Chapter 694 - 129: A Winning Start! Super Scorer! Arsenal’s Number One Powerhouse! Wenger: Wang Shuo, You’re Just Too Good

During the match against the New York Red Bulls, Wilshere left the pitch injured. The initial diagnosis was a sprained ankle, and he was expected to be out for over a month.

Wang Shuo had also discussed the matter with Wenger.

Wilshere was born in ’92, making him just 19 years old. Yet last season, he played a staggering 35 Premier League matches, 7 Champions League matches, 5 League Cup matches, and 2 FA Cup matches.

He had definitely played too many matches.

What?

Wang Shuo played more?

But Wang Shuo had a cheat. Did Wilshere?

In fact, even with Wang Shuo, Klopp had always been quite cautious about how he used him.

Sad Fossett had even issued an analysis report, concluding that Wilshere’s injury was caused by fatigue.

This brings us to Arsenal’s midfield setup last season.

Alexandre Song, Fabregas, and Wilshere—this was the Gunners’ iron midfield triangle.

I believe that any fan looking at this lineup would have the same first impression: the classic combination of a beastly defensive midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder, and a technical midfielder, right?

And they’d be right. That was exactly Wenger’s tactical approach.

With that midfield, Arsenal managed to topple Barça at home.

And the most stunning part of that match was Wilshere. Facing Harvey and Iniesta, he actually managed to dominate them. Pretty outrageous, right?

But here’s what might shock everyone: Fabregas wasn’t the box-to-box midfielder.

That’s right. Wilshere—the one everyone thought of as the delicate technician with great dribbling skills—was the actual box-to-box midfielder.

And not just in that one match, but for the entire season.

He averaged 1.7 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game, both better than Fabregas’s 1.6 and 1.0, respectively.

What’s more, Wilshere’s passing statistics were superior to Fabregas’s across the board.

The only area where Fabregas had the edge was his ability to create chances and deliver killer passes, which was slightly better than Wilshere’s.

But that was precisely why Wilshere had to do more of the dirty work and grunt work, causing him to be overexerted.

Another player on the Arsenal squad who defied expectations was Matuidi.

The French midfielder was admittedly average when it came to creating chances, but his fundamentals were incredibly solid, and his passing was excellent.

His pass completion rate was on par with that of Wilshere, Arteta, and Alexandre Song.

At present, virtually none of Arsenal’s midfielders had a pass completion rate below 85%.

This ensured the team’s dominance in the midfield!

’Arsenal’s current midfield depth is sufficient,’ Wang Shuo thought.

’Alexandre Song, Arteta, and Matuidi are all very mature players.

Pogba, De Bruyne, Rosicky, and Aaron Ramsey, meanwhile, can fill the technical midfielder role, and they can also play out wide.’

Of these four, Wang Shuo strongly recommended De Bruyne and Pogba.

Both players had done extra training with him, so he had a relatively clear understanding of their abilities.

"They’re both exceptionally gifted attackers. De Bruyne’s greatest weapon is his passing, while Pogba has it all—physicality, on-the-ball technique, and speed. If you develop him properly and play him up front, he’ll absolutely explode!"

Wang Shuo told Wenger he had discovered a fascinating characteristic of De Bruyne’s passing.

"He’s very good at spotting diagonal channels that open up during a team’s collective movement."

This was Wenger, after all.

He understood what Wang Shuo meant instantly.

Diagonal passes made while the defense is shifting are incredibly difficult to defend against.

Best of all, De Bruyne was two-footed.

Therefore, for Arsenal’s first league match of the season, an away game against Newcastle, Wenger deployed a different lineup.

Goalkeeper: Szczeny;

Defense: Gibbs, Vermaelen, Subotic, and Lichsteiner;

Midfield: Alexandre Song holding, with Matuidi and De Bruyne ahead of him;

Forwards: Hazard, Wang Shuo, and Walcott.

...

「The evening of August 13th, St James’ Park in Newcastle.」

It was the first match of the new Premier League season: Arsenal, away to Newcastle.

They were up against a team managed by the defense-oriented Alan Pardew, a squad that had been a real standout last season.

In this match, Wang Shuo also came up against an old acquaintance: Demba Ba, who had once played for Hoffenheim.

Despite facing Newcastle on their home turf, the Gunners smoothly took control of the match, but they struggled to break the deadlock.

Then, in the 38th minute.

After winning the ball back in his own half, Alexandre Song passed to De Bruyne.

De Bruyne received the ball and drove forward, surging from the right of the center circle across the halfway line. Spotting Wang Shuo up ahead, he sent a diagonal pass forward.

The ball traveled diagonally from the right side of the center circle to the area just outside the left of Newcastle’s penalty arc.

Wang Shuo burst forward at full speed, reaching the ball just ahead of Newcastle’s captain, the Argentinian center-back Coloccini. He used the inside of his left foot to trap the diagonal pass from behind him, pushing it into space in front and to his right.

The moment he controlled the ball, Wang Shuo accelerated, instantly chasing after it.

Domain Skills: Blasters, activate!

All the power in his body surged into his right foot. At the precise moment his foot struck the ball, that power erupted. The football shot forward like a bolt of lightning, instantly piercing through Newcastle’s defensive line.

It carved a graceful arc as it drilled into the right side of Krul’s goal.

Krul reacted, launching himself into a desperate dive, but he was too late.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"What a spectacular goal!"

"Oh my God!"

"So this is the power of the world’s greatest goalscorer?"

"Absolutely incredible!"

"He took a long diagonal pass from his teammate, controlled it with one exquisite touch, and then unleashed a thunderous strike!"