Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 187: Advancing to the final! Wembley, here we come! New contract signed! Wenger's past memories!

Wenger's departure did not bring much change to the two teams, and they continued to play an aggressive offensive game.

As time went by, Liverpool's desire to score became stronger and stronger. They accelerated the pace even more on the basis of their already extremely fast rhythm, sacrificing their success rate in exchange for threats.

"Oh!"

In the 31st minute of the game, Kuyt retreated to receive the ball, and was closely defended by Alexander Song.

He forced himself to turn half his body and barely sent the ball to the approximate position of Suarez.

The Uruguayan striker received the ball perfectly, took a few steps sideways, and waited for Charlie Adam to rush to the right before making a diagonal pass, who then swept a low cross.

"Snap!" The football hit the outside of Koscielny's foot. He didn't have time to react. He just subconsciously raised his foot and kicked the ball outwards. The football immediately left the ground and flew diagonally behind him.

Fortunately, Alexander Song was on the line, and he cleared the ball out of the penalty area from near the penalty spot, defusing the threat.

At the landing point, Arteta had already turned around to observe the movement of his teammates, and the ball possession seemed to be about to be transferred.

"Boom!"

In the frontcourt, Maher and Walcott sprinted at the same time, running towards the gap that was conducive to Arteta's passing. In this situation, they had to move in advance, otherwise it would be too late to move after Arteta received the ball.

In high-intensity games, Arteta will not spend more than one second handling the ball after getting it.

"Tighten it! Tighten it!!"

In the midfield, Liverpool captain Gerrard quickly came behind Arteta and called on his teammates to compress the space.

Counter-rob on the spot!

We can’t let Arteta take the ball, turn around, and then pass it easily!
Four Liverpool players quickly came around Arteta, cutting off all his dribbling and passing routes.

After all, Tazige is not Maer, and after leading him for a few steps, he found himself unable to carry on on his own.

"Snap!" Charlie Adam, who came back to defense, kicked the ball away under his feet, and Liverpool regained control!

Maher and Walcott in the frontcourt stopped, which is a common situation on the court. Most of their off-ball running is ineffective.

But they have to run every time, only in this way will they not miss the chance to catch the ball when it really comes.

"Liverpool are about to make a counter-attack, Henderson receives the ball from Charlie Adam, and Gerrard is unguarded on the other side!
"Koscielny came out to make up for the deficit, Henderson didn't pass the ball to Gerrard, but to Suarez! The Uruguayan striker rushed into the penalty area with the ball, and Djokovic came to defend him!

"Just shoot! Oh! Beautiful goal! Suarez volleyed into the far corner! Liverpool is leading!

"The total score is 3-2! Zhu Lu did not fulfill his responsibility. When the opponent's forward shoots, the goalkeeper's responsibility is to block the near corner, and the defender's responsibility is to block the far corner!

"Even if Arsenal only needs one goal to regain the initiative, Liverpool is now halfway into the final!"

"."

"Liverpool! Liverpool! Suárez! Suárez!"

Amid the inspiring cheers of the Liverpool expeditionary team, the scorer Suarez rushed to the sidelines and slid on his knees to celebrate. After standing up, he high-fived and hugged the old captain Gerrard who had caught up with him.

With smiles on their faces, the two completed Dalglish's pre-match requirements, stormed the Arsenal backfield that was experiencing turmoil, and scored the first goal.

Next, we need to strive for the second goal to make up for the team’s disadvantage in away goal difference!

They are always on the right track. While Arsenal is in poor form recently, they want to defeat this strong opponent, advance to the final and win the championship!

"Pretty!"

On the sidelines, Dalglish excitedly pumped his fists in celebration and turned to look at his old rival Wenger.

The other party stood in the fan zone with his arms folded, and like the Arsenal fans around him, he had a sad look on his face and said nothing.

"No team can have good luck on every front." Dalglish sighed in a low voice, feeling much better, pacing back and forth on the sidelines.

Arsenal have been stumbling this month and seem to be having a hard time, but in fact they remain unbeaten and are making steady progress on all fronts.

Today, it's time for Liverpool to stop them!
They are not Fulham or Swansea, and they will not allow Arsenal in this state to bypass them and move forward intact.

The team has faced Arsenal twice this season, with one draw and one loss, and has yet to taste victory. It's time to have a taste today!

"One to zero! One to zero! We're going to Wembley Stadium!"

After the second kick-off, Liverpool fans held up their team flags and scarves and sang a team song that mocked the home team's fans: "Just keep your unbeaten record in the Premier League, because next time we come, you'll have nothing!

"One to zero! One to zero!"

This was probably a song they had prepared long ago, waiting to sing when the team was leading by one. This kind of taunting from fans of both sides in the stadium was normal, and most Arsenal fans were also prepared.

"Bang bang bang!"

On the field, Arsenal players stepped up their attack, but they couldn't find any good conversion opportunities.

It's a bit too difficult to break Liverpool's goal through pure positional defense.

Unless we expect Maher to continue to create danger through breakthroughs, and Van Persie to hit another magical goal. But under the opponent's tight defense, this can only be said to be a small probability situation and it is impossible to happen frequently.

"here!"

During this period, Maher kept passing behind Martin Kelly or retreating deep to receive the ball, and he once again used the tactic of conserving his physical energy.

Of course, his methods are not limited to these. He often waits for opportunities for long shots and lob shots near the center.

But Liverpool seemed to want to defend through their counterattack period. The whole team retreated to the penalty area to defend deeply, and used reckless clearances and blocks again and again to hit Arsenal's offensive confidence.

"One to zero, we'll go to Wembley Stadium!" With their fans constantly encouraging them with songs, they soon had the momentum to regain the initiative.

It seems that Arsenal's counterattack is about to end and the field will return to a evenly matched offensive battle.

"Crack!"

In the 44th minute of the game, Gerrard tackled Maher's dribbling and passed the ball to Downing in the left front after getting up, who took the ball and launched a counterattack.

Maher was knocked to the ground and sat on the ground with his hands spread out towards the referee, but the other party ignored him.

He could only get up, brush off the grass and dirt on his thighs, and return to his position to wait for an opportunity.

He looked at the opponent's defense line and found that Liverpool was still very vigilant and did not invest too much manpower in the counterattack. Most of the defensive players were still near their own penalty area.

"Downing is facing Sagna's defense! It's not easy to break through! He turned around and tried to pass the ball, faked a move, but he still had to go to the baseline!
"A cross! Djokovic cleared the ball with his header, and Rosicky got the ball at the second spot!
"Liverpool's players came up again, and they did a very good job of counterattacking on the spot, often blocking Arsenal's counterattacks and creating good offensive opportunities for the team!

"Rosicky! He used his body to block Kuyt and Henderson, but he is not Maher, the ball was intercepted!

"Liverpool had another chance to convert, but Rosicky didn't give up! He headed towards Henderson who was advancing with the ball, a beautiful steal!

"He was definitely not physically superior to Henderson, but he still managed to snatch the ball away from Henderson using a combination of hard and soft tactics.

"I fought it out!"

"."

"Oh!"

At the top of the arc, Rosicky made a long pass to the left side of the frontcourt without even looking.

Firstly, he was afraid that the opponent would take it back, and secondly, he believed that as long as he played in a similar position, Maher would have a chance to take it.

Sure enough, just after passing the ball, he felt his feet suddenly go empty and he fell forward. Someone kicked him hard from behind.

Such was the speed of attack and defense at the moment. If he had taken even one more look just now, the ball would not have been passed!
The intensity of the championship battle!

Rosicky didn’t feel any serious injury after landing, but he was afraid that Maher wouldn’t be able to catch the ball, so he covered his face and howled in pain, “Ah!”

If Maher didn't get the ball, the referee would call a foul and the ball would still be theirs.

After calling twice, Rosicky didn't hear the whistle. He wanted to take a look at the situation over there, but it was not easy for him to just stand up, so he had to open his hands a little.

Through his fingers, he saw that on the left side of the frontcourt, Martin Kelly seemed to have positioned himself in advance and was about to clear the ball.

"Oh!"

Before Mahel had time to put pressure on the opponent, he headed the ball, but his choice of direction was wrong. Instead of clearing the ball to the sides, he headed it straight ahead.

It seemed that he wanted to take advantage of Mahel's forward body inertia to head the ball behind him, use his reaction difference to break through him, and then take the ball at his feet.

"Oh!"

But Martin Kelly didn't expect that Maher jumped up quickly and turned his head to the side, pushing the ball flying behind him back in front of him.

In an instant, Martin Kelly became the one who was broken through due to his slow reaction. He was rushing behind Maher, but the football flew behind his head.

The opponent counterattacked in the way he had expected and passed him!

"Boom!"

Maher was already much faster than him, and at this moment he took a few steps faster, and the distance between them was instantly widened to five meters.

Out of place!
"Martin Kelly is too confident! In this position, it is difficult to pass Maher in such a self-evident way!
“He must have known that Maher’s reflexes were world-class, but he still wanted to take a gamble!
"Sometimes, mistakes come from misjudging the situation! Now it's Arsenal's attacking round, Liverpool has 6 people defending in the backcourt, and Arsenal also has 4 people attacking!
"But Liverpool chased back very quickly, Henderson and others had already crossed the center circle. They were united in purpose!"

"."

"One to zero, one to zero! We're going to Wembley!"

On the pitch, the singing of Liverpool fans continued, and they did not seem to be worried about the threat posed by Arsenal in this attack.

The number of people on the defense line is very dense, and the players in the midfield and front field are also chasing back. An iron bucket formation is about to be built in front of the penalty area. Maher can't just fly over their defense line.

"Keep your unbeaten record in the Premier League and wait for us next time!"

"Bang bang!" Maher rushed towards the Liverpool goal despite the sounds. He did not choose to go down the bottom line, but went straight to the top of the penalty area.

Before the game, Wenger said that the area over there was relatively empty, and now it seems to be the case.

He didn't plan to do anything complicated, as that would give the players time to catch up and then just take a long shot.

"Ohhh!" As if they had discovered his intention, Arsenal fans gradually stood up from their seats. Maher's crosscut was very fast and it seemed that no one could stop him now.

A shot is almost certain to happen, it just depends on whether it can be hit!
At the moment before Henderson and Gerrard chased back to the top of the arc, Maher turned sideways and stepped forward with his supporting foot, swung his left arm behind his shoulder, stretched his body and folded his right leg.

"Bang!!"

As he sent the ball out with the instep of his right foot, the sound of explosion echoed throughout the stadium, and the ball flew towards the goal guarded by Reina like a cannonball.

After Maher kicked the ball, he looked up and saw Gerrard and Henderson, who had just run behind him and started to slow down, also looking towards the goal.

"Swish!" In less than a second, the right side of the net suddenly caved in. Reina's reaction was much slower, and his hand arrived only after the ball went in.

"Yeah Hurrah!!!" Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium suddenly burst into deafening cheers, and everyone raised their arms and cheered for this wonderful goal.

"Oh!"

Maher opened his arms and roared all the way to the edge of the field, with several Arsenal players chasing him.

Heavy artillery bombards the door!

Again!
Only Gerrard and Henderson were left standing there, staring at the goal without saying a word. In fact, both of them are very good at long shots, but their scoring frequency does not seem to be as high as Mahre.

"Wow!"

In the fan zone, Wenger felt the fanatical Arsenal fans up close. He raised his arms again, shaking and cheering.

As if he felt that this was not enough to vent all his emotions, he jumped down the stairs in two or three steps, came to the coach's command area to celebrate, and reunited with Philip and others.

His move attracted the attention of many people. Everyone wondered what would happen if the head coach who was sent off returned to the field to celebrate?

Soon, the fourth official noticed this scene and ran over quickly.

"Oh!"

As a result, Wenger had predicted it. After hugging Philip, he raised his hands again, celebrating and rushing towards the player tunnel, as if he was going to run in that direction anyway.

The fourth official watched Wenger run past him and rush into the player tunnel, and he stood there speechless.

"Hahaha!" A loud laugh came from the stands where Wenger had just stood. Anyway, the first half was about to end and Wenger was going back to the player tunnel, so it was a waste of time to celebrate.

"Gooooaaaaallll!"

In the commentary booth under the stadium box, the Sky Sports commentator wearing headphones seemed to have nothing to say about this goal. He imitated the long tones of the South American commentators and kept shouting until his last breath, "Goal!!"

This was indeed an unreasonable goal. He suddenly rushed to the middle, without any unnecessary movements, and directly kicked the ball towards the goal.

With just this one kick, Arsenal is likely to turn the situation around and suppress Liverpool's momentum for a while.

This is the simplest way to score a goal, but also the most difficult way. It transcends any offensive technical and tactical system and is a pure display of personal ability.

Simple and rude!
Strong deterrent effect!

efficient!

When Maher arrived at the edge of the field, he jumped high and waved his fist, then kept raising his hands, indicating that the Arsenal fans' morale should be boosted and the team needed their help.

They have to win this game and go to the Wembley Stadium that he has long dreamed of!

It is a stadium that represents glory and honor. It doesn't even need the embellishment of championships to attract players to go there and compete in that historic super-large stadium!

Liverpool fans stopped singing. Maybe they still had the heart to sing, but they were really powerless.

The game returned to 1-1, the total score returned to 3-3, and the initiative returned to Arsenal.

What should they sing at this time? Every word they sing seems to be a mockery of themselves.

But it doesn't matter. With Mahel's reminder, new singing soon sounded from the Arsenal fan area and then shook the whole stadium, "Ma-ehl! Ma-ehl! We are going to Wembley!"

All the situations changed at this moment and Arsenal regained their home advantage.

"Beep--!"

The first half of the game then ended and the players returned to the locker room to prepare for the second half.

In the locker room, Wenger did not emphasize too many technical and tactical issues, nor did he mention his sending off. He just encouraged the players and hoped that everyone would continue to persevere in the second half.

"clap clap"

Finally, he clapped his hands, as if in a pre-match meeting, "Come on, Arsenal! Like they said, we're going to Wembley Stadium!"

After a round of encouragement from the players, he walked out of the locker room, called Philip, and told him: "I plan to stay in the locker room in the second half, and I'll leave everything outside to you.

“If the score remains the same, replace Mikel and Frimpong with the defense in the 75th minute. It’s up to you to decide who to replace.

"If we score again or they score again, then... it's all up to you. I can't predict the situation at that time. No one can really understand football."

"Okay." Philip nodded heavily, feeling that all the responsibility was on his shoulders.

"Beep!"

"Battle Arsenal!"

"Landing at Wembley!"

Soon, the whistle sounded and the players walked out of the locker room encouraging each other. There were only 45 minutes left in the battle for a place in the final.

"Pah. Pah."

Wenger came to the toilet next to the locker room, leaning against the wall with one hand and holding a cigarette in the other. After smoking two cigarettes, he felt that everything around him was too quiet. He couldn't help but turn around and walk away, ready to return to the court.

"ArsenalArsenal!"

But as he approached the player tunnel, saw the light coming in from the field, and heard the cheers of the fans, hesitation appeared in his eyes.

It’s not that he can’t go out, but he doesn’t want to go out and be immersed in that tense atmosphere again.

Whether he fails to make it to the finals or makes it to the finals, it will bring back some bad memories of his past.

For example, they have not won a championship in 7 years, and they were defeated by the relegation team Birmingham in the League Cup final last year.
At this age, he has long since become indifferent to many things, and is calm about many things, no longer affected by past painful experiences.

But when the team was close to the final again and close to breaking the championship curse again, some bad things always emerged in his mind, as if several consecutive years of failure made him subconsciously feel that something unexpected would happen.

"Da da da"

Footsteps were heard and Wenger walked towards the equipment room near the stadium, where he planned to listen to the game calmly with his ears.

The equipment room was very small, with most of the space being used to store things, and there was a smell of plastic and something moldy.

"Click." He didn't show any disgust. He came to the middle table, sat down and lit a cigarette.

It's not dark here either. There is a small glass window on the top of the wall that leads directly to the fan area outside the stadium, and some natural light can come in through the window.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, a cheer was heard. Many figures were reflected in front of the glass window. Many people seemed to stand up, but they sat down again quickly. "Ah!"

Wenger looked calmly as he stared at the clock on the wall and at the glass window to judge the time and situation.

"Wow!"

After a long time, another round of intense cheers came from outside the stadium, and then slowly faded away.

"Oh!"

"Yeah!"

"."

The game time passed minute by minute, gradually passing 60 minutes, 70 minutes, and from time to time there would be loud cheers, not necessarily for a goal.

When time passes 80 minutes, 85 minutes, 88 minutes, 90 minutes
The calmness that Wenger had been maintaining was broken. He began to become anxious and worried, and his breathing became uneven.

"Yeah!" Another unusually loud voice sounded from outside the venue, and the windows reflected the images of many people waving their arms and cheering.

Wenger couldn't help it, he opened the door and walked out, wanting to go to the stadium to see what was going on.

"Da da da!"

As soon as the door opened, a figure ran past him and headed towards the player tunnel.

Wenger walked out and looked at his back. He found that it was Philip, whom he had entrusted with an important task. Philip seemed to be going to find him. Philip heard the sound of a door opening behind him and turned back subconsciously. When he saw that it was Wenger, he stopped where he was.

He didn't ask Wenger the boring question of why he was here. He basically guessed it. At this moment, he just looked like he was breathing rapidly.

Wenger walked quickly towards him, until he was in front of him, and held up his arm, "What's going on?!"

Philip kept blinking, the skin on his face twitching, and after a moment of silence he lowered his head.

"Huh" Wenger was deflated, his shoulder was hit. He looked at Philip seriously, waiting for him to tell him the news of the team's defeat.

Philip suddenly nodded continuously, his eyes gradually turning red.

He bit his lower lip, but still couldn't suppress the joy on his face, he took a deep breath and raised his voice: "Three Two! We won three to two! The total score is five to four, we are going to Wembley!
"Ha ha.!"

Wenger walked up to him, grabbed his collar, frowned and took a look, then realized that it didn't look fake, and breathed a long sigh of relief, "You scared me to death! Damn it, you really scared me to death!"

"Haha!" The two then laughed together and hugged each other tightly in the player tunnel.

"Who scored?!" Wenger put his arm around his shoulders, his face moved, "You have to promise me that you won't do this again."

"sure."

Philip first assured Wenger, then smiled and said: "After Maher scored the first goal, he quickly assisted Walcott to score a goal, and Kuyt immediately equalized the score for Liverpool.

"Did you hear that 'Wow'? Liverpool fans were going crazy, they thought they were on the same starting line as Arsenal and there was nothing to worry about.

"Alexander Song! Song received a pass from Robin van Persie and won the game!"

Wenger looked up at the sky, then took out his mobile phone and hurriedly checked the situation of the other semi-final.

Championship dark horse Cardiff City defeated Crystal Palace 3-2 on penalties and advanced to the League Cup final!

"Ah" Wenger put down his phone and hugged Philip again. At this moment, he felt that the first championship in 7 years was so close to him.

"Oh!"

“Crack, crack!”

Then, with cheers and the sound of spikes quickly touching the ground, the Arsenal players rushed in from the player tunnel celebrating, all with excited smiles.

"Wembley!"

The one running in the front was Maher, who was jumping up and down with his arms raised high. "Here we come! Finals, here we come!"

"Mr. Wenger remembers to dance! Alexander Song patted Wenger on the shoulder as he ran past him, then rushed to the locker room to celebrate.

Wenger just stood there, being hugged and pushed from time to time, with a satisfied smile on his face all the time.

He didn't want to lament anymore how difficult this month was or how torturous the competitions this month were.

I just didn’t expect that under such a difficult situation, the team actually advanced to both the FA Cup and the League Cup, without losing a single game in the Premier League!
The fighting spirit and hard work of this team were unimaginable in previous seasons.

They really have the potential to be champions!
"Philip." Wenger turned around and watched the backs of the players rushing into the locker room one after another. "Is it this year?"

"I think so," Philip nodded, and they immediately heard the sounds of singing and dancing coming from the locker room.

"A decisive victory over Liverpool! Arsenal advance to the League Cup final, where their opponent is Championship team Cardiff City! Wenger is expected to bring the team another championship after seven years!" - "Football Record"

After this game, Arsenal only has one game left this month, the 1nd round of the Premier League against Manchester United on January 30th.

They will have a rest and preparation period of about 6 days. Whether they can survive the wave of injuries will depend on the result of this final game.

Perhaps there is no need to elaborate on how strong Manchester United is under Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is no exaggeration to call this game the most difficult one in the second half.

After defeating Fulham, Swansea and Liverpool in succession, Arsenal encountered another tough opponent like this. Their schedule can be described as dangerous.

But it also has something to do with themselves. If they can easily beat Fulham and Swansea and win at the lowest cost, the team will not feel too tired at the end of the month.

But as He Wei said - please don't believe that victory is like a dandelion on the hillside, within your reach.

Every trophy full of honor must have many dangers and difficulties.

It is because of this that the champion has become what people pursue, believe in and recognize!

Because the moment you hold the trophy, people will know that you not only have the best football skills, but also the strongest mentality and the toughest personality. You are the well-deserved best!
"Pah, bang!"

Maher has not stopped training these days. He stayed with Jose most of the time and only followed Davis when training speed and some small items required for technical skills.

He thought about adding physical training to his plan, but after careful consideration, he gave up.

During the critical period of the schedule, he cannot increase the intensity of training too much. This intensity is just right to balance training and competition well.

"Kyle Walker has caused controversy recently, with Tottenham fans and Arsenal cursing each other."

During the fancy training that day, Jose told him this interesting story, "Tottenham fans think that the kids trained by the team will not leave, while Arsenal fans think he will join the team.

"They were very panicked, fearing another situation like Campbell would happen, where he joined a sworn enemy and helped them win the championship trophy at home.

"Also, when Campbell was at Tottenham, Tottenham didn't think much of him. Now everyone knows that Kyle Walker can become a top full-back."

Maher dribbled the ball at his feet and smiled: "From my point of view, I hope he can come."

"How's the new contract going?"

Jose asked with a smile: "I heard that Arsenal is going to give you a salary increase again, and also give Football Records various copyrights?"

"Yes." Maher nodded, "Mendez is already in talks, and the winter transfer window is about to end. I will sign in the next two days, and I will wear the No. 7 jersey by then.

"As for the copyright of Football Record, it can be regarded as a signing fee in my new contract, just in another way."

Jose didn't ask any more questions and continued to accompany Mahel in the special training seriously.

After finishing the training, Maher opened the proficiency panel and took a look at the increase in various skills.

[Skill: Galloping lv4]

[Proficiency: (299/5000)]

[Skill: Violent Door Blast lv4]

[Proficiency: (542/2000)]

[Skill: Heading Power lv3]

[Proficiency: (291/800)]

[Skills: Fancy passing level 2]

[Proficiency: (714/800)]

[Additional skills: Fancy skills lv1]

[Proficiency: (547/1500)]

"The fancy moves are fast."

After more than 20 days, the improvement is quite obvious. At this rate, he will have new skills upgraded approximately every month, and the pace of improving his strength will not stop for the time being.

Seeing his increasing proficiency in long-range shooting, a smile appeared on his lips. Perhaps, the first level 5 skill was not far away.

On January 1, the new contract came down.

"14.5 pounds a week, the highest salary in the team, and only one person besides you gets it. You should know who it is."

Mendes seemed very excited on the phone, as if he had accomplished something big, "This salary is not low in the Premier League, only lower than those players in the rich clubs.

"And the signing fee is 500 million pounds, which means 300 million pounds after tax! Another new high! And that doesn't even include the value of all the copyrights the team gives you. Are you satisfied?"

"Of course I'm satisfied." Maher's smile has never stopped since he answered the phone.

Arsenal's sincerity is quite good. They offered a signing fee of 4 million pounds to a player who still has 500 and a half years on his contract. This is to keep him and it is a direct expression of their sincerity with money.

It's a very literal way, a very crude way, but it's fascinating.

"Mr Wenger has a small request, which is that you can go to the signing alone. He may want to say something to you."

Mr. Mendes' voice continued: "I agreed. I'm going to Puma headquarters to see what they are thinking."

"Okay." Maher nodded and asked, "When will the contract be signed? Today?"

"It depends on your time. Wenger should call you soon."

"Today then."

Half an hour later, Maher, neatly dressed, arrived at the door and was waiting, and Wenger offered to come and pick him up.

It is a magical thing that the head coach personally drives to pick up the players from their homes to sign new contracts. At least Maher has never heard of it.

Perhaps, Wenger really values ​​him, making many exceptions for him and trying every possible way to bring the two closer.

More than ten minutes later, he saw a Mercedes-Benz SUV parked in the distance, and Wenger rolled down the window and smiled at him.

Maher walked forward with a smile and sat in the passenger seat. He glanced at the handsome old man driving next to him and had a very strange feeling.

"I have a proposal."

Wenger smiled and looked ahead. He said: "The last time I signed a new contract was at the Emirates Stadium. Why don't we go to Highbury Stadium this time? There are many memories of us there. I want to show you."

"Okay." Maher readily agreed, fastened his seat belt and followed Wenger.

Is this just a simple trip, a simple team history lesson?
Wenger drove the car steadily, and after more than 20 minutes, the two arrived near Highbury Stadium and drove all the way to the garage of the stadium.

It’s not that Maher has never seen this stadium; on the contrary, he sees it almost every week.

This place is only about 500 meters away from the new stadium, the Emirates Stadium. The club bus will often bypass here when entering the Emirates Stadium.

"Let's go."

After Wenger parked the car, he waved to Maher and said with a smile: "Come in and take a look. You haven't been here before."

Maher followed him and soon arrived inside the stadium. Seeing this stadium that represents the glorious history of Arsenal, he first noticed the grass and stands here.

Seeing it in person, it's not as bleak as it looks in the photos.

Especially on a sunny day like today, it gives people the feeling of repairing the lawn and being able to pull it out for use immediately.

But compared with the brand new and magnificent Emirates Stadium, this place is completely not good enough. It feels like one is in heaven and the other is on earth.

Wenger was standing next to him, looking up at the stadium, squinting his eyes, as if recalling the past.

“Three Premier League titles.”

Maher saw it and helped him recall: "Four FA Cup titles, four Community Shield titles, and three Coach of the Year awards were all won here."

Wenger looked at him and smiled, "Yes, we really got a lot here.

"You may think this place is old, but it was once beautiful. Do you want to take a look?"

Like a child eager to prove something to others, he took out his mobile phone and searched through the treasured photos in his album.

Maher came over and came here with Wenger. He could feel a sense of heaviness and was more curious about everything that had happened here.

"This one."

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I really like the empty space between the four stands.”

Wenger showed Maher his phone and pointed in all directions, "You can see the sky on those two sides, and residential buildings on those two sides. Haha, at that time, there were often people lying on the rooftops to watch us play football.

“Those were happy days. I still miss them when I think about them now.”

Maher nodded, seeing in the photo the beauty of this open stadium, which was not like the Emirates Stadium, which was surrounded on all sides.

Wenger and Maher walked around the field, reminiscing for a while, then pointed to a place and said, "Go to my office, it's over there, the desk and photos are still there."

Maher followed him, as if he was visiting the history of this great team.

After arriving at the office, the first thing he saw was several photos framed on the wall, including a group photo of the entire team when they won the championship, as well as a group photo of Tony Adams and Vieira.

He could more or less feel that Wenger must have been full of hope and vitality when he was working here at that time.

"Here's another photo. It was taken secretly by Perez for me. You can think of him as Philip's ex. Unfortunately, he passed away two years ago."

Wenger took out a photo frame from under the table. When he finished speaking, his expression was a little regretful, but then returned to normal.

Maher took the photo frame and saw a photo of Wenger working here.

In the picture, he is wearing a sky blue shirt. The two photos hanging on the wall now are behind and on the right side of his head. His hair was not completely white at that time. Although serious, he looked very energetic.

"Very handsome."

Mahel sighed from the bottom of his heart and handed the photo frame back.

Wenger took it, admired it, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "I don't know why my hand is like that. Maybe I found Perez taking pictures of me that day, so I pretended not to know and pretended to be busy, haha."

Maher laughed with him. The old professor was sometimes quite cute in private.

Wenger walked forward, sat down again in his seat, closed his eyes and felt it for a while, then said: "Actually, I have been prepared. Let's complete the signing here. There is something I want to tell you."

Maher nodded in agreement, then asked, "What is it?"

He looked at Wenger's face, which changed from a smile to worry, with a hint of embarrassment and fear. "I want to tell you why the team has no money, and when we will have money."

The other side is still afraid that he will leave, afraid that he will do the same thing as Fabregas and Nasri.
Maher guessed the reason and sat opposite Mr. Wenger.

In fact, if you just listen, you will hear about Wenger's wasted second half of his coaching career, selling captains every year after building a new stadium, being betrayed repeatedly, being misunderstood by fans, being publicly criticized by his former disciples, and taking the blame for the top management.

People don't have very strong feelings, at most they just feel sad.

But when he actually stands in front of you and talks to you in the place where he once achieved great success, everything feels different.

You can't help but think about what happened to him and how he will end up at this club.

Maher still remembers that there would be extreme fans holding banners to chase him away at every game, and fans would march with signs saying "Wenger out" and set off smoke bombs.

Put pressure on him in a way that destroyed the Emirates Stadium and destroyed his most beloved child.

Finally, under pressure, the top management fired him in 2018, forcing him to leave his beloved place in the worst way possible.

"Everyone thinks it's because of the Emirates Stadium, but it's not really."

Wenger smiled optimistically. He took out a photo album and handed it to Maher. "You can look at these photos. When the stadium was built, I was full of hope for the future."

Maher took the photo and the first thing he saw was a picture of him, Henry, and Vieira wearing work clothes and hard hats.

The three people in the camera were smiling brightly, as if they had no worries at all, only happiness and anticipation for the repaired stadium.

“My purpose in building this stadium is to create a better fan community, increase the number and stickiness of the club’s fans, and enable the club to have higher ticket revenue.

"So, you can simply understand that I built this stadium to make money for Arsenal, not to put Arsenal into a debt crisis.

"Look at the second picture. When the stadium was almost completed, the club was already under great debt pressure. But I still had ambitions for the future. I always felt that we would become the best club."

Wenger in the camera had his hands open and his eyes sharp. At that time, he and Arsenal should have passed their peak and entered a situation without a championship for many years, but he still did not give up hope for the future.

“The new home of arsenal”

Wenger also came over to take a look and saw the words at the end, "Haha. At that time I really thought that as long as the stadium was built and we moved in, all problems would be solved.

“The club will no longer be in deficit, shareholders will have more confidence to invest in it and we will soon be back to where we were in the past.

"Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Kroenke and Usmanov kept wasting time and time again. No one could beat the other, and no one was willing to give in.

"One of them owns a huge sports empire, and the other owns countless monopoly industries. They won't lose anything by wasting time on the Arsenal issue. It's just a show of strength.

"But for me it's all different, I only have Arsenal."

Wenger said this with a bitter smile, "Yes, I only have this team, nothing else."

Maher continued to turn the pages and saw a photo of Wenger on the stadium. He was also very handsome and full of vitality.

"They are just wasting time and don't want to invest money in the team, so I have to find a solution."

Wenger looked at himself in the photo album and said, "So, I started to pay off the loan while using the remaining money to buy players to ensure results.

"I have been doing this since we moved into the new stadium. There is no other way. As long as I am in this position, I have the responsibility to do this."

He seemed to have finished what he had been holding back for a long time, and after a long sigh, he said: "So, kid, I can't offer you a million-dollar monthly salary contract like Manchester City did, nor a signing fee of over 10 million pounds.

"I can't expect you to understand me or the team, but I want to ask you to trust me.

"If you can stay with this team for a while longer and wait until all the difficulties are over, I will give you the best treatment in the world."

This was a true expression of his feelings. Maher put down the photo album, and his mind kept flashing back to Wenger's appearance at the peak of Arsenal, his appearance when the stadium was being built, and his appearance before he came.

He also looked carefully at his current appearance and thought about his original ending in this team in history.

A very strong impulse and emotion surged in his heart, which was to help him, work together with him, and create another story in the football world that belonged to Arsenal, Wenger, and him!

He had thought about this many times, but never as strongly as today.

"I will stay."

Maher smiled and nodded, he hoped Wenger could rest assured, "I will not leave until everything is successful.

"No matter how difficult it is, I will get through it with this team and with you, and I hope we can finally achieve our wish."

Wenger looked at Maher and saw the determination and ambition in his eyes. He smiled for a long time before saying, "I always feel that God will not let a person fail all the time. Everyone will have his own antidote to pain.

"Now, I think I have got my antidote, it all depends on how fast I recover."

The two laughed together, and then they completed the signing in the media room. Maher also picked up the team's No. 7 jersey and officially became the team's second captain.

After completing the signing, the two did not rush home, but took a walk in the stadium and sat in the stands of Highbury Stadium for a long time.

(End of this chapter)