll come over when the schedule is a little lighter this month."

In his opinion, these 78% shares have already been obtained!
In the future, we will find a professional company to give them an estimate, negotiate the price with them, and finally prepare the money to sign the contract.

Walking out of the office, Maher had never thought that he had come here for an interview and accidentally acquired a newspaper.

He saw Emilia looking at him in surprise, as if she knew what had just happened.

what is this?
My superstar boss?

Maher smiled lightly and waved goodbye to the people in the newspaper office, as if the acquisition had been completed. "Bye, the interview can only be done next time. Let's do something else first."

He drove his beloved Ferrari back home, rested for two or three hours, packed up his things and prepared to leave for the away game.

Tomorrow’s game, away against French Ligue 1 champions Marseille, we cannot be careless.

It’s time to show yourself well in front of the future French team coach Deschamps.

(End of this chapter)