Early morning of June 9th.
Qin Xiong carried his shoulder bag and took a taxi to Arsenal's training base.
Colney Training Base.
He greeted the guard politely. He had visited the place the last time he came to sign the contract, so he was not unfamiliar with it.
He walked to the First Team locker room and was surprised to find that there were not many players here. There were only two players in the locker room.
They looked very young, and Qin Xiong recognized one of them.
Van Persie.
The other person looked like he was about 14 or 15 years old. He looked quite delicate.
Qin Xiong walked forward and greeted them, "Hi, I'm Qin Xiong. Nice to meet you."
Van Persie was the first to reach out and shake his hand. He said, "Well, Robin van Persie. We met in the Netherlands, twice, although I was on the bench the second time."
Qin Xiong nodded and smiled. "Yes, you left a deep impression on me the first time we played. Your left foot is very powerful."
Van Persie shrugged and said, "You also left a deep impression on me. Your achievements in Ajax are enviable. Rafael and Wesley also talk about you in the national team."
"Oh, is that so? And this is? "
Qin Xiong looked at the other young player. He reached out to shake hands with Qin Xiong and said, "Cesc Fàbregas, were you injured before? Why did you only come to the team today? "
Qin Xiong's eyes lit up and he said to Fàbregas, "Oh, I remember now. You're the youngest player in the club's history to play and the one who set the record for the youngest goal scorer. Me? I just came back from the AFC Asian Cup. I just played the final of the AFC Asian Cup the day before yesterday. "
"Well? AFC Asian Cup? Did you win the title? "
"Yes, the opponent, Japan, did not send their full main force."
"Oh."
Through the reaction of Van Persie and Fàbregas, Qin Xiong understood that the European players were not interested in the AFC Asian Cup and would not pay attention to it. Maybe it was similar in nature to the Central and North American USD Cup. What was so great about being a champion? Just pick the bigger one from the group of dwarves.
Qin Xiong looked at the time and realized that it was getting late, but not many of his teammates had arrived. He asked his teammates, and Fàbregas told him that the team would be heading to the Millennium Stadium in Wales to play the Community Shield match today. Therefore, the schedule was different from usual. Most of the players would arrive at the team later and head to Wales together after a short rest.
After Qin Xiong heard this, he changed into sportswear and left the locker room. He did not do any ball training. He just jogged around the training ground to warm up and adjust his physical condition. His recent schedule was very simple. Other than eating and training, he had to rest all the time!
He would sleep for as long as he could, and when his body was almost fully recovered, he would do high-intensity physical training to prepare himself for the new season as quickly as possible.
When he felt that it was about time, he returned to the locker room. This time, there were more people in the locker room.
He greeted the teammates he knew and did not know. Henry did not seem to be in a good mood, but he still stood up to formally welcome Qin Xiong's arrival.
In fact, Arsenal's First Team players had a deep impression of Qin Xiong. After all, in the game where they were eliminated by Ajax last season, Qin Xiong had a wonderful performance, especially when he scored a free kick that directly changed the overall situation and led to Arsenal's eventual elimination at Highbury.
However, there was one person who did not appear.
Vieira.
When Wenger and the coaching staff came to the locker room, he did not say much. He noticed Qin Xiong's return to the team and just exchanged glances with Qin Xiong as a greeting.
Arsenal packed up and set off for Wales.
On the train, Wenger called Qin Xiong to his side.
Perhaps when he was pursuing Qin Xiong, it would appear that Qin Xiong was special. But when Qin Xiong really put on the Arsenal uniform, Qin Xiong became a member of the team. He was a newcomer and would not have any special privileges. Even if the manager focused on grooming him, he would treat him equally on the surface and would not show too much enthusiasm and care.
You have to rely on your own efforts to gain a foothold, and not just rely on promises made by your mouth.
It was the same situation in any team.
Wenger mainly asked about Qin Xiong's physical condition after the AFC Asian Cup campaign. Without the physical reserve for the summer preparation and the run-in with the team was blank, Wenger needed to replan the arrangement for Qin Xiong.
He did not expect the AFC Asian Cup to start in mid-July, and Qin Xiong directly fought from the beginning to the end until the beginning of August.
Qin Xiong did not hide anything about his physical condition. In this regard, he showed the correct professional attitude. There was no benefit in hiding or forcing it.
The intensity of the Premier League games was obvious to all. If the body was overwhelmed, the negative impact might not only be injury, but it might have a far-reaching impact on the future of his career.
Wenger gave Qin Xiong advice and also frankly expressed the need for him to adjust his physical condition in the short term in the future. He needed to carry out the physical reserve so that his body could have a longer recovery period and temporarily avoid intense games. At the same time, he should focus on the run-in with the team during training, as well as understanding Arsenal's tactical system and so on.
Qin Xiong did not hesitate to agree. He was eager to play, but he also had to be rational and calm.
In the afternoon, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
There were three groups of fans in the stands. The fans of Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as the neutral Welsh fans.
Manchester United, led by Ferguson, and Arsenal, led by Wenger, met for the Community Shield.
The two old rivals had another war of words at the pre-match press conference.
Ferguson questioned Arsenal's unbeaten record of winning the title. He thought that Arsenal, in the second half of the season, had already fought for a draw in order to pursue an unbeaten record, which was a shameful behavior.
Wenger retorted that Ferguson was narrow-minded and could not accept that Arsenal had achieved a great achievement that Manchester United and Liverpool had not done.
It was understandable that Ferguson was not in a good mood.
Manchester United's starting lineup for the Community Shield was almost half the team's second team.
The eight injured players in the first team were the biggest headache for Sir Alex.
In addition, his disciple, Cristiano Ronaldo, had just finished playing in the UEFA European Championship and ran to the Olympic men's football tournament. This made Sir Alex angry. He even said to the media that the Olympic men's football tournament should be played by non-professional athletes.
Heinz, the new defensive player, also went to the Olympic men's football tournament with Ronaldo.
This made Manchester United not only short of players for the game, but also uncertain about the start of the new Premier League season.
Arsenal's side was not much better. Henry had just recovered from his injury and his condition was questionable. Vieira was simply missing. Pires, Campbell and the others were still recovering from the fatigue of the UEFA European Championship.
The Welsh fans were probably very dissatisfied with the Community Shield.
Both teams had sent a large number of unknown young generals.
Manchester United's side had Bellion, Jamba, Fortune, and Arsenal's side had Robin van Persie, Jermaine Pennant, Cesc Fàbregas, and so on.
And because there were many substitutions in the Community Shield, this game was almost no different from a warm-up game.
Both sides had no achievements in the first half.
Arsenal, who had the advantage, had not recovered to his peak condition because of Henry's poor last-minute kick.
The situation changed in the second half. Wenger's midfield adjustments were effective. Reyes was used. He contributed a pass and a shot to the team in the second half and became the best player of the game. He helped the team beat Manchester United by 3: 1 to win the Community Shield title.
Qin Xiong watched the game seriously from the substitutes' bench. He did not play for a minute but got the title on his first day at Arsenal.
At the end of the game, Qin Xiong stood up and looked through the crowd at Fàbregas, who was cheering and celebrating on the field.
His deep eyes gradually became full of fighting spirit.
It was almost impossible to survive in a powerhouse team if you wanted to be the only choice of the team.
Among the players with the same role, you had to stand out and put the other players with similar characteristics on the substitutes' bench!
Henry was like that, Bergkamp was like that. Although Reyes played well, he was obviously not as good as Pires, Vieira, Lehmann, Ashley Cole, and so on. They were the first in the team.
The internal competition was equally fierce.
Fàbregas played very well today. He almost annoyed Manchester United's Jamba because Jamba could do almost nothing about Fàbregas.
Qin Xiong brought "Pride" from Ajax. He wanted to conquer the Premier League!
But before that, he first had to defeat all the competitors in the team who threatened his main position!
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