Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 158 Deschamps's life crossroads! Maher launches a blitzkrieg! The tragedy is about to be unsealed!

Southeastern France, capital of Provence.

As the home of the largest port in the Mediterranean, Marseille is the second largest city in France and has a unique geographical location.

In a country that loves football so much, there is no need to say much about the football atmosphere here. The famous French football master Zidane came from this city.

Fans also affectionately call his spinning ball action the Marseille turn.

At 10 pm on October 23, the third round of the Champions League group stage is about to start here, and the whole city seems to be in full swing.

Under the faint sunshine, fans of both teams rushed to the Velodrome Stadium from all directions. Both teams will end the first round of the group stage in this largest club stadium in France.

Before this, Arsenal ranked first in the group with two wins in two games, and Marseille ranked second with one win and one draw.

"Football News, by what score do you think the team will win?"

"Wenger is French, and there are many French players in the Arsenal team. Do these two points make you accept any result?"

"Marseille has a chance to top the Champions League group this season. Do the fans have confidence in this?"

"There are rumors that the French Football Association has invited Deschamps, but the coach himself wants to finish this season and take over after the European Cup. What do you think?"

Before the game, media reporters from all over the world blocked fans of both teams near the stadium to find out their expectations for the game.

The fans of Marseille were extremely excited. They smeared blue and white graffiti on their faces. They showed fanatical expressions when they appeared on camera, dancing and roaring at the camera.

"Three to zero!"

A Marseille fan came to the camera with a grin, raised three fingers on each hand and said, "Listen! If you are a loyal fan of Marseille, you will not have a filter for Wenger and Arsenal. We just want to crush them!
"Of course, we like Wenger, we like the new players Maher, Koscielny and so on, but that's not the reason!
"We will beat Arsenal to top the list, and then make a push for the quarterfinals!"

"."

"We are not a weak team at all. We have the best coach and players! They will lead us to victory!
"Wenger? Maher? They seem to be in the headlines lately, but we won't worry!
"Marseille! Marseille!"

"."

"Deschamps is an excellent coach. He is one of the best players in France and has proven himself as a coach over the years.

"If he leaves us at the end of this season, we hope he can lead Marseille to the highest honors in European competitions. I don't think it's impossible. We won the Champions League in 93.

"I wish him a happy future with the French national team. We have been dissatisfied with Blanc for a long time."

It was 4:30 in the afternoon, and there was only half an hour left before the game started.

Inside the Velodrome Stadium, the pre-match press conference has already begun.

Deschamps seemed to be in good spirits, answering questions from the media with a smile, and he was very modest: "Arsenal seems to be the stronger side, they are in very good form recently.

"When you play against a team like this, you will always have a lot of pressure. Fortunately, the team's defense has been very good, which is what I have been emphasizing in recent seasons.

"We will defend first and then look for opportunities to counterattack, just like we did in the draw with Dortmund last time."

"Do you have anything to say to Wenger?" A reporter picked up the microphone and shrugged slightly. "And we must mention the French player, Maher, you may have cooperation in the future."

"Haha." Deschamps listened to the reporter's suggestion, lowered his head with a smile, and then raised his head again and said: "Wenger is a coach I admire very much. Many people around the world are influenced by him.

"In a sense, like Sacchi and Benítez, he also promoted the development of football skills and tactics and promoted professionalism."

He put his arms on the table and said, "As for Maher, he is one of those rare players, an unbelievable player.

“It’s certainly a great opportunity for me to meet this talented young man from Aix in this match and get to know him.

"But I still have to say that I believe in the team's midfield and back line, they are as precise as a machine.

"Thank you."

After answering this question, he stood up and walked out of the media room, ending the press conference.

He mentioned a lot of news points in his answer to the last question, such as 'rare player', 'good opportunity to get to know him', etc., which was enough for the media to make news.

"Didier."

As he walked out of the press conference room, a shout came from behind and Wenger, with a smile on his face, walked up and put his arm around his shoulders.

The two have known each other for a long time. They both achieved important honors in the French Ligue 1 powerhouse 'Monaco' in the early stages of their coaching careers. As they are both French, they naturally have a good relationship.

After French head coach Santini left the team in 04, Wenger and Deschamps became the popular candidates for the French head coach.

After Deschamps chose to stay in Monaco, he wrote many articles to promote Wenger, but the latter also chose to stay in Arsenal.

"Hi." Deschamps recognized Wenger's voice and turned to hug him. "You are still in good health. You must have been exercising."

"I'm running." Wenger hugged Deschamps and took his hand, then asked with a smile: "When will you take over the French team?"

Deschamps leaned back and smiled, then replied: "Are you going to recommend a player to me? Don't worry, Maher won't get away.

"If there are no injuries or other major changes, he will definitely be a key player in the future."

"Just a starter?" Wenger pretended to be disappointed, but there was still a smile in his eyes. "You may have a different opinion after this game."

Deschamps shook hands with Wenger again, watched him walk into the media room and head towards his team's locker room.

After taking two steps, an assistant coach followed him. He waved his hand to signal the other party not to speak, and kept looking straight ahead, staring at a figure's back.

That was Maher who had just walked out of the stadium's locker room and was about to go out for warm-up.

His back view is very special. First of all, his body proportions are very good. His legs are long and strong, and his upper body is a standard inverted triangle, but not as abrupt as that of a bodybuilder. He looks like the type with good core strength and explosive power.

Deschamps couldn't help but feel a little envious, whether he was appreciating a professional player from the perspective of a former professional player, or appreciating a man from the perspective of a man.

He is handsome, has a good figure, and plays football well. What else is he missing?
The assistant coach asked Deschamps what he was looking at, and waited until Maher walked out of the player tunnel before saying, "The French Football Association just called."

"Calling at this time?"

Deschamps frowned slightly, remembering that Wenger had just stopped him and talked to him, and guessed, "Should I think about it again, whether I should terminate the contract with Marseille as soon as possible and take office before the European Cup?"

"Yes."

"I guess Wenger just recommended me to them." Deschamps' brows slowly relaxed, and he smiled and shook his head: "It seems that Maher's outstanding performance has made some people look forward to the results of this European Cup."

"How do you reply?"

"Tell them that if they expect a 43-year-old coach to lead an 18-year-old striker to help France win the European Championship, then the pressure on the old and the young is too much.

"I won't make such a rash decision, and Maher probably isn't at the level that can change the outcome of an intercontinental match.

"Do they think a new peak Zidane has emerged, or a peak Henry?"

"Okay." The assistant coach ran to the side and called back, but there seemed to be some other thoughts in his eyes.

Deschamps walked into the stadium with his hands behind his back and watched the two teams' pre-match warm-up.

He was actually under a lot of pressure. There were various forks in life before him. Each road had different gazes and expectations, and everyone seemed to be staring at him.

At 4:50, Maher finished his warm-up training and walked into the player tunnel. He looked towards a place in the Marseille fan area and smiled in that direction.

His uncle, aunt and their family of four were sitting there, but his little sister Ava had other arrangements and was not sitting in the fan area yet.

"Come on." Uncle Clemont secretly clenched his fist towards him, not daring to make any noise.

"We're keeping an eye on you." Aunt used her body to block her arm and waved at him slightly, with a very obvious smile on her face.

Their residence is about an hour's drive from Marseille, so of course they have to come and watch their nephew's Champions League match.

Speaking of which, the family hasn't seen each other for a long time. Maher didn't go home during the off-season because of heavy training tasks. He became even busier after arriving in London and didn't invite many people to watch the game.

This is a rare opportunity. The whole family cherishes the opportunity for Maher to play football near his hometown. They also invited many relatives and friends, but they did not sit together.

As all the tickets for Arsenal's Champions League away game have been sold out, and they happened to have bought a package to Marseille two months ago, intending to learn about football through their hometown team, they could only sit in the Marseille fan zone today.

This will surely be a dangerous and exciting viewing experience. Although Marseille fans do not hate Arsenal, they still have to be careful.

If Mahel scored a goal and the Marseille fans had gloomy faces, but they jumped up to celebrate, there would probably be problems.

Maher walked into the player tunnel with a smile, went to the locker room, put on shin guards and game clothes, and when he came out, he saw many players already standing in the player tunnel.

"I'm looking for my brother."

"I'm not standing with you."

"No!"

He saw Eva standing not far away, arguing with Marseille's full-back Azpilicueta.

Before the game, he couldn't get a good seat, so he contacted the organizer hoping to have Ava as his caddy and walk into the golf course with him. The organizer gladly agreed to this request.

"Your brother might be in the stands. The game is about to start. Be good and go find him after the entrance ceremony."

Azpilicueta thought it was just a child playing tricks, so he half-knelt down and took Ava's hand to coax her, hoping that she would be more obedient.

"Wow." When Ava saw that she couldn't see Mael, her eyes turned red and she started sobbing anxiously.

Azpilicueta stood there at a loss. Many Marseille players looked at him and laughed. Some walked to Eva and joined him in coaxing the cute little girl.

"Ava."

Maher walked up with a smile and patted Azpilicueta on the shoulder. "Sorry, she is my sister. Maybe I didn't make it clear to you. I will stand with her."

"Ah?" Azpilicueta was stunned after he stood up, blinking a few times, "Oh oh. OK."

"Haha." The Marseille players immediately laughed at him, and a burst of laughter rang out from the player tunnel.

Maher took Ava's hand and hugged his little sister whom he hadn't seen for a long time. "Don't cry, Ava. Brother is here. I'll take you to eat pizza after the game."

When she heard there was food, Ava stopped crying instantly. While wiping her tears, she saw Azpilicueta on the opposite side looking at her again. She pointed her little finger at him and said, "He is a bad guy. He doesn't want me to find my brother."

"What should we do then?" Maher cast an apologetic look at the future captain of Stamford Bridge, then turned back to coax Ava.

The little girl might be scared because she suddenly met a stranger, and her parents were not around. This is normal.

"Brother beat him on the court!" Eva pointed at Azpilicueta in a fierce voice.

The players of the Marseille team pursed their lips and tried to hold back their laughter, turning themselves into emoticons.

Azpilicueta: “???”

He really is the defender who played against Maher. The key point is that he did nothing. Who can he talk to about this?
"Okay, okay." Maher hugged Eva and waved to Azpilicueta again.

They then went to Marseille's home stadium together. After the Champions League theme song ended, Eva got down from Maher's arms and ran towards the player tunnel.

After running two steps, she turned around and clenched her fist towards Maher, "Beat him up."

Maher smiled lightly twice, winked at her to indicate that it was okay, then his expression calmed down and he was ready to take the game seriously.

After reaching his left wing, he turned around and saw Deschamps looking at him on the opponent's half sideline, smiling and greeting him.

Maher nodded slightly at him, and then looked at Azpilicueta who was facing him not far away. Today, he really wanted to try to blow up their entire left side.

"Beep!"

The referee blew the whistle to start the game at exactly five o'clock. Arsenal took the lead by sending the ball into the center circle and crossed the half court.

"The game has begun! Dear viewers, this is CCTV. You are now watching the 11-12 season, UEFA Champions League, the match between Marseille and Arsenal!

"Let's first look at the starting lineups of both teams. The home team Marseille played in a 4-4-2 formation today.

"The goalkeeper is Mandanda, and the defense line from left to right is N'Koulou, Jeremy Morel, Diawara, and Azpilicueta. "The midfield is in parallel, with Diarra and Valbuena in the middle, Lucho Gonzalez and Benoit Sherou on both sides, and Remy and Andre Ayew on the front line.

"But when we entered the game, we could see that, apart from Remy who was at the front, everyone else retreated to the midfield and backcourt to organize a deep defense.

"Marseille is a defensive team with a tough confrontational style, which comes from the philosophy of their head coach Didier Deschamps.

'Arsenal side'

On the field, Maher rushed across the opponent's midfield line and came to Azpilicueta, a short full-back with very strong defensive ability.

His reaction speed and explosive power are very strong. Apart from being at a disadvantage in confrontation, he has almost no other disadvantages.

He is even good at using his short stature to evade the attacking players and deftly snatch the ball from their feet.

This is by no means an easy opponent to deal with, he must be careful and use all his strength.

"Benoit!"

Deschamps, who was not far away, waved his hand to signal the midfielders nearby to move closer and block Mahel's space to receive the ball.

Benoit ran over, made eye contact with Azpilicueta and nodded, and the two of them were going to cooperate in defense at the right-back position.

One person defends and one person helps defend. This is the basic configuration of all teams when defending Maher recently.

"Oh!"

Just after the start of the game, Arsenal midfielder Arteta sent a long diagonal pass, giving Azpilicueta and Benoit a chance to confront Maher.

"Hi!" Benoit jumped high and tried to head the ball, but the football hit his hair and fell behind him.

After landing, he did not get discouraged. He rushed back to Maher's position, trying to steal the ball by double-teaming him from front and back.

Maher leaned sideways towards Azpilicueta, intending to stop the ball first and then look for the next step.

But after seeing Benoit's running route, he found that doing so would increase the probability of being intercepted.

In a flash, he suddenly changed his strategy, pushed Azpilicueta behind him hard, then turned and stepped back, stretching out his foot and touching the falling football with the outside of his foot.

"Snapped!"

The football touched the outside of his foot, changed direction, and bounced towards the middle.

Just as Azpilicueta was pushed away, he broke out and started forward, and Benoit behind him also chased back and prepared to complete the closed-door defense.

But with just such a light and nimble single touch, the football just passed through the gap between them before they could close in!

Benoit was behind, and Azpilicueta was quick to react and wanted to turn around and catch up.

"Boom!"

But Maher had already pushed off the ground and started towards the middle. He stepped over the two people and passed through the gap between them.

"Wow!" Exclamations rang out from all directions. Whether it was the players, fans, or the coaching staff of both teams on the sidelines, everyone had a stunned expression.

Maher perfectly got rid of the double-team and ran towards the middle!
After completing a successful attempt, Maher saw two people flashing past him at a rapid speed, but he was helpless. Maher's confidence surged, and he dribbled the ball quickly all the way inside, ready to take a devastating shot.

Many times you will have a similar feeling when you have completed a wonderful breakthrough, a wonderful escape.

The adrenaline in your body will burn rapidly in a short period of time, giving you a feeling of being omnipotent and prompting you to do more!

"What a brilliant move! This is the level of genius! Valbuena chased back and tried to steal the ball but he jumped too hard and was dribbled past. Maher got rid of three people in a row!
"Coming to the middle, defender Diawara didn't dare to retreat any further, as Maher had just shown his ability to shoot from the spot in the previous game.

"He's coming!!"

On the court, when many people had not yet fully entered the game state, Maher, who cut from the wing to the middle position, had already stretched his body, swung his left arm and right leg, and prepared to shoot.

"Snapped."

At the moment of shooting, he realized that the opponent's defender Diawara wanted to slide to block, so he took another small step to the right.

After his ball control and rhythm abilities improved, this kind of fake pass and fake shot are no longer a problem for him!

"Snap!" Diawara couldn't contain his nervousness and fell to the ground and slid to block the ball. After discovering that he had been deceived, a trace of fear appeared on his face and he quickly got up and tried to catch up.

"Bang!!"

But Maher would not give him another chance. He repeated the shooting action, stretching his body faster and swinging his legs with a larger amplitude.

This time, it was a real shot!

"Swish!" The football quickly rose into the air with the power of Maher's feet, piercing through the air and hitting the far corner of the goal.

Since the shooting angle was not very large, Maher's shot did not have much arc, and he was more concerned about the power of the shot.

Goalkeeper Mandanda has great explosive power. From Mahel's perspective, his jump and flight are very fast, and he is even one of the goalkeepers with the fastest lateral movement speed he has ever seen.

If you hit a curve ball, the opponent will most likely quickly cover the entire goal and punch the ball out of the net.

But his explosive shots are not so easy to defend against, as the speed of the ball must be faster than that of an opponent.

"Swish!" The football hit the nine-point corner without any rotation or sliding on the net, and it made solid contact with it.

The ball went in!
One to zero!

"Ohhh!!" The moment the ball went into the net, Arsenal's travelling fans quickly stood up from their seats and raised their hands in amazement.

How long has it been since the show started?
The goal is coming?
Who would have thought!

"It's a goal! Just 28 seconds into the game, Maher's goal helped Arsenal take the lead!

"This goal was too sudden! Marseille's defensive strategy was resolved right from the start!

"Azpilicueta was stunned, Benoit slammed the ground, he should have been fouled in that position. Even if he was given a yellow card, Maher should not have entered the middle!
"This is likely to be the fastest goal in this Champions League, and it is also enough to rank in the top ten in the history of the Champions League!

"A blitzkrieg! Maher blitzed the French team Marseille! This is the team from his hometown."

"Clap clap clap!"

On the sidelines, Wenger clapped his hands excitedly, and the joy on his face seemed to reflect the brilliance of the game.

The photographer was very good at taking pictures. After taking a picture of Wenger's expression, he focused on Deschamps at the far end. Without cutting the lens, he recorded the extremely contrasting reactions of the two head coaches.

In the blurred foreground of Wenger clapping his hands, Deschamps in the distance stood with his hands behind his back, saying nothing, stopping there like a wooden stake, as if he was trapped in the lost magnetic field and unable to move.

"Haha!" Arsenal players burst into laughter and cheers. Some of them joined in the celebration before they even warmed up or adjusted their shin guards.

"Yes!"

After scoring the goal, Maher rushed to the fan area on the sidelines. In this island city rich in lavender, he spread his arms and closed his eyes, as if he was in a sea of ​​flowers.

The 3th goal in the Champions League!
He is slowly moving towards the world, visiting the home stadiums of teams in more countries and leaving his mark in many places!
"Wuhu!" Van Persie rushed over and jumped on his back, and Walcott jumped over second.

When Arteta jumped up again, Maher fell to the ground somewhat overwhelmed, turned over with a laugh and stretched his limbs, as if he was sunbathing on the beach.

In the stands not far in front of them, Marseille fans looked at him with complicated expressions. They had some expectations for him, but were also disappointed that the team's defense was breached at the start of the game.

"Well!"

At the front of the stands, a family of five was sitting there. The eldest sister was holding Ava and covering her mouth to prevent her from making any sound.

They had just joined up with Eva, and before they could react, Maher cut in from the front and scored a wonderful world-class goal.

Even they couldn't help but convulse and tremble uncontrollably, so how could Ava hold it back?
Several Marseille fans saw something was wrong here and looked over.

Clemont turned his head away with his teeth clenched, his face showing exaggerated grief, and he shook his head bitterly, almost crying out loud.

It wasn't like a goal was scored, it was more like a fire had just burned down the house where he lived. There was nothing he could do, he had never studied acting.

Seeing how pious he was, the others said nothing and looked away.

Clemont sighed and turned back. After looking at his wife, he couldn't help laughing. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, squeezed his face, clenched his teeth, and continued to pretend to be sad.

"Beep!"

After the game resumed, Marseille fell into a period of confusion. They didn't know whether to continue to maintain deep defense and wait for a counterattack, or rush out to attack.

Naturally, they couldn't make up their minds until head coach Deschamps had thought about this issue.

For a time, due to inconsistent tactical thinking, there was a disconnect between the front and back fields, which quickly turned into chaos.

In the 4th minute of the game, seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly chaotic, Deschamps had to make a decision in advance.

He came to the sidelines and waved his hand to signal the players to collect their moves: "Keep collecting! Stabilize the situation first, don't rush! Think carefully about the arrangements before the game, and think about how you defended and attacked before!"

He pointed at his brain and reminded the players to stay calm, saying that being a coach in the real world is not like being in a game.

Every player has his own ideas, and he can't reverse their status all at once. He still needs to give them time to think.

"Bang!" But Arsenal seemed to be determined to beat the downed dog. While Marseille had not yet recovered, they launched a fierce pressing campaign in the midfield.

In the 6th minute of the game, Arteta's tackle created an excellent opportunity to switch from defense to offense.

"Snap!" Valbuena was still relatively sober. He rushed over and made a sliding tackle to knock down Rosicky who received the second penalty kick, and blocked the attack at the cost of a yellow card.

Just five minutes later, Alexander Song's forward positioning forced the opponent's striker Andre Ayew to pull him down from behind, and Marseille received another yellow card.

In the 14th minute of the game, it was Maher's turn. He took advantage of a mistake made by the opponent's midfielder Benoit who dribbled the ball too far, chased back and used his body to block the position, then intercepted the ball and knocked it to Arteta on his side.

"Oh!"

Marseille had no chance to foul this time, as Arteta's curved ball hit the back of the goal directly.

Van Persie had already judged the landing point, came to the back point, jumped up and stopped the ball with his chest.

Without waiting for the football to fall, he jumped into the air and used a side hook to kick the ball into the near corner of the goal.

"Aahh!!" The stadium was once again in a state of chaos and the Arsenal players seemed to be going crazy.

Two to zero!
Maher raised his right hand and ran towards Van Persie, passing countless Marseille players who looked confused on the way.

In fact, their personal abilities are not bad, and they are also strong in organizing offense and defense, but they did not take the initiative after they came on the court.

Arsenal deliberately added fuel to the fire and created chaos, hoping to kill the suspense of the game while they were still unstable.

“First in the group!”

Van Persie stretched out a finger, ran a few steps and tapped the corner flagpole.

"Assisted to score twice!"

Arteta was also looking at the sidelines and smiling excitedly. It had only been a short time since the start of the game, and he wouldn't have the chance to assist or score a hat-trick.

If you count these two goals carefully, neither of his passes were absolute chances. One was scored by Maher's personal ability, and the other was by Van Persie.

It feels so good to follow a top striker and get assists!
"Open the bottle!"

Maher smiled and ran towards the two men, pretending to open a beer with a bottle opener, meaning that he was going to strive for a big victory.

You can't blame him for being too brutal towards his hometown team. The main thing is to leave a deep impression on Deschamps, not because it concerns his future position in the French team.

ps: Adjustment will begin in a few days, and the number will remain this way in the future.

　月更8万整，保底目标54万+1000月票加更*1（涨为加1更7k）。

　　The total goal is 54.7, please give me monthly tickets, almost 2000 monthly tickets!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)